EADING members of The -1--1 Ark, the C'atholie Study Circle for Animal Welfare, protested this week against Bishop Cashman's remarks on his love of shooting.
In an article by Kevin Mayhew in the CATHOLIC HERALD the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton said: "lbe fun is in the shot and in the excitement. I don't know anything on earth
that gives me personally more excitement than waiting for a bird to come over my gun. It's the nearest thing to heaven in human terms that I know."
The Bishop's comments were widely reported in the national Press. Fr. Basil Wrighton, parish priest of Goring on Thames, Oxfordshire, and Acting Chairman of The Ark, said "It seems unbelievable that a man of God should hold such views and that he should be prepared to publish them., "As a Christian society we are automatically against blood sports. Our aim is that animals should be treated with
• respect and dignity. It is scandalous that a bishop should admit to such feelings."
Mrs. May Bocking, Ark's secretary, said she would propose to the society's executive that they should ask Cardinal Heenan to censure Bishop Cashman. "It is my opinion that when a bishop says something like this the head of his Church should deal with him," she said.
It is unlikely, however, that the Cardinal will allow himself to be drawn into the controversy. On only one occasion in recent years has he commented publicly on a matter concerning another bishop or priest. In any case, a bishop is autonomous within his own diocese. (See Desmond Albrow—P.4)