"He has cooperated in every way with multiple police, parliamentary and Royal Commission investigations," Fisher said.

"Everyone supports just investigation of complaints, but the relentless character attacks on Cardinal Pell, by some, stand the principle of innocent-until-proven-guilty on its head," Archbishop Fisher said.

"Australians have a right to expect better from their legal systems and the media. Even churchmen have a right to ‘a fair go'."

He said until it has, he has nothing further to say about allegations of Pell's sexual misconduct. Some of these allegations stretch back several decades.

Pell denies the allegations.

Several people have accused Pell of sexual assault. Allegations came to light last year about Pell's history of sexual crime in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation report.

At least one of these allegations was taken to court and found to be unsubstantiated back in 2002. Other accusations date back to the 1970s.

None have been proven so far.

Whether Pell will be brought back to Australia from Rome where he is the head of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy has yet to be decided.

Source

• Catholic Herald
• Crux
• Image: Xt3

In an interview on the Crux website, Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher said Francis is " . . . making lots of people quite distant from the Church suddenly listening and now interested".

The archbishop said many people in modern Australia have not rejected the Gospel, or had a bad experience of the Church.

"Many have just never been presented with it," Archbishop Fisher said.

"It's often received very warmly and openly by such people - they're not coming with issues of anger toward the Church or the left/right polarisation that some people within the Church suffer from, or preconceptions that almost vaccinate them to the Church.

"In some cases they're very, very open and ask innocent, almost funny questions about Christianity.

"And once you present well with passion and joy and with some real intellectual rigour the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the tradition handed down from the apostles, they're often very excited by that and very ready to be part of that."

Archbishop Fisher noted the "moment" afforded by Pope Francis for evangelisation.

"Will a future generation look back on us and say, ‘What an opportunity you missed!'

"I don't want that said of my generation and me and of the Church at this time.

"We've got some wonderful things to offer, as well as things yet to learn ourselves. We've got a great opportunity in front of us and I want to embrace it wholeheartedly."

In the interview, Archbishop Fisher also discussed Church sexual abuse scandals, the impact of World Youth Day in Sydney and the upcoming WYD in Poland.

Sources

• Crux
• Image: Catholic News Service

Just before Christmas, Archbishop Fisher was diagnosed with Guillan- Barré Syndrome which affects the immune system, resulting in paralysis.

From intensive care at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, he went to Mt Wilga Hospital where, for the past three months, he has been receiving intensive physiotherapy.

The rehab program has helped him regain use of his legs, although his hands are recovering a little more slowly.

Now back in his own residence, the archbishop is planning on working in the mornings and continuing with his rehabilitation program in the afternoons.

On leaving Mt Wilga, the archbishop thanked all the doctors, physios, occupational therapists and the staff for their professionalism and personal care.

During his time in hospital the archbishop has been inundated with prayers, cards and social media messages.

He believes the many prayers have helped him recover a lot quicker than the doctors expected.

It is not unusual for people with Guillain-Barré Syndrome to take two years to recover.

But the archbishop's progress has been steady and encouraging and despite the syndrome rendering him initially paralysed and then muscle weak, his spirits have remained high.

He said his experience has given him a deeper insight into suffering, and when he preaches on the subject from now on, it will be more personal.

"I think I have learnt some new things about suffering and its place in the spiritual life and in recovery."

Last week, Archbishop Fisher participated in the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference plenary.

He also hopes to celebrate Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi on 29 May at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, when he wants to personally thank parishioners and friends for their prayers and support.

Source

• Sydney Catholic
• Image: Catholic Weekly

Shortly before Christmas, Archbishop Fisher contracted a gastrointestinal infection which was complicated by the syndrome.

This was later diagnosed as Guillain-Barre syndrome.

This is a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system.

The condition includes varying degrees of muscle weakness and temporary paralysis.

The great majority of people who suffer from the syndrome make a full recovery.

