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Sydney, Australia, Sep 25, 2019 / 06:40 pm (CNA).- In the wake of a major clergy sex abuse scandal and the high-profile, controversial trial and conviction of sex abuse of Cardinal George Pell, government and Church officials in Australia are scrambling for solutions.

Among these proposed or enacted interventions are those that would break with teachings or traditions of the Catholic Church.

One such oft-proposed intervention is the scrapping of the seal of confession, a proposed solution included in the Australian Royal Commission’s report on clergy abuse published last year.

Earlier this month, the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania passed a law requiring priests to violate the seal of confession if anything in the confession indicated or implicated someone in a case of child sex abuse. The laws add religious leaders to the existing list of mandatory reporters, and failure to report abuse is punishable by time in prison.

Unlike in other countries with similar laws and policies, reports of child abuse made in a sacramental context are no longer exempt and must be reported.

A similar bill is being considered in Queensland, ABC in Australia reported.

If priests were to follow this law, they would be in serious violation of the teachings of the Catholic Church. According to the Code of Canon Law: “The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also states that priests are bound to keep confessions secret without exceptions: “Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to persons, the Church declares that every priest who hears confessions is bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him. He can make no use of knowledge that confession gives him about penitents’ lives. This secret, which admits of no exceptions, is called the ‘sacramental seal,’ because what the penitent has made known to the priest remains ‘sealed’ by the sacrament.”

Bishops in both Tasmania and Victoria have said that their priests are unable to follow these news laws. The bishops of Australia also defended the seal of confession in their written response to the Royal Commission report last year.

“Personally, I’ll keep the seal,” Archbishop Peter Comensoli during an August 14 interview with ABC Radio Melbourne, shortly after the bill was introduced to the Victorian parliament. The archbishop said that he would urge anyone who confessed to abuse to report themselves to the police. However, a priest is forbidden from ordering a penitent to turn themselves in to the authorities.

Australian priest Fr. Kevin Dillon told ABC radio in Australia that he believes the seal could be changed because the rules of the seal of confession are “not written in scripture” and instead are taken from the tradition of the Church.

In another reaction to the sex abuse crisis, some Catholic officials have said that the formation of seminarians needs to be completely reimagined.

Typically, a seminarian studying to be a priest enters 7-8 year program of classes in philosophy and theology, with focuses on spiritual, human, academic and pastoral formation.

But according to an investigation by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, using data from the Royal Commission’s investigation, “seminaries had become places where repressed young men would experiment sexually with one another with little consequence, before some of them turned their attention to children in their parish,” The Age reported.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, president of the Australian bishops’ conference, told Crux in August 2018 that “In seeking to combat clericalism, we need to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Clearly, it requires a radical revision of how we recruit and prepare candidates for ordination. Much has changed in our seminaries, but one has to wonder whether seminaries are the place or way to train men for the priesthood now.”

The Age reports that a new “national program of priestly formation” is already being developed and will be considered by the Australian bishop’s conference in November.

One change already announced by Church leaders is that seminarians will be subjected to the same training and screening as other Church officials by the Catholic Professional Standards Ltd, a group that safeguards against child sex abuse through trainings and audits of Catholic bishops, priests and religious. The independent group is chaired by a lay board; its members are the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia.

Sheree Limbrick, chief executive of Catholic Professional Standards Limited, told The Age that a rethinking of seminary formation should also include “ongoing formation, support and supervision” of seminarians and priests, and that the audit process would help hold seminarians and priests accountable.

Francis Sullivan, the previous head of the church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council, told The Age that within the Church there are already “quite a lot of conversations about whether the seminary model is fit for purpose any more – that a revamp of the system is long overdue.”

“I think people like Archbishop Mark Coleridge are seriously considering whether the system works or whether there should be more of a focus on seminarians being integrated into academic and parish life,” he said.

The Age reports that Coleridge has previously mentioned a possible “apprenticeship model” of formation for seminarians, where they would study the same classes but have a closer relationship with a parish on the ground level. Coleridge declined further comment to The Age on the subject.

Shane Healy, a spokesman for the Melbourne Archdiocese, told The Age there was “no intention” to close the diocesan seminary, Corpus Christi, and that the bishops and leadership of the school were “committed to Corpus Christi College being a place of excellence in the formation of our future priests.”

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Sydney, Australia, Aug 9, 2019 / 02:28 pm (CNA).- The Archbishop of Sydney has expressed his disappointment at the passage by the lower house of the New South Welsh parliament of a bill to decriminalize abortion, and the failure to pass limiting amendments.

The Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 passed the Legislative Assembly Aug. 8 by a vote of 59 to 31.

