Dear Canon Morello,Knowing what we know about Morello, we can add a comment from someone calling himself "former parishioner" on Fr Smuts's blog;The Rt Rev Stephen D Strawn, Episcopal Visitor to the Diocese of the West, Anglican Church in America, has informed the House of Bishops that on October 27, 2012 he appointed you Vicar General of the Diocese of the West. The House of Bishops extends its congratulations to you and has, by unanimous vote, confirmed the action of Bishop Strawn.
Your responsibilities as Vicar General will include the overall administraiton of the diocese. As appropriate and necessary, you will visit parishes, provide support to clergy, and seek to resolve any differences that may arise. Above all, you should promote a feeling of godly harmony in all you do.
Please know that the House of Bishops deeply appreciates the dedication you have shown to the diocese during the past year. Your devotion to God's holy church during a difficult and challenging time is an example to us all.
Know of our prayers as you begin this new challenge.
Faithfully,
The Most Rev Brian R Marsh
President, The ACA House of Bishops
Fr. Morello made assurances to many, including the parish’s former unpaid clergy, that he would do nothing to stop the parish from becoming Catholic and made much of his being on a first name basis with the Ordinary. He also made promises to retain clergy intending to become Catholic as the pastoral presence at the parish until St. Mary’s entered the Ordinariate.How can this be? The Most Rev Brian R Marsh has commended Canon Morello for his dedication, and he charges him with promoting a feeling of harmony in all that he does! Actually, I detect a certain sneer in Marsh's tone here. This is the ACA.Once he had the keys all those promises were out the window. That so many of the parishioners who supported our parish becoming Catholic left almost immediately is due to his brutish treatment of all except his appointed vestry. We Catholic-minded St. Mary parishioners who trusted Morello to simply be trying to straighten out the parish out of good will towards the Ordinariate found out quickly how little we were now needed.
I appreciate the links from Fr Smuts and Ms Gyapong, and considering that neither is a particular friend of this blog, I appreciate their recognition of the issues involved in their own posts. To Ms Gyapong, I would say two things: first, I have in fact attempted to comment on your blog, but you've never approved the one or two that I've left. Second, I've made every attempt to portray the history of the "worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion" as accurately as I can, with reference to public documents available on the web, and indeed, consulting with knowledgeable individuals. If you have additions or corrections, I've made my e-mail available.
Perhaps if we can get past personal issues, we might all accomplish more together than we can separately.
