Paul Collins resigns, but still speaks out

Australian priest-author Paul Collins has resigned from the priesthood, but continues to speak out for Church reform. A popular speaker at CTA events, Collins is still being investigated by Cardinal Ratzinger’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) for his book, “Papal Power.” The leaders of his order, the Missionaries of Sacred Heart, are caught in the crossfire. He said he was resigning to spare them that agony, but also because he felt being a priest today meant cooperating with church structures that are retreating from the Vatican II vision of Catholicism.

Still a committed Catholic, Collins will remain a voice for reform. His popular TV program in Australia has been re-funded. His latest book, “From Inquisition to Freedom,” has just appeared in Australia and will be out in the U.S. this fall. Lengthy excerpts have appeared in the largest newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne. The book traces how the medieval Inquisition evolved into today’s CDF, with many of the same violations of human rights. It contains interviews with six others harassed by the CDF: Hans Küng, Charles Curran, Tissa Balasuriya, Lavinia Byrne, Jeannine Gramick and Robert Nugent.