“If a civilisation is to be judged by how it treats its weakest members, New South Wales failed spectacularly today,” commented Archbishop Anthony Fisher, O.P.

The bill “still allows abortion right up to birth. It conscripts all medical practitioners and institutions into the abortion industry by requiring them to perform abortions themselves or direct women to an abortion provider. It still does nothing to protect mothers or their unborn children or to give them real alternatives,” he said.

The bill would allow abortion for any reason up to 22 weeks of pregnancy; after that, it would allow for abortions if two doctors believe an abortion should be performed, considering physical, social, and psychological circumstances.

It does not mandate any counseling or period of consideration for the woman, and it would require doctors with conscientious objections to refer women to other abortion providers.

The bill would also make it a criminal offense for individuals to perform abortions without the proper authorizations, carrying a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment for doing so.

According to supporters of the bill, it clarifies what they believe were previously ambiguous terms in penal code with regard to abortion.

But opponents believe it opens the possibility of elective abortion at any time, as long as two doctors consent.

Under current law, abortion is only legal in NSW if a doctor determine’s that a woman’s physical or mental health is in danger. “Mental health” has been interpreted by courts to include “economic and social stress.”

The bill was to have been introduced to the state parliament July 30, and debated last week. Debate was delayed, however, until Aug. 6, after concerns it had been rushed through without proper consideration.

Tanya Davies, a Liberal Party member and fomer women’s minister, introduced an amendment that would have barred sex-selective abortion.

The amendment was voted down, with some legislators arguing it could lead to racial discrimination and profiling, and that sex-selective abortion “is not an issue in NSW”, reported The Catholic Weekly, the Archdiocese of Sydney’s publication.

Instead, legislators supported an amendment expressing disapproval of sex-selective abortion and a review of the situation in a year’s time.

Another amendment mandating that a child born alive after a failed abortion be given lifesaving care was also defeated.

“While I do not agree with abortion at any stage, I am horrified that a majority of lower house members deliberately and wilfully ignored the plight of babies born alive and that one member went so far as to state that informed consent (ie. free choice) is a barrier to abortion for pregnant persons,” Dr. Rachel Carling, CEO of Right to Life NSW, commented.

Bishop Richard Umbers, an auxiliary bishop of Sydney and the Australian bishops’ delegate for life, said that despite the bill’s advancement, “the Catholic Church will continue to provide support, advise and care for all women facing any decision surrounding her pregnancy.”

The thanked all who “rallied to oppose the culture of death,” saying: “The graces given by God to the people of Sydney as a result of your fervent and tireless prayers and support for life will bring about great good for NSW in ways we will be blessed to witness and in many unknown ways.”

St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney was opened for 65 hours of continuous Eucharistic adoration from Aug. 5-8, and hundreds of pro-life persons participated in a prayer vigil.

Archbishop Fisher thanked “the thousands of people who spoke up on behalf of the unborn and their mothers by contacting their MPs, by maintaining a consistent presence at Parliament House, and by praying for the defeat of this bill at round‐the‐clock vigils at St Mary’s Cathedral and elsewhere.”

“Please continue to pray for a civilisation of life and love, and to make your views known to the members of the Legislative Council, asking them to vote against this bill,” he urged.

The bill is opposed by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Church of Australia, and the NSW Presbyterian Church.

“Rather than pursuing laws that will lead to more abortions, we should instead be investing in ways to support pregnant women who feel they have no other choice,” Archbishop Fisher said July 29.

Bishop Michael McKenna of Bathurst said July 31 that “Those who propose the legislation are no doubt sincere in their arguments. However, as so often in this debate, someone is forgotten. That is the human being: unborn, but human, who has no rights when her or his life or death is being decided. Also forgotten are those medical professionals who would conscientiously oppose such procedures, from whom the law could withdraw protection. And thoroughly forgotten are the mothers faced with difficult circumstances in their pregnancies, for whom, instead of genuine care, only the bleak option of a termination is offered.”

And Fr. David Ranson, administrator of the Diocese of Broken Bay, said, “the killing of life, with the liberal possibility allowed for in the proposed legislation, cannot make ours a more human society. If with legal sanction we kill those who are most vulnerable … we rob ourselves of our human dignity which is best demonstrated in a quality of care exercised even in the face of life’s demand and challenge. Such an option represents a gross failure of social imagination and public moral leadership.”

The bill was introduced by Alex Greenwich, an independent member who was instrumental in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Australia.

The Legislative Council is scheduled to table the bill for debate Aug. 20.

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Sydney, Australia, Jul 7, 2018 / 04:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic schools in Australia could see an increase of up to $74 million a year from independent schools following a new review proposing better use of data to rank families’ socioeconom… […]