SAFEGUARDING DESIGNED TO ENSURE FAILURES OF THE PAST ARE NEVER REPEATED AGAIN, SAYS ARCHBISHOP COSTELLOE
By Jamie O'Brien
Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe
SDB has this week spoken in support of National Child Protection Week at a morning tea ahead of Safeguarding Sunday, this weekend, Sunday 11 September.
The Safeguarding Project, said Archbishop Costelloe, is one of the most important things that the church in in this Archdiocese, and more broadly across Western Australia is involved in.
“It is, of course, a response to the terrible failures of the past. But it is a response that's designed to ensure that they are never repeated again,” he said.
This year, parishes across the diocese are being encouraged to celebrate Mass in acknowledgement of Safeguarding Sunday, rather
than just one main celebration at St Mary’s Cathedral.
Continuing his speech to representatives from the Archdiocese at the morning tea, Archbishop Costelloe said he believes they - the people on the ground in the concrete realities of our local communities - are the ones who are there to help ensure that no child, no young person, and no vulnerable adult is ever hurt again, in any of our communities.
“You fulfill the ministry of the Lord who brought hope and healing to the broken, and it was the good shepherd, making sure that his flock was kept safe from harm,”
Archbishop Costelloe said.
“So I'd like to invite you to think of yourselves as fulfilling in the ministry that you have, the call that we all have in our own particular vocations, to be good shepherds to each other. It's a shepherding role
that you have. And it's very much a preventive role,” he said.
This year, the Archdiocesan Safeguarding Office marked the occasion by holding a kite competition, inviting Perth parishioners to be artistic.
The theme for the occasion this year was ‘Every child in every community needs a fair go.’
Acting Director of the Safeguarding Project Office, Barbara Blayney said the Safeguarding Program works with the Church community to raise awareness and to provide guidance, protocols and practices for a safe and nurturing Church.
“Our logo, the kite, was this year was impetus for Child Protection Week activity. And the kite symbolises their connection to self and community while being guided by God, which is our kite tail and the kite guiding string,” Mrs Blayney said.
Zero tolerance for priests guilty of abuse, Pope Francis says in interview
Calling sexual abuse "diabolical" and a "monstrosity," Pope Francis underlined there is "zero tolerance" for those in the church who are guilty of abuse.
"One very key thing is zero tolerance. Zero. A priest cannot continue being a priest if he is an abuser. He cannot act (as a priest) because he is sick or a criminal," Pope Francis said in an interview with CNN Portugal. "If he is a priest, he is there to lead people to God and not to destroy people in the name of God. Zero tolerance and we must not stop at that," he said.
Archbishop Costelloe and Cathedral Dean Rev Dr Sean Fernandez prepare to launch a kite as part of National Child Protection Week, Tuesday 6 September. PHOTO: RON TAN.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE NOT SOMETHING WE CAN TURN A BLIND EYE TO, BISHOP SPROXTON HIGHLIGHTS
Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton has mirrored Pope Francis sentiment in relation to domestic violence, following the Perth launch of the 2022 Social Justice statement Respect: Confronting Violence and Abuse.
The Perth launch of the 2022 Social Justice Statement, held Tuesday 23 August at Newman Siena Centre, was attended by representatives from Archdiocesan agencies and organisations, CEWA, Notre Dame University as well as local Catholics and clergy.
Justice Ecology and Development
Office Director Carol Mitchell launched the statement, emphasising that it acknowledges the more gendered and learned nature of intimate partner domestic violence as well as broader family violence and abuse.
“But notes that this needs to be a whole of community concern with corresponding effective action,”
Mrs Mitchell said.
“That is, timely and culturally
appropriate safety plans are needed, with the prioritising of the survivors’ safety as well as holding the perpetrators to account for their actions (such as through perpetrator behaviour change programs) as they are both critical,” she said.
Mrs Mitchell also highlighted that attendees at the launch were asked to consider that we all have a positive part to play to promote respectful relationships – thus enabling individuals, families and communities to flourish. So, we challenge you today to prayerfully reflect on what is going to move you to social justice action – to help enable others to safety and ‘fullness of life’ (cf John 10:10); and to confront violence and abuse in its many forms.
“Given those in attendance represented a cross section of Catholic agencies and institutions who are well placed to further promote the Statement, the JEDO facilitated Perth Launch broadens the range of change agents so
more can heed the call to respect one another through “relationships marked by equality and reciprocity rather than dominion and control; respect and freedom rather than coercion and control” (SJS, p 13),” Mrs Mitchell said.
In his 2016 exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis acknowledges that domestic violence exists in families in our Church and our parishes, and declares that it is not something we can turn a blind eye to, Bishop Sproxton explained.
“He reiterates Canon 1153, saying that in cases where a spouse and children are experiencing violence and abuse, ‘separation becomes inevitable’ and even ‘morally necessary’ for their safety,” Bishop Sproxton explained.
“He expresses deep empathy for persons in those situations, ‘who have been forced by maltreatment from a husband or wife to interrupt their life together.’
