IN BOB WE TRUST.

I'm not overtly religeous.

Not covertly either if it comes to that.

But, with all the (often deserved) bad press about priests it seems to me right and proper to support a good priest. Father Bob McGuire OAM has been parish priest at St Peter's and St Paul's in South Melbourne for 38 years. He is a very good priest.

Bob came up with the "HOPEMOBILE" to get to the community and help people. Not just the very poor, although he and his supporters work hard for them, they help anyone.

http://www.fatherbob.com.au/

For most of my life Bob's been about somewhere. He was our cadet unit chaplin in the 1960s. He sometimes ate at the Society, which show good taste. He helped me and my mates out, which doesn't, but never mind.

After all these years serving our community church toffs want to force Father Bob to retire. This is a time when religeons in OZ are crying out for clergy. This is a time when governments are seeking ways to keep people from retiring to keep our work force and economy viable. So what's with Bishop Hartless and the cathedral bureaucrats? Bob's only 77. There are two working Victorian priests older than that and the Pope's 84 and he still gets about in his Popemobile, although some say he'd be better off in a sidecar on a Guzzi ... but that getting off the point.

They can't want to sack Bob because he isn't a good priest. And it's not the quality of his work. And it isn't his high profile and popularity ... is it? Bob is more fun to watch on TV than Bishop Hart, so people watch. And it's been recognised with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) and he was named Victorian of the Year in July.

Bob and the Bishop were in the Herald Sun today (Nov 5, 2011. Page 17)

"... Archbishop Hart said Fr Bob would remain a priest, but relieved of the 'grinding demands' of a parish, and wished him a 'time of  peace'.

Bob loves the 'grinding demands', it's his life.

But stung by the dismissal, Fr Bob wasn't preparing for peace.

'Get in touch with Tim Fischer, the Australian Ambassador to the Vatican, and tell him to go knock on the door of the department for the prevention of cruelty to parishes,' he advised supporters.

I wrote to the Herald Sun.

THE HERALD SUN
LETTERS

Father  Bob's  life is working for people who really need his help and
the cathedral sacked him.

I've  known  Bob  McGuire  for nearly 50 years. He is a priest who not
only  practices  what  he preaches, he's very good at it. He makes the
needs of Melbourne's neediest his top priority.

He  reaches  a  lot  of  people through the media. The media keeps our
society  informed. It is both a service and a tool. Bob uses the media
expertly  as  a  tool to do good in our community.

Victoria  has  too  many  nit picking bureaucrats generating rules for
rule's  sake.  So  does the Catholic Church. If church bosses cut some
red  tape,  showed a more human face and encouraged the Father Bobs of
this world, they might fill some pews on Sundays.

I'll support any new charitable organisation Bob starts.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Melbourne.

It seems to me Bob and his supporters are in a similar situation to Australia's motorcycle & scooter riders. Rules are being forced on them by a bureaucracy that is detached from the realities of the road or the parish. Rules that often make no sense and too often are counterproductive.

I'm going to write to Ambassador Fischer care of Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600. I urge anyone with a sense of what's good for our community to do likewise.

Damien Codognotto OAM

Melbourne.