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The church’s falling support in Australia is a “wake-up call” for Catholics, says Archbishop Timothy Costelloe.
Catholicism is battling to balance its convictions with the realities of an increasingly secular nation.
40 per cent of the population identifies having no religion and only 20 per cent identify as Catholic. That’s down from 22.6 per cent in 2016, according to the latest census results.
“I think it’s a very clear indication to us of the direction our society is going,” Costelloe says. “It’s not surprising but it’s a bit of a wake-up call to remind us we can’t be complacent.
“We know the way we understand the meaning of life and the way we look at life is not shared by everybody; we do not want to impose it on anybody, but we do want to offer it. It is a gift we can bring to our society but like any gift you can take it or leave it … we want to offer it as openly and as generously as we can.”
Costelloe says the church needs to be faithful to its core principles and believe in the “gifts” Catholicism has to offer, including a way to make sense of the world and the call to live life with integrity.
He says the Plenary Council spent much of this week debating what approach to take to claw back its diminishing flock.
“A lot of our discussions have been about this idea of the church being a church that goes out to people, meets them where they are, offers them the gift we bring and leaving it up to them to decide if they want to take it up.”
Costello, who is the bishops’ conference president, says he hopes work on Australia’s Religious Discrimination Bill would resume under the new government.
“I certainly hope that (Anthony Albanese) will be faithful to the fact that both sides of politics have been publicly committed to taking this step,” he said.
At the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference plenary this week the bishops moved to re-endorse the Uluru Statement from the Heart. They also issued an apology to survivors of abuse. They aim to make amends with groups they have historically wronged.
“The Catholic Church and other churches and organisations were part of the Stolen Generations disaster, but we are very committed … to the journey of reconciliation,” Costello says.
The church is also seeking to make amends with abuse victims, re-offering an apology to those who suffered abuse at the hands of the clergy.
Costello also commented about the renewed debate on abortion rights, the church in Australia following Roe v Wade. He remains firm.
“As Catholics we uphold that the child in the womb is a human being and has as much right to life as anyone else. That is our fundamental position.”
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