catholicweekly.com.au 17 19, April, 2020 E ditorial & letters Dorin’s World Send your letters to:
[email protected] By the post: The Editor, Level 13, 133 Liverpool St, Sydney NSW 2000 AUSTRALIA Hasty Judgements always rash and irrational R ash Judgement is, by definition, an act on the basis of insufficient evidence which attributes some- thing morally discreditable to another or denies something morally creditable. The judgement of anyone who, despite the High Court acquittal, maintains that Cardinal Pell was acquitted on a techni- cality is obviously rash. Bede Hickey East Gosford NSW ABC anti-Catholic bigotry must be scrutinised Y our editorial of last Sunday ‘Inquiries not optional – they’re essential’ is to be commended for its bold and accurate depiction of taxpayer funded institutions in this country failing dismally to discharge their respective duties. The Australian Broadcasting Corpora- tion’s rabid, distorted and frenzied cam- paign against Cardinal Pell (and by ex- tension the Church) should be called out for what it is: vitriolic anti-Catholic bigot- ry. This organisation is a cancer on Aus- tralian society and, as with any tumor, should be excised. Joseph O’Sullivan Batemans Bay NSW Kristina siding with lynch mob was rash indeed K ristina Keneally, former State Premier and darling of the Labor Left, took a swipe at Archbishop Comensoli last year for openly saying he believed in Cardinal Pell’s inno- cence. I have yet to hear her response to Archbishop Fisher’s statement which was even stronger. I think she would go into convulsions if she knew there is a Mass of thanksgiving for the cardinal’s acquittal. Do people like Kristina not understand the concept of friendship and loyalty? Stephen Early North Richmond NSW Delighted Catholic Weekly is available free online T hank you Catholic Weekly f or continuing to publish each week and making it available free online. This is just so wonderful that we can continue to read your informative, interesting and uplifting articles. Thanks also to Archbishop Anthony and all those who made it possible, for the most wonderful Good Friday litur- gy and Easter Sunday Mass televised on Chanel 7, and for the other livestreamed services. In these dark times it provid- ed a glorious ray of hope, connecting us all together. I personally found it all very uplifting, especially the Archbishop’s homilies. I was so proud of our church - there on display for the whole country to see. God bless all involved for keeping the faith shining bright. Mark Wilson Woolwich Church has done more than most addressing abuse I n the wake of Cardinal Pell’s acquit- tal, I keep encountering the false claim that the Church is still doing nothing about child safety. The people making this claim paint the church as cold and uncaring, interested only in its reputation, and learning nothing from the past. Frommy own experience in the Church, I know this is absolutely false. The Church in Australia has made leaps and bounds in child safety on mul- tiple fronts, including the training of all church personnel, implementing best practice in reporting and responding to claims of abuse, the establishment of safeguarding offices and external bodies to investigate claims of abuse. Then there is the establishment of na- tional bodies to oversee and keep dioces- es accountable, implementing best prac- tice for compensation – and so on. On top of this, we are in the process of implementing the recommenda- tions of the Royal Commission. I have heard it said that, the Catholic Church as it stands now is probably one of saf- est places for children to be. I suggest The Catholic Weekly lists and explains all that the Church in Australia is doing for child-safety. As a point of reference, it would be good to compare the Church’s current practice with other contemporary in- stitutions. Some may dismiss this but I think the wider community needs to see that we are taking this very seriously, and that we do care. Name supplied Cherrybrook NSW When the journalists don’t know their beats W atching television coverage of Cardinal Pell leaving Barwon prison, the reporter was at pains to point out that Cardinal Pell had not been found innocent, only found not guilty. But his acquittal is also, legally speaking, the vindication of his innocence. Terry O’Neill Cabarita NSW Lessons of High Court ruling go deep for all A lthough its occurrence was entirely unantici- pated, the broadcast of Easter liturgies from St Mary’s Cathedral was a sign that, even in the most difficult and unexpected circumstances, something good can emerge from a dark moment. Chan- nel 7 is to be deeply congratulated on the unprecedent- ed broadcasts of Good Friday and Easter Sunday which we can now accurately report deeply heartened a million or more Australians over Easter who were shut out of their churches by government decree. Outside papal liturgies in this nation, it is difficult to nominate any other occasion on which any bishop of Aus- tralia has, in essence, preached a homily to the nation – not once but twice. Although a substitute, a massive cathedral of hundreds of thousands took shape briefly and Channel 7 can take great credit for that. Much good will come of what happened at Easter. LETTERS T wo of the most important articles in this week’s edition of The Catholic Weekly appear in its centre pages. The first, by well-known US priest-writer Fr Raymond De Sousa, illustrates that the lessons of the Cardinal Pell affair have been understood in some quar- ters of the Church, at least, and overseas. That Catholics and any other interested parties around the world understand the forces at work in the whole tawdry episode is vitally im- portant. The second, by University of Notre Dame research fellowMark Balnaves, who has lectured extensively in Com- munications andmedia studies at a number of universities around Australia and overseas and who is a former jour- nalist, sets out - in general terms, at least - the way in which journalists prime and frame stories and are able to powerful- ly shape and influence the perceptions of the public. Both, in their own ways, complement the incisive com- mentary of figures such as outgoing ACU Vice Chancellor Greg Craven whose video encounter with the ABC’s shell shocked Karina Carvalho has thankfully gone viral and the masterful demolition of the prosecution case by well-known Jesuit lawyer Frank Brennan. Fr Brennan’s interview on Sky- News last week after the Cardinal was declared innocent by the High Court and released, was a tour de force in legal demolition of one of themost shoddy cases ever to have been brought before the courts. And in an almost-certainly unin- tended way, Fr Brennan’s limpid legal reasoningmade Vic- torian Police Commissioner GrahamAshton look compara- tively silly as he attempted to defend the conduct of his police force in bringing the case to court in the first place. Despite having just been crushed by the High Court – unanimously – on points any Year 10 legal studies student would comprehend, Commissioner Ashton sounded very much like aman who doesn’t knowwhat’s happening on his own watch and, worse, a police commissioner who is not necessarily in control. Using reasoning that defied even the most charitable efforts to interpret it in some positive way, Commissioner Ashton’s self-contradicting logic only lent ob- vious support to calls fromnumerous legal experts and prac- titioners of the law around the nation for the role of Victoria Police to be subject to a Royal Commission. The lessons to be drawn from the entire trajectory of the case need to be fundamentally understood and absorbed by every member of the Church in this country – not just its management class but by the entire laity as well. Most ob- vious is the lesson that the entire case against Cardinal Pell was clearly constructed and reported in a way designed to make the Cardinal the scapegoat and stoke the flames of an- ti-Catholic sentiment. A loose coalition of journalists and po- lice, whose interests coincided, attempted to slap down the Church on a national level in this country. That numerous members of the Church’s management class in Australia either did not appear to understand what was really happening, or that they were too frightened of the public relations effort necessary to take amore openly prin- cipled stand (with few honourable exceptions), speaks vol- umes about them. This therefore invites a deep and protract- ed examination of conscience for all Catholics, especially the laity, on how to exercise what might be called a lay-led leadership in the public square. Sometimes, occasionally, the sheepmust lead the shepherds. Congrats to Channel 7 for televising services