Apostle to the Gweeps

Worcester, Massachusetts (once home to the folk of eyrie.net) has a new Catholic bishop. He seems to be starting out with some strong ideas about improving seminary recruiting and training, according to this interview in the Sentinel and Enterprise.

He said he grew up in a strong city parish of 3,000 members, where young priests inspired him to enter a part-time high school seminary.

"They were the heroes of our parish. They were our heroes, our mentors," McManus said. "They played a tremendous role in our lives."

But McManus said by the time he entered a college-level seminary, he saw changes that were not always for the better.

He said some would-be priests in the 1960s took the Second Vatican Council's emphasis on personal responsibility and self-direction the wrong way.

"Some of that change led to confusion, or some indecision," McManus said. "I think some people misinterpreted the de-emphasis of regimentation and the re-emphasis of self-education as permissiveness."

...

McManus also said it's even more important for priests to follow and support the church's teachings.

"You wouldn't be hired by IBM if you didn't believe in the quality of the product," he said.

Gweep, btw, was the term used for the Worcester computer geeks of yore, both in real life and in Undocumented Features.