The Vatican-published document - called the Instrumentum Laboris (or Working Instrument) - is based on 108 national summaries of bishops' conferences from around the world presented to the General Secretariat.

It is not a magisterial document or a catechism, but a way to encourage prayer, dialogue, discernment and the "maturing of a consensus", according to an explanatory paper.

The second round of the Synod on Synodality is to focus more on how decision-making processes in the church can be made more transparent at all levels.

The NZCBC also says the General Secretariat considered submissions from the 300 parish priests from around the world who attended a three-day working session in Rome in April, including Whanganui Parish Priest Fr Craig Butler.

The working paper

The working paper consists of five sections - the introduction, a section on "foundations" of the understanding of synodality, and three "perspectives" sections covering relationships, paths and places.

The NZCBC says the assembly will conclude with a final document,

After that, the synodal process will continue as "the entire People of God in each local Church will be called to concretise the call to grow as a synodal missionary people".

Transparency, accountability, synodality

The working paper focuses particularly on the need for transparency and accountability, and also on the role of women in the Church.

"A synodal church needs a culture and practice of transparency and accountability, which are essential to foster the mutual trust necessary to walk together and take co-responsibility for the common mission" the working paper says.

Demands for transparency and accountability are especially high-profile because of the Church's loss of credibility due to sexual abuse and financial scandals.

The paper also emphasises the fundamental need to make synodality visible in the Church through concrete changes.

"Without concrete changes, the vision of a synodal Church will not be credible, and this will alienate those members of the people of God who have drawn strength and hope from the synodal way."

The need to recognise and strengthen the position of women in all areas of Church life has become clear in the course of the synodal process, the paper says.

"The contributions from all over the world called for a broader participation of women in all phases of church decision-making processes as well as better access to positions of responsibility in dioceses and church organisations in accordance with existing regulations."

The Australian Bishops Conference welcomes the Instrumentum Laboris' publication.

President Archbishop Timothy Costelloe says the working document "will help guide the members of the second assembly of the Synod during their meeting in October in Rome.

"The fruits of that meeting and the consensus that emerges will be entrusted to the Holy Father. He will then, after his own prayerful discernment, offer guidance and direction for the universal Church as it enters the implementation phase of the synodal journey."

Source

• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference
• Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
• Katholisch.de

The conference, sponsored by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the Australian Catholic Media Council and the Australasian Catholic Press Association, aims to address the evolving challenges and opportunities in sharing the Gospel in today's world.

Gaining valuable insights into modern missionary communication, the Congress is pitched as an excellent opportunity for networking, skill building and learning.

Anyone communicating God's message of hope, faith and love across Catholic media and communications channels is welcome to attend the Congress.

Although a complete schedule is not yet available, organisers have published information about some of the opportunities the Congress will offer.

These include presentations and workshops on digital evangelisation, artificial intelligence, social media, videography, photography, advertising, book publishing, web design, strategic communications and spiritual conversation.

Sister Rose Pacatte, the congress keynote speaker, is a Daughters of St Paul member and the founding Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles.

Pacatte is an award-winning film journalist and author or co-author of 15 titles on film, film and scripture, and on media literacy education. She has a Master of Education degree in media studies from the University of London.

Pacatte says she will speak about "Breaking the Silence: The Power and Pitfalls of Catholic Communication in the Digital Landscape".

In this, she will explore the transformative potential and challenges of Catholic communications in the digital era, She will draw on insights from Catholic social teaching and from Pope Francis..

She will also discuss strategies for fostering authentic dialogue, navigating online pitfalls and building bridges in the digital landscape.

Later, during the Congress, Pacatte will run a workshop called "Catholic Creatives Unleashed: Challenges and Opportunities in the Digital Renaissance" where she will examine the intersection of Catholic creativity and digital communication.

This will involve exploring the role of art and vocation, and discerning practical strategies for Catholic communicators, journalists and creatives in the continually developing digital world.

The Congress sessions will be held at the Miller Hotel in North Sydney. An official dinner will be staged at the Kirribilli Club and addressed by Peter Greste, a former foreign correspondent and journalism educator.

Greste worked for Reuters, CNN, the BBC and Al Jazeera predominantly in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

Source

• Media Congress
• Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
• Wikipedia
• NCR

A motion was passed at the plenary meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in Sydney on Tuesday approving the Mass of the Land of the Holy Spirit (Missa Terra Spiritus Sancti) for use in the Diocese of Broome in Western Australia.

