The position of the Catholic Church in Australia has been seriously weakened by the extraordinary remarks and interventions of the vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, Professor Zlatko Skrbis, says Australian columnist Greg Sheridan.
Sheridan was referring to a speech by Joe de Bruyn, who used three examples to reflect on how to live a Catholic life. Joe de Bruyn is a retired trade unionist, Labour figure and Campion College board member.
Sheridan says that “at the first mention of the word ‘abortion’ a walkout began, which included a majority of graduands and a majority of university staff present”.
“A serious vice-chancellor would have attended the speech himself” wrote Sheridan.
He is calling on the vice-chancellor to apologise to de Bruyn for the rudeness shown him and reiterate ACU’s commitment as a Catholic institution to Catholic teaching.
University offers counselling
However, the university later offered counselling to those affected by the speech.
It said it was “deeply disappointed the speech was not more befitting of a graduation ceremony” and that it would refund ticket fees for graduates.
de Bruyn was being presented with an honorary degree by the Australian Catholic University.
In the speech, de Bruyn claimed abortion was the “single biggest killer of human beings in the world” and referred to is as a “tragedy that must be ended”.
Living a Catholic faith in the public square
However Monica Doumit, writing in the Catholic Weekly, says that media reports were wrong to characterise de Bruyn’s address as an inappropriate, self-indulgent rant about issues of life and human sexuality that had little relevance to a graduation ceremony.
Contrary to how it was portrayed, Doumit says de Bruyn’s speech was not just a rehashing of the Catholic position on contentious issues, but a reflection on how to live one’s Catholic faith in the public sphere.
De Bruyn told the graduands that for more than 40 years he had worked in a union that covered warehousing, retail and fast-food companies, fighting for the rights and wages of some of the lowest-paid workers in the country.
He explained that bringing these aspects of his Catholic faith to his work and advocacy was not controversial, but that bringing other aspects of his Catholic faith was contentious.
To illustrate his point, de Bruyn offered three examples: abortion, IVF and marriage. His point was summed up in his concluding remarks:
“As happened to me, you will be faced with issues in your professional and personal lives where the general opinion of the majority of the population is at odds with the teaching of the Church.
“My experience is that many Catholics cave in to peer pressure. They think their professional lives will be harmed if they promote the teaching of the Church. My experience is that this is not so.
“Despite my view on some issues being at odds with the views of my contemporaries over the past 50 years, it never affected my career at all.”
Listening Church
Australia’s new cardinal-designate, Mykola Bychok, has backed de Bruyn’s anti-abortion speech.
“Freedom of speech is an important pillar of our society, so is freedom of religion’’ he said.
“We must be free to say that which we believe to be the truth as passed to us by Our Lord. Jesus says to us ‘Be not afraid’.
“I grew up at a time when my church was banned and persecuted in Ukraine. A church of martyrs and confessors.
“We survived this persecution because people loved God and their church. They were courageous and passed on the faith to their children and grandchildren.’’
Cardinal-designate Bychok said he did not believe there was any division within the Church on the sanctity of life.
While Pope Francis told the Church to be a “listening Church’’, that did not mean others did not have to listen to Christ.
Sources