FED: Australian Catholic bishops warn on danger of tolerance

AAP General News (Australia)
12-16-1998
FED: Australian Catholic bishops warn on danger of tolerance

EDS; CHANGES KEYWORD FROM POPE AUST



By Melissa Langerman

CANBERRA, Dec 16 AAP - Bishops of the Catholic Church have attacked the easygoing nature of
Australians, warning that their tolerance is adding to a crisis of faith.

The attack comes in a statement by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, who have
been attending a special meeting of church leaders from Oceania in Rome.

The bishops said the statement, which takes a strongly conservative approach to church
discipline, contained proposals and directions for the church in Australia.

Signed by Australian Cardinal Edward Clancy and other bishops, it calls for more discipline
on issues like the liturgy; for priests and nuns to return to traditional forms of life and
work; and warns against acceptance of homosexuality and other issues.

It said Australia, "despite the recent brief resurgence of racism", had amalgamated
different groups into one nation because of its spirit of tolerance and solidarity.

But it said tolerance, which could lead to indifference and the acceptance of any opinion
as long as it harmed nobody, also could be a negative in Australia, where the religious crisis
was manifested by more people with no religion and the decline in church practice.

"The tolerance characteristic of Australian society naturally affects the church also," the
statement said.

"It can also lead to a reluctance in claiming that any particular affirmation, belief or
conviction is true."

The statement warned some aspects of feminist scholarship opposing classic anthropology
could lead to problems for Christian morality.

These included "indifference to the poor, racial prejudice and violence, abortion,
euthanasia, the legitimisation of homosexual relationships and other immoral forms of sexual
activity".

It warned priests not to associate with pressure groups or groups not in harmony with the
Churchs mission, not to give priestly tasks to lay people, and not to make changes to
liturgical texts.

It said the option taken by many to live outside religious communities fragmented the life
of religious institutions, and it delivered a stern warning to be loyal to church teachings.

"The faithful strive to deepen their understanding of the faith, not to oppose it or to
subvert it," the statement said.

Sydney priest the Reverend Father Brian Lucas said the statement was a positive one.

"The church always needs to call itself into account, it has to move forward and it has to
live in the real world of here and now," he told ABC radio.

But the Reverend Father Paul Collins, who has written a book critical of the papacy, said
the statement emphasised what Roman authorities thought was important.

He told ABC radio the warning against opposing church views would not stop people from
expressing different opinions.

"The church is not a fundamentalist rump and the kind of notion that somehow or other we
all think the same and act the same and believe the same just is not true to the reality of
the human condition," he said.

AAP msl/mfh

KEYWORD: CATHOLIC (CHANGES KEYWORD)

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