Clifton Chief Executive

Joe Shaw highlighted Clifton dioceses search for a Chief Executive, or is it a Financial Secretary? So if you want £65k, apply!

I can understand the need for expertise in the administration of Church affairs, especially where the hard earned pennies of the poor are concerned.
However, apart from the secular sounding title, which as others have suggested puts Bishop or Pastor in the shade, it does seem strange that a non-Catholic might be considered. We can be so professional that we exclude Christ and his Church's teaching, especially where money is concerned. Christ says a lot about money. The use of the Church's money isn't just about avoiding evil, such as not investing in company's involved  in the "culture of death", which presumably in the case of Clifton would involve not investing in companies which overfill kettles.

Avoiding evil is one important but as a Christians we are also called to use our money for a positive good and to further the Church's mission, some of the Scottish bishops have given a good example of this by using their money to promote adult stem cell research. There is a whole issue of justice here, dioceses often have "negative" ethical policy, stating what they will not invest in but I know of none that have a "positive" ethical policy. We should be using our resources to promote the family, fair wages, decent and affordable housing, decent care of the elderly, opportunities for the young, for the poor, for the socially marginalised, for those companies that are attempting to put into practice the Church's social teaching. I know that many dioceses have money invested in government stock which is generally regarded as ethical but the spat the American bishops are having with their government reminds us that even "democratic" governments are often less than ethical.

The Clifton advert seems to suppose a glancing acquaintanceship with Catholicism, but that is far from what successive Popes have taught.

We seek a person who embraces the values of, but is not necessarily a member of, the Catholic
Church.

Unfortunately this sounds a little too much like the attitude we have to our schools, "values" are rather pale, fleeting and subjective creatures. I'd much prefer Bishop Lang to be asking for a deeply committed Catholic, imbued with orthodox Catholic theology and social teaching.