..turned gamekeeper

The Guardian has at last published the obituary of Edward Schillebeeckx who died on 23rd December last year (I think they were negotiating danger money with those who had to proof read his surname but that's an English perspective!). A gentle man who was, I guess, at odds with much of the Vatican power politics and got told off a number of times. I did enjoy these final words of the piece:

He may just have allowed himself a wry smile when he looked back on a 1968 declaration, published in Concilium, the still flourishing progressive theological journal that he helped to set up, which insisted that the Pope "cannot and must not supersede, hamper and impede the teaching task of theologians as scholars". His own name was there among the signatories, as was that of the then Father Ratzinger.

but go and read the piece yourself! It goes nicely with a quote I've treasured and used in an email signature for a number of years:

Conformity means death for any community. A loyal opposition is a necessity in any community.
Karol Wojtyla (1969)

Just a year later than the first quote (look at the link if you can't immediately identify the writer!)