VOTO

Many people have heard of the new Catholic lay-group Voice of the Faithful, but I until the other day I hadn't heard of the group Voice Of The Ordained. You can read more about them here, and discover how these priests think that...

• Bishops should be elected by priests and the laity of their diocese (okay, some historical justification is legitimate)
• Bishops should serve fixed, 6 year terms (uh, okay)
• All bishops should elect popes (uh, no), and...
• Popes' reigns should be limited to 12 years!

The article linked notes that of the roughly 200 men who make up this bunch, 59 are married, i.e. no longer active priests (whether they were laicized or just left, I don't know).

One last thing: these guys want bishops to be chosen by the laity and priests of their diocese, but they want the pope to be elected by all the bishops of the world. It seems that they have forgotten that the pope is the bishop of Rome... not only have they apparently (and surely, inadvertently) adopted that dreaded pyramid-style ecclesiology, but they want to deprive the laity and priests of the diocese of Rome of the right to elect their bishop.

Seems a bit unfair and undemocratic, don't you think?