But in severe cases, the symptom can interfere with the body's vital functions like breathing and can be life-threatening.

Archbishop Fisher spent some time at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, including a spell in intensive care.

In a January 13 update, the archbishop said he had been able to stand for a few moments, which he described as "very encouraging".

A day-by-day improvement has allowed Archbishop Fisher to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility.

According to a January 22 report, he spends most of the day exercising and working with physiotherapists to regain muscle strength.

He has thanked people who have been praying for his recovery and has assured them of his prayers for them.

Friends, family, colleagues, supporters and Catholics from all around Australia and internationally have been expressing their support via email, phone, text and social media.

Youth networks throughout Sydney archdiocese communicated quickly about the need for prayers when the archbishop was first diagnosed and gathered for a night of prayer on January 9 at Sacred Heart parish, Darlinghurst.

Young people from Catholic Youth Services, Catholic University Chaplaincies, University of Notre Dame and Australian Catholic University joined together to alert their networks and host the night.

In one message of thanks, Archbishop Fisher stated that he had asked people to pray that he would have the virtues of patience, courage and hope.

Sources

• Catholic Weekly
• Sydney Catholic
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
• Catholic Weekly
• Image: Catholic Weekly

Archbishop Fisher's comments came after an address by Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia on September 24.

Archbishop Fisher, who attended the address said: "Cardinal Sarah spoke on the family as a light in a dark world."

"Just as in the days of St Augustine and Athanasius, we rely on the African bishops to help us steer an orthodox course in confused times," the Sydney prelate said.

"[Cardinal Sarah] said we should not put the magisterium, the teachings of Christ and his Church, in a 'pretty box' as if they were irrelevant to pastoral practice and daily life.

"He said God's law for the human person and relationships does not 'confine' us: it opens up exciting new possibilities and ultimate happiness.

"This is not moralising, not finger-pointing, not being judgemental towards others, but authentic family life shines as light in today's darkness."

Cardinal Sarah cited Pope Benedict as saying the light of family life was being "snuffed out" due to modern culture.

"Even members of the Church can be tempted to soften Christ's teaching on marriage and the family," Cardinal Sarah said.

Separating what comes from the magisterium with pastoral practice, changing it in "accord with certain circumstances, is a form of heresy", the cardinal emphasised.

"Welcome the mercy of God," he told the audience. "This mercy has a name: Jesus Christ."

"This Spirit, the Holy Spirit charity — love until the end — can overcome all that seems humanly impossible within the family."

"All those wounded by personal sin and the sin of others — the divorced, the separated, those who have cohabitated, who get closed in on themselves and those in same-sex unions — can and must find in the Church a place for regeneration without any finger pointed at them," he stressed.

Sources

• Sydney archdiocese
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Allentown diocese

Archbishop Anthony Fisher told Crux that the cardinal has responded to most of these most recent charges several times before.

"People think he's indestructible, but I've sensed seeing him this time that it's getting to him," Archbishop Fisher said.

"It just goes on and on. No matter how many inquiries there are it just keeps coming back, and it gets a bit more vicious each time."

Archbishop Fisher predicted that Cardinal Pell will return to Australia later this year to face another round of interrogation by a royal commission.

He said it is possible the final report will contain "adverse findings" accusing Cardinal Pell of having failed to act appropriately.

It is unlikely there will be any criminal indictment against the cardinal, he said.

But there could be additional lawsuits as a result of the report, triggering what he called a "show trial" about Cardinal Pell's conduct.

Despite that, Archbishop Fisher predicted that Cardinal Pell will retain his position in Rome as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.

"In reality, he was the first bishop in the country to move on [confronting abuse scandals]," Archbishop Fisher said.

Cardinal Pell came under renewed media scrutiny during a recent royal commission hearing to horrific abuse cases in Ballarat in Victoria.

Some critics who've testified before the commission implied he had knowledge of abuse at the time but failed to report it, while others suggested he helped cover it up later as he began to climb the ecclesiastical ladder.