The Mass will now be submitted to the Dicastery for Divine Worship for what is known as "recognitio", or official recognition by the Vatican.

"We have to walk with Aboriginal people. I am so pleased that after such a long period of use the Missa Terra Spiritus Sancti has been given official recognition by the bishops of Australia," Bishop Administrator of Broome, Michael Morrissey, said.

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The facts run counter to a scandalous allegation to the contrary, says a statement from the Catholic Church.

Recent news reports allege the Church has refused to hand the Vatican report to the Police.

The Conference has responded firmly, denying the allegations.

It confirmed in the statement that a copy of a report about the former Bishop of Broome's alleged sexually abusive behaviour is in the possession Western Australia Police Deputy Commissioner Allan Adams.

Just why the Police don't seem to have a record of the report is not known.

But the Catholic Church takes its reporting obligations seriously, the bishops' statement continues.

"The Church and Western Australia Police remain in ongoing and collaborative contact in relation to this matter," the statement said, adding that "the Church will continue to offer full transparency and cooperation with the WA Police."

West Australia politicians mistaken

The Bishops Conference statement says that the politicians' "unfounded allegations" that the Catholic Church failed to abide by the state's mandatory reporting laws are wrong.

The politicians have somehow assumed - without justification - that the Church is keeping the report from the WA Police.

The WA politicians' misinformation has led some MPs to wonder if prosecuting the Catholic Church is possible.

Some think it might be appropriate to charge the Church for "failing to adhere to mandatory reporting laws".

The politicians' assumptions are like a made-up story. They couldn't be further from the truth.

The Conference points out the report was handed over to the Police before any ideas about their "failing to adhere to mandatory reporting laws" were raised.

"The Church understands and takes seriously its mandatory reporting obligations under West Australian law.

"Despite unfounded allegations to the contrary, there has been no breach of the Children and Community Services Act 2004, which applies only to children. None of the potential victims were under the age of 18."

The statement also noted that the Catholic Church "continues to encourage anyone who has experienced abuse, or suspects abuse within the community, to come forward and report it to police."

In addition, the Conference statement says: "It is important to note that there were no new potential victims identified in the Church's internal investigations. Western Australia Police already held the list of all potential victims."

Source

• Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

The police have twice investigated Saunders (73) and not charged him, and are now calling on Church authorities to allow them to see the report.

The Vatican report identifies Saunders as a "predator" who sexually assaulted four Aboriginal men and boys and groomed dozens more.

It also says Saunders spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on grooming his victims by plying them with gifts of alcohol, phones, cash and travel.

Besides slamming Saunders' behaviour, the Vatican report is also critical of the two West Australian police investigations into the bishop's alleged offending and their decision not to charge him.

The Vatican noted the first complaint about Saunders was made in 2018. Police began investigating and by March 2020 Saunders had stood aside from his long-standing role as head of the diocese.

In 2020, Australia's Channel 7 heard about the investigation. It later reported that Saunders ordered his staff to collect and burn hundreds of office documents, files and photographs after the abuse allegations went to air.

In May 2021, just over a year after Saunders stood aside, the police decided not to press criminal charges against him. They said the ages of the victims at the time of the alleged acts could not be substantiated through evidence at that time.

It is an outcome that did not impress the Vatican investigators who say the police "mishandled" the inquiry for various reasons.

These included "limited resourcing and competing priorities, a lack of will by senior management to tackle the systemic issues, a strained ­relationship between police and the Kimberley Aboriginal Legal Service, and evidence gaps relating to establishing the ages of the victims at the time of the alleged offences".

Australian Catholic bishops respond

In a statement this week, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference described the allegations as "very serious and deeply distressing, especially for those making the allegations."

It said the independent report had been provided to the Holy See, with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith continuing the investigation.

Conference president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe explained the Church's investigation into allegations against Saunders couldn't start until the Western Australia Police Force inquiries had concluded in 2021.

In 2022, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge oversaw the Church's investigation for the Vatican.

Costelloe entrusted the process to an experienced and independent specialist investigations organisation. Its comprehensive inquiries examined several serious allegations.

"That independent report has been provided to the Holy See, with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith continuing the investigation.

"We will respect the enduring confidential nature of this process ... Saunders, who has maintained his innocence, is able to ...[communicate] directly with the Holy See.

