A proposed law before Victoria’s state parliament seeks to criminalise any practices that seek to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including prayer. Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli said any coercive practice “is an affront to human dignity.” He said he firmly rejects such harmful acts but added that “nobody is protected Read more
An Australian archbishop says the COVID-19 epidemic is changing the way the Church evangelises. “This is not a theoretical discussion for the future but is happening in real-time”, says Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli. Comensoli says the epidemic is forcing the Church to be more creative in the way it reaches people. It is also reshaping Read more
Australia’s Catholic Church needs to completely overhaul itself following Cardinal George Pell’s sex abuse conviction. Hundreds of thousands of Catholics are pushing for the church to open itself to ordaining women, ending clericalism and enabling people who are LGBTI or divorced to be included more. Prominent Catholics are sounding alarm bells, warning the Church that Read more
What is worth protecting and fighting for? The answer to that question is straightforward: our children. Of this, there is no doubt. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse cast a much-needed light on the failures of many institutions across Australia, including government and church institutions, and most prominently my own church. Read more
Australian state premier Daniel Andrews, is lashing out at the Catholic Church over claims it was not consulted about proposed laws forcing priests to report child abuse disclosed in confessionals. The Victorian Premier, a practicing Catholic, says Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli is wrong to compare priests refusing to disclose allegations heard during confession to confidentiality Read more
Melbourne’s Archbishop Peter Comensoli says he would rather go to jail than report admissions of child sexual abuse made in confession. He was referring to a bill in Victoria’s parliament which will make it mandatory for priests to report suspected child abuse to authorities, including abuse revealed in the confessional. Under current law, various professionals Read more
A disgruntled “serving Catholic” from the Archdiocese of Melbourne has leaked details of Archbishop Peter Comensoli’s big spend on a private residence. The residence comes complete with an indoor pool. The leak follows a recent announcement by the archdiocese making dozens of staff redundant. The Australian newspaper learned that in virtually the same breath as warning Read more
The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne will be laying off numerous staff to tackle a budget deficit and rising debt. Although the current financial situation is not believed to relate directly to the financial compensation payouts as a result of clergy abuse, it feeds into the way the church does its business. The issue has provoked Read more
Archbishop Peter Comensoli has been accused of censorship after he stopped a nun from speaking at an upcoming conference. Comensoli, the Archbishop of Melbourne, initially sought to say the rescinding of an invitation to Sister Joan Chittister, a US author, feminist and advocate of church reform, was a misunderstanding. He suggested Joan had been sounded Read more
Under previous pontificates bishops coming to Rome for meetings with Vatican officials could expect to be briefed about the work going on at head office and, if they had fallen out of line, should expect a stern telling off. This is changing with Pope Francis. According to the Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, who was Read more