The Catholic Weekly 1 November 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 3 1, November, 2020 Money mystery deepens Outback priests step up Archbishop to advocate for religious freedom Australian authorities - but not Victoria Police - follow Vatican fund transfers trail THE DIOCESE of Wilcannia- Forbes has welcomed two newly ordained priests – the first to be ordained in the di- ocese in 12 years. Fr Ravi Muvvala from India and Fr Getulio Goncalves-Ne- to were ordained on Mon- day 19 October by Wilcan- nia-Forbes Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green at the Cathe- dral of the Sacred Heart of Je- sus in Broken Hill. “We’reall veryexcited,” said Bishop Columba Macbeth- Green. “We welcomed one priest with an ordination in Kenya, but it’s been 12 years since there was an ordination within the diocese. “It’s only my third ordina- tion since becoming bishop.” Social distancing and COV- ID-19 restrictions restricted the number of attendees, with ARCHBISHOP ANTHONY Fisher OP will front a NSW parliamentary committee next week to support a NSW religious freedom bill. The first public hearing of the committee inquiring into the Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Free- doms and Equality) Bill 2020 was held at NSW Parliament House on 23 October. The Bill proposing amend- ments to anti-discrimination law to include discrimination on the ground of a person’s religious beliefs or activi- ties was introduced by Mark LathamMLC in May. Dr Michael Casey, director AUSTRALIAN AUTHORITIES are now investigating claims that disgraced Cardinal Ange- lo Becciu transferred more than A$2 million through a Mel- bourne-based US cybersecurity company calledNeustar to bank accounts inAustralia. The money, originally thought to be around A$1.1 million, was wired to Neustar in four unauthorisedpayments be- tween February 2017 and June 2018 from Vatican Secretariat of State funds, with some reported- ly coming from various Catholic charities. Despite the revelations, Vic- toria Police said this week they wouldmakeno investigation. Neustar cybersecurity pro- vides secure transfers of funds but was not the final recipient of themoney.There is no allega- tion that Neustar has brokenany laws or statutes. At a Senate estimates hear- ing on 21 October NSW Sena- tor Concetta Fierravanti-Wells asked Nicole Rose, Chief Exec- utive for AusTrac - Australia’s international financial crimes watchdog - if she could confirm that the matter is being investi- gated. “I can confirmAUSTRAC has looked in to thematter,” saidMs. Rose. “Andwe’ve provided infor- mation to the Australian Federal Police and toVictoriaPolice.” However Victoria Police said theywillnotlaunchaninvestiga- tionbecauseofalackofevidence of ‘suspicious activity.” “Austrac has made Victoria police aware of transfer of mon- ies from the Vatican over a peri- odoftimetoAustralia,”aVictoria Police spokeswoman said. “Theyhavenot advisedVicto- riapoliceof any suspicious activ- ity related to these transactions.” “In the absence of any other evidence or intelligence, Victoria police has noted the advice from Austrac. We are not at this time conducting any further investi- gation.” The information, which Aus- Trac stated was “actionable fi- nancial intelligence” was passed to Victoria Police by the AFP as well as to IBAC, the Victorian Independent Broad-based An- ti-corruptionCommission. Though AusTrac has the ability to collect information on international money transfers it does not have the authority to investigate. Senator Fierravanti-Wells said she has since written to the commissioners of the AFP and ¾ ¾ Benjamin Conolly ¾ ¾ Benjamin Conolly Moment of grace and joy: Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green lays hands on Deacon Ravvi Muvvala as he ordains him to the priesthood on 19 October in Broken Hill. PHOTOS: COURTESY DIOCESE OF WILCANNIA-FORBES Deacons Muvvala and Goncalves-Neto are presented to Bishop Columba during the ceremony. a special government exemp- tion allowing 120 people to be a part of the celebration, but it wasn’t enough to stop the dio- cese faithful gathering in their parishes to watch the historic moment via live-stream. of the PM Glynn Institute at the Australian Catholic Uni- versity, Professor Michael Quinlan, dean of the School of Law at the University of Notre Dame, its associate dean Pro- fessor Keith Thompson, and Dr Bernadette Tobin, director of the Plunkett Centre for Eth- ics at the Australian Catholic University were among those who appeared before the in- quiry to support the bill last Friday. Victoria Police providing them with correspondence received from AusTrac and Department of Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzulloon the issue. Senator Fierravanti-Wells said that she is “looking forward to their investigation with great interest.” “These are serious allegations which will have very significant consequences if they are true,” said the Senator. “Therefore they do require full investigation. “Now it’s up to those author- ities to fully investigate the mat- ter.” Senator Fierravanti-Wells also told media she will pursue thematter. “It’s very clear that Vatican prosecutors are preparing dos- siers for prosecutions and are undertaking investigations,” the Senator said. “Some of the material that is being disclosed in the Italian media are relying ondocuments and Vatican sources, so I think it’s important to keep an eye on thatmedia aswell.” The Political Editor of The Australian newspaper, Dennis Shanahan, said that though there is no evidence to suggest where the funds went, the inter- vention by AusTrac and subse- quent information sharing with authorities is significant. “What we now have are Aus- tralian based investigations, in- cluding investigators that look at corruption, as well as sufficient evidence that AusTrac received in relation to thosemoney trans- fers, all looking at it,” said Mr Shanahan. Cardinal Becciu and his law- yers have repeatedly and strong- ly denied the allegations against him. “Regarding the everlasting attention of some journalists to Cardinal Pell’s trial, [Cardinal Becciu] is compelled to reiterate vigorously that he has never in- terfered with it in any way what- soever,” saidBecciu lawyer Fabio Viglione. “It really brought the di- ocese together,” said Bishop Columba. “To ordain two new priests at the same time was very special for all of us. “That it comes after the horrific drought and the chal- lenges of 2020 makes it even more special. “It’s taken a lot of effort to organise this during the pan- demic, but it’s all just com- pounded to make an even greater occasion.” Recently appointed Wil- cannia-Forbes Chancellor Hugo Ditroia made the nine hour trip from the Chancery in Forbes to the diocese Ca- thedral in Broken Hill. “Its excellent news for the diocese and we’re all very happy and we thank God for sending us Fr Ravi and Fr Get- ulio,” saidMr. Ditroia. “The or- dination was magnificent and a highlight in the history of our diocese that really boost- ed the morale of the people – even if they couldn’t attend in person. “We have a good shepherd among us and he’s leading us to greener pastures.” These are seri- ous allegations which will have very significant consequences if they are true. Now it’s up to those authorities to fully investigate the matter.” Senator Fierravanti-Wells Dr Tobin conveyed her support for the law change which in her submission she said would benefit the whole community, not only people of religious belief. “At a very minimum” she said it will serve as a remind- er of the fundamental human right to freedom of belief. Dr Michael Casey says the Bill is consistent with 10 prin- ciples of religious freedom the Institute developed to guide law reform on the issue. For instance, it is more than simply freedom of per- sonal worship, but entails among other things the rights for religious organisations to “maintain their particular character and ethos in the de- cisions they make on matters such as staffing and volun- teers”. In September more than 19,000 people responded to an online questionnaire about the Bill with nearly 70 per cent saying they supported it as it stands or with some changes. Mr Latham said he would be happy to make “sensible amendments” to support it progressing through parlia- ment. ¾ ¾ Marilyn Rodrigues In September more than 19,000 peo- ple responded to an online question- naire about the Bill with nearly 70 per cent saying they supported it.” NEWS