Cardinal Pell was born in Ballarat and served as a young priest there, as well as on the bishop's college of consultors for a period.

Archbishop Fisher noted that Cardinal Pell was never the bishop in Ballarat and had no direct responsibility for priests in the diocese.

Sources

• Crux
• Image: Perth Catholic

Released by the bishops' Commission for Family, Youth and Life, the letter highlights the meaning of marriage and also spells out implications of redefining marriage.

The bishops state that in issuing the letter, they want to engage with the debate, present the Church's teaching to the faithful and "explain the position of the Catholic faithful to the wider community".

The letter came in the wake of the recent referendum in Ireland and statements by Australian politicians that they plan to introduce same-sex marriage legislation.

In the bishops' letter, the dignity of every person is affirmed, including those who experience same-sex attraction.

"They must be treated with respect, sensitivity, and love."

But the bishops critique the notion that marriage is "nothing more than a commitment to love".

"On this view, marriage is essentially an emotional tie, enhanced by public promises and consensual sexual activity."

In the Church's view, marriage includes an emotional union, but it goes further than that.

"It involves a substantial bodily and spiritual union of a man and a woman."

Among the letter's warnings about the consequences of redefining marriage are possible threats to freedom of conscience, belief and worship.

". . . [P]eople who adhere to the perennial and natural definition of marriage will be characterised as old-fashioned, even bigots, who must answer to social disapproval and the law."

If "civil law ceases to define marriage as traditionally understood, it will be a serious injustice and undermine that common good for which the civil law exists", the letter stated.

In a press release, Archbishop Anthony Fisher warned of the grave injustice of legitimising "the false assertion that there is nothing distinctive about a man and a woman, a father or a mother".

"Children have a right to grow up with their natural mother and father, where possible," he said.

"Surely there are other ways of honouring the friendships of same-sex attracted and other people without further deconstructing marriage and the family," Archbishop Fisher said.

Sources

• Sydney Catholic Archdiocese
• Image: Daily Telegraph

Archbishop Anthony Fisher said this last week in an interview with Vatican Radio.

This followed his appointment by Pope Francis as a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The archbishop said a lot of people had asked him about what he thinks are the biggest issues at last year's synod and the upcoming synod in October.

"It seems to be that we very easily get distracted by the controversies, the fashion issues that the newspapers and the other media want us to get excited about," Archbishop Fisher said.

He noted that "no doubt they matter very much to individuals who are perhaps in the thick of them, and suffering from them".

"But there are more fundamental things that I think these two synods raise for us, and a very big one I think is how to love," he added.

Archbishop Fisher said modernity speaks a lot about love, but it tends to romanticise it and sentimentalise it.

" . . . I think people in the modern world are not actually very good at it."

He added that deep down, people are aware of this.

"You look at the collapse of the married vocation, in many countries around the world, where as many as half the people are not even trying marriage anymore, and maybe half of those who try marriage, their marriages are failing, this is a crisis of what it means to love, and how to love, and how we support people loving well.

"And I think those are the sorts of issues we have to grapple with, much more than the controversies the headline writers would like the synods to be about."

Archbishop Fisher said the family synods would be "very much pastoral synods".

"But we know the issues they consider also have their doctrinal implications," he said.

Sources

• Vatican Radio
• Image: Catholic Leader

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney and the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, issued a joint statement on February 8.

The religious leaders said they respected Indonesia's laws, but believe Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are reformed men who deserve another chance.

The leaders' statement has been sent to the men's families and the Australian and Indonesian governments.

But Indonesia's ambassador to Australia all but dashed any hopes of a last minute reprieve for the Bali Nine ringleaders, saying their legal options to escape the death penalty are exhausted.

Chan and Sukumaran face execution this month over their role in a failed attempt to export 8.2 kilograms of heroin to Australia in 2005.

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