Bishopo Brien News Today

It’s six years since Brendan McCarthy published a fascinating – and important – series of manuscripts written by a maverick priest.

It’s six years since Brendan McCarthy published a fascinating – and important – series of manuscripts written by a maverick priest. The outspoken Fr William Ferris died in 1971 having recorded oral histories of many parishes he served in – but his work encountered fierce resistance from high places, namely from Bishop Michael O’Brien.

All Catholics in Phoenix, on some level, felt the sting of the sexual abuse crisis. Dozens of priests and deacons were accused, leading many of us to question our faith. Have we come to terms with it?

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s tenure was not without controversy, but in my nine years of working with him, I found him to be a prayerful, generous and thoughtful man.