JEDO Director Carol Mitchell, with from left Fr Kelvin Barrett, Acting Director Safeguarding Project Office, Barbara Blayney, Presentation Sisters Congregational Leader, Sr Lucy Van Kessel, MercyCare Multicultural Services, Samira Husic and JEDO Committee of Management member and MC Peter Higgins. PHOTO: MICHELLE TAN.
THREE AUSTRALIANS NAMED TO KEY SYNOD OF BISHOPS GROUP
The journey of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia is seen as a key reason three Australians are part of a group of about 20 people from around the world preparing a key document for the global Synod on Synodality.
More than 100 bishops conferences, including the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, last month published national or regional syntheses following a monthslong period of local consultation in preparation for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
The process will culminate in a meeting in October 2023 with the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission.”
Susan Pascoe and Fr Ormond Rush, who were last year named to serve on commissions supporting the Synod’s work, have also been invited to help prepare what is known as the Document for the Continental Stage.
That document will support ongoing prayer, reflection and discernment in
the lead-up to next year’s meeting.
Bishops Conference President Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, who also served as President of the Plenary Council, was also named to the working group.
Ms Pascoe, who is a member of the Synod’s commission on methodology, said people around the world have been watching Australia’s adoption of a synodal approach, especially through the Plenary Council.
“We have been ahead of the pack, given that the process of spiritual conversation used for much of the Plenary Council is similar to that proposed for the discernment on the Synod in both the first stage in the local churches and for the continental stage,” she said.
“In addition, there has been reflection associated with the conduct of a Plenary Council here in Australia well before it was formally begun.”
Archbishop Costelloe agreed that Australia had something of a “head start”, with the Plenary Council having invited the People of God to consider significant questions around
the Synod’s themes of communion, participation and mission.
“The model of a Church that listens carefully to everyone has – frankly –not been one that has been present everywhere,” he said.
“Through the Plenary Council we took that step and had the opportunity to listen to what more than 220,000 people shared with us.
“The Synod of Bishops invited similar listening and dialogue in every diocese around the world, so I think there has been a recognition that the Australian experience could benefit this global process.”
Fr Rush, an expert on Church councils and synods, serves on the Synod’s theological commission.
He said working with a range of theologians from across the world has given him a keen sense of the global nature of the Church.
“It is this kind of diversity that the notion of synodality seeks to protect and nurture,” he explained.
Fr Ormond Rush (Left) and Susan Pascoe (Middle), who were last year named to serve on commissions supporting the Synod’s work, has also been invited to help prepare what is known as the Document for the Continental Stage. PHOTO:FACEBOOK & ACFID.. Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President and Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, who served as President of the Plenary Council, was also named to the working group.
PHOTO: MICHELLE TAN..
BISHOPS SUPPORT CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WITH GUIDE ON GENDER, IDENTITY
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has released a guide on gender and identity to support Catholic schools in responding to the individual social and pastoral needs of students.
Created and Loved: A guide for Catholic schools on identity and gender outlines a pastoral approach shaped by the theological, medical and legislative context in which Catholic schools operate.
The bishops consulted widely with specialists in education, including principals and teachers, sought advice from parents with children facing various gender questions, heard from bioethicists and other experts in the field, and from the international Church community.
Increasing rates of gender incongruence in Australian society are seen as an
invitation to reflect deeply on the biblical and Christian witness to human dignity.
The guide offers principles that can be used by Catholic education authorities for their own local contexts.
“The Catholic Church and our schools begin from the foundational principle that each person is created in the image and likeness of God, and is loved by God,” said Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli, Chair of the Bishops Commission for Life, Family and Public Engagement.
“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.”
Archbishop Comensoli said Created and Loved is grounded in Christian anthropology, which values the worth
and dignity of every person, and also sees each person holistically, rather than defining that person by any single characteristic.
National Catholic Education Commission Executive Director Jacinta Collins said the guide will be the focus of a session with hundreds of Catholic educators during the National Catholic Education Conference underway in Melbourne.
“This will be the first of many opportunities for Catholic education authorities and schools in the formation of leaders and teachers to reflect on how they can respond to gender and identity with care and sensitivity,” she said.
Ms Collins said Catholic school communities already capably manage students’ needs in this area, but the guide will offer further advice that draws on theological, psychological, medical and legislative knowledge.
“Recent comments by eminent psychologist Professor Ian Hickie highlight the increasing number of medical professionals who are challenging the gender-affirmative approach and are supporting the biopsychosocial approach, which is less invasive, holistic and more closely aligned with a Catholic worldview,” she said.
“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.
“Catholic schools are uniquely pastoral communities, but it is vital that the Catholic vision of the whole person informs our understanding. Created and Loved outlines a sound basis for that approach.”
Created and Loved: A guide for Catholic schools on identity and gender outlines a pastoral approach shaped by the theological, medical and legislative context in which Catholic schools operate. IMAGE: SOURCED.