Enjoy your retirement
DETROIT, Illinois, January 26, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, who is known as an activist for homosexuality in the Church, has handed in his resignation to the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI is expected to announce the resignation today.
Bishop Gumbleton resisted mandatory retirement last year when he reached the age of 75, asking to continue on as Auxiliary Bishop to Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida. His request, given to the head of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Giovanni Re, was denied.
”Some time ago he indicated that my request to defer my resignation was not acceptable,” Bishop Gumbleton said in an open letter to his parishioners at St. Leo’s Church. [Source]
I think the precise technical language the Vatican used was "don't let the door hit you on the way out." Though the downside is that he will have even more time to devote to his heterodox endeavors. More articles for the NCReporter, more hobnobbing with the Call To Action types, the Rainbow Sash movement and anything else where orthodoxy is seen as a disorder.
Known as 
How old is Bishop Lynch?
Is this a record for the fastest acceptance by the Vatican of a letter of resignation?
Yea!!!!!!!!
BTW, viva il Papa!!!!!
For some reason I always think of him as Bishop Mumbleton. Newman had a story about an English rural priest of no great scholarly accomplishments, who continually said 'mumpsimus' in the liturgy where he should have said 'sumpsimus'. When this was pointed out to the priest by someone who had more Latinity than he, the poor Father retorted, "Why should I change my mumpsimus for your sumpsimus?"
So, what the heck: Why should I change my Mumbleton for your Gumbleton?
As for Mumbleton the Man: A nicer lunatic, Marxist heretic you couldn't imagine. May he rest in peace, man.
I feel like breaking out into a few Hallelujah Choruses myself!
Bye Bye!
VIS usually posts these. As of yet, nothing has been stated about Bishop Gumbleton from that source Perhaps tomorrow we will have Vatican verification.
This bishop was in Ohio recently advocating for the abolition of civil statute of limitations so that alleged (mostly male) victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests can bring civil actions against the Catholic Church for monetary damages. It is very interesting that he happens to be a stronge advocate of a homosexual agenda. This was never disclosed in the MSM reporting.
Is it wrong to be so joyful at the departure of a bishop? In this case, probably not. I hope he has a nice retirement... with an ecclesiastical gag order to stop him from talking to the NCReporter and all those other ne'er-do-wells. Would he obey one?
Maybe he can start writing more, better (worse!) yet, he could start writing books with (the Episcopalian) Bishop J. Shelby Spong!
This bodes badly for all those progressive orders of aging sisters at their annual meetings. The once dependable voice of heterodoxy will now be among the emerati when they invite him to again speak those lines that he (and they) committed to their unchanging memories.
On the brighter side, they could all take up that wonderful pasttime so popular among retirees--line dancing.
From CWNews: 'in 1995, after he had wandered off the reservation, the French Bishop Jacques Gaillot was "transferred" from the diocese of Evreux to the titular diocese of Parthenia, a diocese that disappeared under the sand of the Sahara desert in the 5th century. It's difficult for a bishop to do much damage in Parthenia, since there are no people in the diocese.’
It is my hope that +Gumbleton is assigned to the diocese of Parthenia for his retirement, where he will find a like-minded soul (or two).
Charity and justice have gone out the window here.
I am wondering if this will be the beginning of several "resignations". Archbishop Mahoney surely has many of the same qualifications for forced resignation as Bishop Gumbleton.
Exorcizing the Cardinal Dearden Legacy Scorecard
The major problems:
Strike
Bishop Untener (deceased)
Bishop Gumbleton (retiring)
A number of heterodox priests (retired and deceased)
Remaining
Bishop Imesch (Joliet, IL)
NCCB
Diocesan Heterodoxy
Liturgical abuse
A number of heterodox priests
We still got a long way to go. Cardinal Maida (who was ordained a priest by then Bishop Dearden) is already of retirement age and his resignation is likely to be accepted within the year. Please pray that Detroit is not foresaken once again. As bad as Detroit is, it didn't merit the "leadership" we've been afforded for about 40 of the last 48 years. (Cardinal Szoka did a lot to straighten out the financial situation, etc. but the best I can tell he didn't do much to bring the archdiocese to orthodoxy)
I'm not holding my breath for any public displays of obedience, post retirement. Bumbleton will retire, draw a nice pension, and continue to thumb his nose at Church doctrine via the pages of the NCR. Conservative catholics will protest to any who will listen, but the argument will be that retirement is owed him, while he owes no obedience to the Church since he's now retired. The parishoners ( at least the liberal ones) will be getting what they pay for. C'est la guerre.
"Charity and justice have gone out the window here." --Spirit of Vatican II
I certainly doubt that as the comments here are humorous rather than malicious regarding our retirement wishes for this pompous old apostate. However, assuming some semblance of reality in your comments, I must add that "hope and faith have flown back in."
a----wooosh---bang!
Isn't it a scream that the mandatory retirement age (and the voting-age cap in the college of cardinals) was pushed through in the past to force out old fogies who were insufficiently attuned to the "spirit" of Vatican II? (Always bear in mind that the letter of Vatican II is fine; it's the "spirit" of Vatican II that has endlessly been invoked to justify all sorts of blasphemies and stupidities that weren't remotely authorized by the documents themselves.) Now it's getting the Weaklands, the Gumbletons, and the Sullivans out of our hair. Hoist with their own petard!
Gumbleton caused a lot of pain and suffering to his flock with the things he did. He was the one lacking in charity and justice.
So yeah, maybe perfect charity would demand folks keep quiet about their joy in his going. But justice? No. This is justice. Sweet justice.
Like they said in The Great Brain, no matter what they do to you, they can't keep the sun from going up and coming down. Mm-mm-mm.
Still, no official word from the Vatican.
I certainly doubt that as the comments here are humorous rather than malicious regarding our retirement wishes for this pompous old apostate. However, assuming some semblance of reality in your comments, I must add that "hope and faith have flown back in."
Posted by John Hetman email at January 27, 2006 08:48 AM>>
Re: 'Charity and justice,' in this case, good riddance to them, to Gumbleton and to all bishops and priests who have done all they could to destroy the Catholic Church in the West. They can't die off fast enough for me.
Is the 'spirit of Vatican II' related to the 'penumbra of the U.S. Constitution?'
"Spirit of Vatican Two" = Make It Up As We Along
Time to exorcize this particular spirit.
(Where's my holy water?!)
Fr. Philip
Ti-i-i-ime is on our side sing along now ti-i-i-ime is on our si-i-ide.
Spirit of Vatican II
"Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."
1 John 4:1
I was really leery of believing this story was real, since it says that Detroit is in... Illinois!?! But it's good to know that he's going.
Bishop Gumbleton grimaced when the Cardinal asked for his fax number.
For those of you that criticized Gumbleton in this post, my the lord have mercy on you.
What a sad display of Catholic virtues.
My this lent season bring you the tolerance of Christ.