Posts Tagged ‘Frank Brennan SJ’

Indigenous voice referendum sends race relations backwards

Thursday, October 5th, 2023
indigenous voice referendum

Emeritus Professor of Law Fr Frank Brennan SJ has sharply criticised the Albanese government for its handling of the Indigenous Voice referendum. Brennan, a staunch advocate for giving Indigenous Australians a voice in parliament, accuses the Albanese government of three major errors he believes have set back the cause. According to Brennan, the following have Read more

Divine decision: churches split on indigenous Voice vote

Thursday, September 28th, 2023
indigenous voice

As the clock ticks down to the October 14 Australian referendum on the Indigenous Voice, religious leaders in Australia are under the spotlight. Despite the political risks of taking a stand, some urge these leaders to move beyond mere words and show decisive support for the constitutional change. Francis Sullivan, who formerly led the Catholic Read more

Albanese and Dutton need to find common ground on Voice to Australia’s Parliament

Thursday, June 8th, 2023
voice

An Australian priest backing the Indigenous Voice referendum to parliament fears the result will leave Australians divided. That will be a tragedy, he says. Father Frank Brennan (pictured), a Jesuit priest and human rights lawyer, blames leadership on both political sides for not seeking common ground. He hopes a “reconciling spirit” will blow through parliament’s Read more

Anatomy of a travesty: A case that should never have happened

Monday, September 6th, 2021

By special arrangement and courtesy of Fr Frank Brennan SJ, professor of law, and Sydney’s Catholic Weekly: The Anatomy of a Travesty. It’s time to declare that George Pell is innocent of the preposterous charges he faced in the County Court of Victoria and to move on for the good of everyone, including bona fide Read more

Call for Australia to take 20,000 Afghan refugees

Thursday, August 26th, 2021
Australia Afghan refugees

Jesuit Priest and human rights lawyer Father Frank Brennan says Australia should take in 20,000 Afghan refugees rather than the 3,000 being proposed. “There are lots of people, including our veterans, who know these Afghans. They want us to do more. We can do much better than 3,000,” Brennan told Sky News Australia. There are Read more

People are hungry for the Bread of Life, and it’s not just the women

Thursday, August 5th, 2021
voice

A couple of weeks ago, I was a visitor celebrating a parish Mass. I was introduced to the congregation by the choir leader who had sung at my diaconate ordination 36 years ago. After mass, she expressed her displeasure that Pope Francis had announced changes to the Code of Canon Law, lumping together the issues Read more

Two national synods: Tangled webs of conversations

Thursday, June 10th, 2021
Tangled webs of conversations

In our world Church today, there are two conversations at a national level about how a national Synod should occur. One is in Germany and another is in Australia. There seems little doubt that these conversations are only the first two of what will become dozens and dozens of conversations seeking to clarify what the Read more

The seal of Confession

Thursday, September 17th, 2020
voice

In every family, in every community, there are unresolved conflicts; there is sin. In Matthew 18:15-20, he sets out the steps for reconciliation. First, “if your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone”. If that works, well and good. If it doesn’t, then call him to the table with a Read more

Love George Pell or loathe him, we should all be grateful that justice has been delivered

Tuesday, April 7th, 2020
george pell

Some Australians, including many victims of child sexual abuse, revile George Pell. Others hold him in high esteem. Neither of these groups will have their minds changed about Cardinal Pell, ­regardless of what any court might determine. The majority of Australians fall into neither camp. Victorian Police In the midst of controversy and with allegations Read more

Archbishop Philip Wilson’s dead letter day

Monday, December 10th, 2018
Cardinal Pell

The show trial of Archbishop Philip Wilson has backfired badly. The trial caused hurt to many people, most especially victims of child sexual abuse who thought the law was being rightly applied to put an errant Catholic bishop in the frame. Wilson was charged under a provision of the New South Wales Crimes Act, section Read more