2 CatholicOutlook August 2015
FROM THE DIOCESAN ADMINISTRATOR
inside
Reasonable debate lacking on issue of ‘same-sex marriage’
Dear Brothers and
Sisters in Christ,
As you would all
be only too well
aware the matter of
‘same-sex marriage’
has become the
most talked about
and debated social
issue so far this year.
It has been ‘on
and off ’ the political
agenda before, and
Very Rev Peter G Williams now because of
changes in Ireland and more recently in
the US it has come back to our national
conversation propelled by an aggressive,
well-resourced lobby group.
This group has managed to secure as
allies most mainstream media outlets
and has enlisted the support of major
commercial and sporting organisations.
As has also become clear, anyone who
opposes and raises questions about such a
momentous social change is immediately
labelled as a bigot or homophobic.
It is a sad and somewhat lamentable
situation that in Australia you can no
longer engage in a reasonable debate
because, ultimately, it is the shrill and sharp
voices that will prevail.
One political commentator remarked
recently on television that the standard of
political and social debate in Australia has
descended to the level of who can win the
24-hour news cycle.
As many of you are also aware, recently
I sent out a pastoral letter from the
Catholic Bishops of Australia on this
matter, Don’t Mess with Marriage, which
was distributed in parishes and schools in
our Diocese.
Predictably, there were negative reactions
from a few people and, surprisingly, when
the matter was further investigated by the
local press it dissipated very quickly.
Journalists encountered many parents
responding that of course they weren’t
troubled by the Church sending out
information about what it believes and
stands for, after all, that is what you would
expect from a Catholic school.
That response is certainly heartening,
when the ‘same sex’ lobby group and its
supporters would prefer that everyone
either agreed with their position or simply
shut up!
I don’t intend to rehearse the position
of the Church again here, but alert you
to the fact that many who see themselves
Filipino Catholics turned
out in force to welcome
the Apostolic Nuncio to
Australia, Archbishop
Adolfo Tito Yllana, in
Blacktown last month.
Mass in St Michael’s
Church was followed by
a celebratory lunch.
P4
The Catholic Church
has long been at the
forefront in the pastoral
care of migrants and
refugees. This year the
Australian Catholic
Migrant and Refugee
Office celebrates 20
years of mission.
P5
The Dropping off the
Edge 2015 report,
produced by Jesuit Social
Services and Catholic
Social Services Australia,
maps disadvantage
across Australia based
on 22 social indicators.
In their Pastoral Letter, ‘Don’t Mess with Marriage’, the bishops emphasise we now face a struggle
for the very soul of marriage.
as progressive, ‘liberal’ and leading social
reformers and who advocate ‘equality’ and
‘freedom of speech’ really do so with a
caveat attached.
That caveat is: if you don’t agree with
my (our) position, then there is something
seriously wrong with you! Certainly
since the 1960s and the increasing
secularisation of Australian society it has
become more difficult for organisations
like the Church to be heard in the public
forum on many issues.
The recent scandal relating to the sexual
abuse of minors and the complicity of
some Church personnel and leaders has
weakened our standing to speak on moral
and social concerns.
Those who are anti-Catholic (and make
no mistake there is a considerable number
of them) are now using our current
dilemma as a weapon to further erode
public trust in the Church and render any
opinions we may have as either irrelevant
or lacking credibility.
In such a climate, there is always a
tendency to want to retreat into the
realm of the private and to avoid any
confrontation or hostility.
To do so on the matter of ‘same sex
marriage’ or any other contemporary
social issue would be to betray our fidelity
to the Gospel and our determination to
witness to the truth that we see and know
in Jesus Christ.
For those of us who remember a time
when the Church (and, in fact, other major
Christian denominations) exercised a far
greater influence on the life of the nation,
to find ourselves in the current situation is
a seismic shift.
But we must prepare ourselves to enter
where the Church has been before (and still
is in places) as a minority. Christendom is
gone and the postmodern world with its
plurality of culture, religion and secular
forces is the reality.
I encourage you to be courageous and
not to cower before the huge weight of
current fashion. It may not be popular to
uphold traditional marriage, to respect the
value of human life, or maintain allegiance
to the teaching of the Church.
But if our faith sustains us, and our
consciences propel us to such a position,
then we simply have no alternative. As we
read the Gospels we know that Jesus and
His teaching was not always accepted by
those who heard Him and, in fact, many
walked away, including some who had at
one time been disciples!
Reflecting on the current state of public
discourse in Australia led me to look up a
prayer I used many years ago as an evening
prayer and which has great resonance