A group of priests in Belleville, Illinois, are protesting the installation of Bishop Braxton to head the diocese. They claim that the standard consultation with the local metropolitan and nuncio didn’t take place and that the appointment happened very quickly after former USCCB president Wilton Gregory was promoted to archbishop of Atlanta.
I haven’t heard good things about Bishop Braxton and it’s fairly clear that Gregory’s move was reward for being USCCB president during the Scandal’s heyday and Braxton promoted as a protege. Still, the reports of these complaints is a bit fishy. Since when do local clergy get the right to approve their own new bishop? And who’s to say how long a vacancy must exist before a new bishop is appointed?
With the amount of animosity before Braxton’s even been installed, it should be an interesting tenure.
