Ad-libbing Ill. priest retracts resignation

Ad-libbing Ill. priest retracts resignation

NCR

By Brian Roewe

Brian Roewe

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Belleville News-Democrat are reporting Fr. William Rowe, the ad-libbing priest who refused to follow the strict translation of the Roman missal, has sent a letter to Bishop Edward Braxton of Belleville, Ill., retracting his resignation. According to the reports, Rowe, priest at St. Mary's parish in Mt. Carmel, Ill., for 17 years, had sent his letter of resignation to Braxton in October, with the bishop waiting until early February to accept it. The News-Democrat report cites Rowe saying Canon 538 makes his resignation void, since Braxton waited more than three months to act on his resignation.