"In due time, the Holy See will make its determinations. It is hoped that this will not be unduly delayed."
Source

• The Australian
• The Guardian
• The West Australian
• Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

According to the Bishops' Conference website's media blog, the delegation from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) made the pastoral visit to several Ukrainian cities on 8-11 August in an expression of solidarity with the country's people.

The delegation consisted of Archbishop Peter A Comensoli of Melbourne; Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart; Bishop Karol Kulczycki SDS of Port Pirie; Father Simon Cjuk, vicar general of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Australia; Annie Carrett, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Melbourne; and was guided and accompanied by Father Adam Ziółkowski SDS.

The delegation visited Lviv, Kyiv, Bucha and Irpin, the last two having been sites of horrendous destruction and atrocities against human life, and met with Church leaders, families, civil leaders, and soldiers.

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The country's bishops have urged the Senate Select Committee on the Cost of Living to take action to mitigate the rising cost of living, which they describe as one of the country's most pressing policy issues.

"Every day, thousands of Australian families feel the effects of international crises, insecure job markets, inflation, rising interest rates and slow wage growth," says Bishop Vincent Long.

Long is chair of the Bishops Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service.

Long said that basic household necessities such as groceries, fuel, energy and housing have become increasingly unaffordable for many Australian families.

The bishops' submission to the committee called for several measures to provide relief for families, including an increase in the minimum wage and policy changes to make housing more affordable.

"Economies exist to serve people"

According to the bishops' submission, a family of four with one income earner on the minimum wage would be 18 per cent below the poverty line.

The bishops suggested that calculating the minimum wage by factoring in the needs of families could address housing affordability issues, which they said is a problem for all Australians, but particularly for families.

"Economies exist to serve people and the bonds of family and community that make life meaningful," Long said.

"Raising a family is not a lifestyle choice, like buying a car or taking on a hobby.

"It is, instead, a fundamental commitment to the development of human persons, both of ourselves and our children.

"Australia's future depends on the social, psychological and material flourishing of its next generation, which is best facilitated through strong, loving families."

Long emphasised that the supply of affordable housing needs to be expanded, with a particular focus on setting aside a higher percentage of new residential developments as housing for low-income earners.

Sources

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Australian Bishops Full Submission

In a rare intervention, Australia's Catholic bishops told the schools that sex is not a social construct but a "physical, biological reality."

Society has "widely adopted the belief that each person's innermost concept of themselves determines their gender identity," the bishops said.

These changes are "in conflict with the Catholic understanding of creation, in which every person is created good and is loved unconditionally" as they are.

For most children and adolescents, gender ­incongruence is a psychological condition. They will pass safely and naturally through this with supportive psychological care, the bishops explained.

Helping children to transition genders isn't necessary, they say.

They suggest teachers use a 'biopsychosocial model' when offering support.

The model is based on research that found a strong relationship between "childhood gender incongruence and family dynamics" that can be quelled with psychological support for both the child and their family.

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli says the guidance document elevated the dignity of every person rather than "defining that person by any single characteristic".

Pastoral care initiatives that are "in conflict with the generosity of the Christian vision" are to be "respectfully avoided".

These include concepts that say gender is arbitrarily assigned at birth, it is fluid and is separate from biological sex.

Comensoli said Catholic schools ­adhered to the "foundational principle that each person is created in the image and likeness of God, and is loved by God.

"That principle guides this document, which we offer to our schools to support them in walking compassionately alongside each student we are invited to educate," he said.

The document is aimed at ­providing support and care to students. It makes no recommendations that would result in students being expelled because of their gender identity.

Rather, it's about encouraging teenagers not to make life-changing decisions when they're too young to know exactly what they're doing, or without rigorous and multi-disciplinary medical assessments.

Catholic schools are encouraged to cater to the needs of students experiencing gender incongruence, a term recommended for use by educators over the term "transgender".

The bishops' document also recommends they provide unisex toilets or change rooms not aligned to biological sex, however.

In addition, it proposes "flexibility with uniform expectations" to cater for student diversity.

The guidance comes amid public debate surrounding the ability of transgender students to participate in school sports.

The National Catholic Education Commission notes many medical professionals are challenging the gender-affirmative approach. They support the biopsychosocial approach, which is less invasive, holistic and more closely aligned with a Catholic worldview.

"It remains critical that our Catholic schools can speak about the Church's teachings on these matters in an informed way, underpinned by the principles of respect and human dignity," the National Commission says.

Source

• The Australian
• The Daily Mail
• Sky News

Individuals and groups were invited to reflect on and respond to a series of questions across the Synod of Bishops' three key themes: communion, participation and mission.

