The Circle Dance of Dispossession

By Fr. Wilson ( articles ) | Jun 18, 2003

I had mentioned to someone, a writer, how odd it was that Bishop O'Brien of Phoenix had asked the Judge at his arraignment to let him attend the bishops' meeting in St Louis. She replied with this vignette:

"I'm betting he wants to be there for the liturgical dance vote.

What I chiefly remember about O'Brien, before recent months, is how amiable he was toward Matthew Fox, letting him address the 1990 meeting of the National Association of Lay Ministry in Phoenix, just after his Vatican-imposed year of silence. At the NALM gathering, O'Brien joined Fox in a circle dance to that favorite Wiccan chant, "Earth I am, Fire I am, Water, Air and Spirit I am."

Who could make this stuff up?"

Who, indeed.