Australia Archives

Poll finds majority of Australian Catholics back same-sex marriage

When Australians start receiving ballots in the mail in November for a postal plebiscite on the legalization of same-sex marriage, a new poll suggests it could draw as much as two-thirds support from the country’s five million Catholics. That’s despite the fact that Australian bishops have called on people to vote no, and one bishop recently warned that Church employees who enter into a same-sex marriage could be fired.

Head of Australia’s bishops: Employees entering same-sex marriages could be fired

Ahead of a plebiscite in Australia on same-sex marriage, the head of the Australian Catholic bishops’ conference said, “Our teachers, our parish employees are expected totally to uphold the Catholic faith and what we believe about marriage. People have to see in words and in example that our teaching of marriage is underlined.”

Vote ‘No’ on same-sex marriage but show respect, Australian bishops say
- Global Church
- August 18, 2017
Australian bishops have called citizens in the country to vote ‘No’ at the postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage in November, which would open the door to changing the current law that recognizes marriage as between a man and a woman. The archbishop of Adelaide also invited Catholics to participate in the debate “in the spirit of grace, calm reverence and respect.”
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Commission in Australia says priests should report abuse heard in confession
- Global Church
- August 14, 2017
Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse says 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.” Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said in a statement the inviolability of the seal of confession is a “fundamental part of the freedom of religion.”
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Cardinal lands in Australia to face sexual abuse charges
- Associated Press, Vatican
- July 10, 2017
Cardinal George Pell is due to appear in a court in the Victoria state capital Melbourne on July 26 on what Victoria Police described as multiple counts of “historical sexual assault offenses” — meaning crimes that generally occurred years ago. When police announced the charges last month, Pell vowed to fight the allegations, saying: “The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.”
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