The online portal for submissions closed in March with more than 1100 responses received on behalf of thousands of people.

Trudy Dantis, the national coordinator of the Synod of Bishops and director of the National Centre for Pastoral Research, said the various sources of information will allow for meaningful reports to be prepared.

Dantis said, "When you add the significant content that was gathered during the Plenary Council's initial Listening and Dialogue phase, which was also collated at the diocesan level, there is rich material for each diocese to draw into their Synod of Bishops reports."

The Diocese of Parramatta held a Synod of Bishops Exhibition Night titled: ‘A Church diverse, but in union'.

The meeting was held over Zoom (pictured) and facilitated by the Diocesan Committee for the Consultation on the Synod of Bishops and the Diocesan Synod Writing Group.

More than 650 responses were received and then assembled into a draft synthesis titled "Go out into yhe deep: become the Church Christ calls us to be".

Anastasia Boulus, a member of the writing group, presented a summary of the responses. From the responses received, the writing group identified seven themes.

The themes explored and acknowledged the existing synodality of the diocese through pastoral councils, approaches to leadership, school commitments, and the wisdom of religious institutes.

The themes also identified areas for growth and change including

• cultural inclusion and welcome
• embracing the spirit of Vatican II
• transparent and synodal leadership
• more opportunities for education and formation
• greater inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• LGBTQIA+ catholics
• those of other faiths
• creative and welcoming liturgies

Jim, a participant, described the Synod as "a group of people together, listening intently to each other across the great variety of differences of points of view and considering what they're hearing in a very prayerful way."

The Writing Group was due to finish its report on 1 May, then to be forwarded as the Diocesan Contribution to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

Sources

Catholic Outlook

Diocese of Parramatta

Australia Catholic Bishops Conference

Go out into the Deep: Draft Document

Instead, Morrison insisted, people of faith must be defended from those who seek to marginalise and silence them.

After tabling the government's religious discrimination bill in parliament on Thursday, Morrison said faith groups and individuals should be shielded from the "prevalence of cancel culture in Australian life".

"It's true, it's there, it's real," Mr Morrison said.

"Australians shouldn't have to worry about looking over their shoulder, fearful of offending an anonymous person on Twitter, cowardly sitting there abusing and harassing them for their faith, or transgressing against political or social zeitgeists.

"We have to veer away from the artificial, phoney conflicts, boycotts, controversies and cancelling created by anonymous and cowardly bots, bigots and bullies."

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus said Labor would "carefully review the bill" and speak with religious bodies, civil society and community organisations, LGBTIQ groups and legal experts.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has welcomed the introduction of the Religious Discrimination Bill. They say it will provide basic human rights protections for Australians of all faiths to express their beliefs.

Archbishop Peter A Comensoli, chair of the Bishops Commission for Life, Family and Public Engagement, has commended the bill. He said it offers "a positive expression of religious freedom" that will be "an important progression towards parity with other anti-discrimination laws in Australia."

"All Australian citizens, regardless of their religious belief or activity, should be able to participate fully in our society. They must be entitled to the equal and effective protection of the law. They should not be discriminated against based on their religious belief or activities in public life."

Trade unions on Thursday opposed the religious discrimination bill, with the ACTU warning the new laws would "undermine the mental health and safety of Australian workers."

ACTU president Michele O'Neil said the proposed religious protections would hand "exemptions to religious employers to discriminate against workers on religious grounds."

Sources

The Australian

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president says the government should provide at least 20,000 humanitarian places for refugees from Afghanistan in the wake of the current Taliban takeover.

In a letter to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Coleridge points out the "outpouring of concern for the people of Afghanistan" since the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control ten days ago.

Even though Australia has provided 8,000 places for Afghan people for several years, the current need to increase the refugee intake is pressing, Coleridge urges.

He told Morrison that although the additional 3,000 places it is offering "is a substantial commitment," more are needed.

Based on estimates from key humanitarian organisations and pledges from other countries, Coleridge suggested to Morrison that at least another 17,000 places need to be made available.

Coleridge also promised Morrison help from the Catholic Church in Australia.

"Australia has stepped up before in response to significant humanitarian crises and I urge your government to be generous," his letter says.

The Catholic agencies "stand ready to assist your government with the resettlement of refugees as an expression of our great concern for the people of Afghanistan."

Coleridge's letter emphasises the very real danger people in Afghanistan face.

He said many Afghans would find themselves vulnerable under Taliban rule.

He made particular mention of those who supported Australia's defence personnel when they served in Afghanistan. They included people who lost their lives, religious minorities and women.

"It would seem our moral duty to stand with those who supported Australian military forces as interpreters or in other capacities, who it seems likely will suffer reprisals and even death for their work," he continues.

"We should also offer refuge to other Afghans who are likely to suffer persecution or risk being killed because of their opposition to the Taliban, or because of their beliefs, values and way of life, including members of the Christian community.

"There is a particular risk to women, and Australia's humanitarian response should recognise and support their dignity and human rights."

Source

• Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Image: BBC

The Australian bishops are also planning to base their updated translation on the Revised New Jerusalem Bible (RNJB).

Bishop Stephen Lowe says New Zealand's bishops have been discussing the "biblical choice of version for our lectionary" for some time now. The choice was between the RNJB and the English Standard Version-Catholic Edition (ESV-CE).

They have decided on the RNJB because it "uses inclusive language, and is based on the Jerusalem Bible translation, that is the current approved lectionary for New Zealand," Lowe says. Furthermore, its language is familiar and more poetic than the ESV-CE.

UK priest and theologian Thomas O'Loughlin explains the lectionary provides a list of biblical texts arranged according to a plan.

"It is a means of bringing ancient texts that have been valued in liturgical gatherings before us in such a manner that they are an element in our liturgy."

The ordering is based on our liturgical needs today.

"This means the plan of any lectionary is built upon the structures of the liturgy - most especially the liturgical year and the other needs being celebrated (e.g. a wedding), not upon any supposed ‘plan of the bible."

One of Lowe's roles sees him represent NZ bishops on the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). Lectionary translations were discussed at the ICEL February meeting this year.

Lowe says representatives from the Indian and the Scottish bishops' conferences reported a lack of inclusive language in the ESV-CE the Bishops Conference of England and Wales had adapted.

Australian Jesuit priest Gerald O'Collins, who is a world-leading theologian and biblical scholar is critical of the ESV-CE. He says the translations lack of inclusive language is an "egregious example of inaccuracy."

It uses masculine language, even though the text uses generic language.

"It renders into English the words of Jesus about the cost of discipleship: ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it' (Matthew 16:24-25).

"The implication is that Jesus envisages only men, and not women, as his followers. As John Barton put it: ‘The argument that ‘masculine language is meant to include women will not wash nowadays, whatever may have been the case in the not-so-distant-past'."

Source

• Catholic News
• Supplied: Thomas O'Loughlin
• Image: You Tube

Aiming to teach the girls at the region's exclusive Catholic schools to use inclusive language, the girls are not allowed to use male-centric terms or the words 'Lord', 'Father' and 'Son'.

The girls at AU$40,000 a year Stuartholme School in Brisbane, are taught to use the word 'Godself' instead of 'himself'.

"As we believe God is neither male or female, Stuartholme tries to use gender-neutral terms in prayers … so that our community deepens their understanding of who God is for them, how God reveals Godself through creation, our relationships with others and the person of Jesus," a spokeswoman says.

The principal of another school says prayers written for use within the college didn't assign God a gender. The word 'Lord' is not used anymore as it is a "male term".

A different view is taken at another girls' school where gender-neutral terms are used wherever possible but for traditional prayers gendered language is still used.

That school says context is important and helps decide what language is appropriate.

The Catholic Office for the Participation of Women director says she is 'thrilled' and it was 'terrific' schools were moving towards inclusive language.

The Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference has previously suggested schools use gender-neutral terms where appropriate.

Brisbane's top Catholic boys' school St Joseph's College has replaced the term 'brothers' with 'sisters and brothers' and 'brotherhood' with 'international community'.

"This has been an area of growth for us in recent times," a spokesman says.

"We have made changes to a number of prayers to be more gender-inclusive."

Source

• Daily Mail
• Image: journeychristianmagazine.com

It is presently reviewing the clerical and hierarchical models that have failed dioceses and parishes during the ongoing child sex abuse crisis.

Collegial models would see the significant participation of laypeople says Jack de Groot, who is a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference and Catholic Religious Australia six-person review committee.

De Groot says this would enable leveraging lay people's expertise and would aim to bring gender parity to the running of the church in a country that has been at the forefront of dealing with child sex abuse.

He thinks it is clear that the current model of church governance does not work.

"There are tensions in finding a governance model, in the Gospel imperative of looking after the poorest of the poor, the most marginalised people in society and how we do this within financial best practice and by offering the best in class in terms of quality and impact," he says.

He notes it all must be done "with accountability and with a view to what is the right thing to do consistently".

"The review is about how do we bring more accountability, more transparency into the process of decision-making - and critically about who participates in that decision-making ," he says.

"We need the best of governance in corporate and government institutions and more," he said. "As we change things, we have to bring people along, but the work has really already begun in areas like safeguarding. People have instituted good practices ... that take safeguarding seriously and diligently."

De Groot says the review is the Church's first major move to implement the recommendations of Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse.

The Royal Commission criticised the Catholic Church, other religious groups and both state and non-state secular organisations and institutions.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: YouTube

The Church has committed to taking part in the new nationwide scheme.

"We support the Royal Commission's [into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse] recommendation for a national redress scheme, administered by the Commonwealth, and we are keen to participate," Archbishop Mark Coleridge says.

Coleridge is the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

"Survivors deserve justice and healing and many have bravely come forward to tell their stories," he said in a joint statement with Catholic Religious Australia (CRA).

Australia's Royal Commission found 7 per cent of Australia's Catholic priests were accused of abusing children in the six decades since 1950.

It also found up to 15 per cent of priests in some dioceses were alleged perpetrators between 1950 and 2015.

Almost 2,500 survivors told the Commission about sexual abuse in an institution managed by the Catholic church.

They represent 61.8 per cent of all survivors who reported sexual abuse in a religious institution.

The redress scheme, which is currently before parliament, is likely to begin on 1 July and will last for 10 years.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said if all states and institutions across Australia opt in, the scheme could provide support to around 60,000 people.

At present all states except Western Australia have signed up to the scheme, which will enable survivors to be paid up to A$150,000.

CRA president Ruth Durick said while she recognised redress will not take away a survivor's pain, CRA (representing over 130 congregations) hopes it "... can provide some practical assistance in the journey toward recovery from abuse."

Redress is offered as an alternative to taking compensation through the courts.

It can include access to psychological counselling, a direct personal response such as an apology from the responsible institution for people who want it, and a monetary payment.

Dr Judy Courtin, a lawyer who has helped survivors pursue redress through institutions and the courts, said it made sense that major religious institutions had agreed to sign on to the scheme.

"It will be cheaper for them to pay many survivors the $150,000 cap rather than risk survivors taking them to court, where a court might find they are entitled to much more," she said.

"Most religious institutions will ultimately agree to join because doing so will be saving them money."

Source

• BBC
• The Guardian
• Reuters
• Image: TRT World

The Commission wants legislation introduced to jail people who fail to report child sexual abuse, including priests.

In response, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference chair, Archbishop Denis Hart says while the church is "absolutely committed" to reporting child abuse disclosed to them outside of confession, priests have an "absolute moral obligation" to preserve the secrecy of the confessional.

They should accept a prison term rather than reveal the contents of a sacramental confession, Hart says.

"What goes on in the confessional is between God and the person and I am there for them to know that they are forgiven," he says.

In the Commission's view, however: "The right to practice one's religious beliefs must accommodate civil society's obligation to provide for the safety of all and, in particular, children's safety from sexual abuse.

"Institutions directed to caring for and providing services for children, including religious institutions, must provide an environment where children are safe from sexual abuse. Reporting information relevant to child sexual abuse to the police is critical to ensuring the safety of children."

Changing the law to reflect the Commission's recommendations may not be straightforward.

As Hart points out, the laws in Australia "and in many other countries recognise the special nature of confession as part of the freedom of religion, which has to be respected."

Other high-profile clerics are backing Hart, including Jesuit priest and lawyer Frank Brennan.

"If there is a law that says that I have to disclose it [perpetrators' sex abuse confessions], then yes, I will conscientiously refuse to comply with the law," Brennan told The Australian.

"All I can say is that in 32 years no one has ever come near me and confessed anything like that.

"And instituting such a law, I say, simply reduces rather than increases the prospect that anyone ever will come and confess that to me."

The CEO of the Australian Catholic Church's Truth Justice and Healing Council, Francis Sullivan, says if the law is changed priests will have to make personal, conscience decisions that will have to be dealt with by the authorities in accordance with the new law.

Source

• Catholic Culture
• Catholic Herald
• New York Times
• Sky News Australia
• Image: Newcastle Herald
  

They say the eConferences have attracted growing interest from communities across the world and this year's event will be streamed live. Read more