The Australian royal commission is over, but there is still a long way for us to travel so that we might stand together in solidarity committed to justice, truth and healing for all, for the living and for the dead. We are unlikely as a Church or as a society to get this right for Read more
Legendry Australian broadcaster, John Laws, July 4, interviewed Fr Frank Brennan SJ on 2SM. The interview concerned Archbishop Philip Wilson’s refusal to stand down as Archbishop of Adelaide after his conviction for concealing child sex abuse. One of Australia’s leading radio personalities, the ever-popular Laws comments regularly on issues impacting life in Australia. Frank Brennan Read more
An Australian Jesuit priest has been banned by the Catholic Archbishop of Hobart from speaking publicly about same-sex marriage in the archdiocese. The ban was announced after Fr Frank Brennan SJ defended Catholics’ right to speak according to their conscience about the issue. He had been invited to speak at a CatholicCare Tasmania conference in Read more
Australians’ “yes” vote supporting legalising same-sex marriage may pose more questions than answers. The non-binding referendum drew 7.8 million for same-sex marriage and 4.9 million against. Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Denis Hart says parliament must work to unify Australians by respecting different views on marriage. “The Catholic Church, and many others who sought Read more
On the weekend, I joined Robert Manne, Tim Costello and John Menadue in calling for an end to the limbo imposed on proven refugees on Nauru and Manus Island. I think this can be done while keeping the boats stopped. I think it ought be done. Appearing on the ABC’s 7.30 program last Thursday, after Read more
Wednesday night’s ABC 7.30 program [aired in Australia] carried allegations against Cardinal George Pell. If true, the allegations are devastating: life ruining for victims like Damian Dignan and Lyndon Monument; confronting for all citizens committed to the wellbeing of children; and earth shattering for Catholics who still have faith in their church. The ABC report Read more
The Vatican has refused a royal commission request that it hand over all information relating to child sex abuse committed by priests in Australia. The head of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Justice Peter McClellan, told a victims’ group he had written to the Vatican on the matter. He sought Read more
An agreement has now been reached with Nauru, which is similar to the one already concluded with Papua New Guinea – to take more asylum seekers who arrive by boat in Australia and if they are found to be genuine refugees they’ll be settled permanently in Nauru. Father Frank Brennan who is professor of law at Read more
An Australian Jesuit priest said the Catholic Church needs state intervention to resolve the crisis surrounding sex abuse of children by priests. Fr. Frank Brennan, a noted jurist, said in a report by The Sydney Morning Herald that the ”Church cannot be left alone to get its house in order”. ”Where there is a social Read more
‘Re-imagining the Mission — A Pilgrimage of Faith’ was the title of the keynote address presented by Fr Frank Brennan on 24 May 2012 at the Sandhurst Catholic Education Conference at Catholic College Bendigo. Fr Brennan gave his personal reflections on Catholic education and social justice, Vatican II and Catholic education 50 years on, contemporary faith and “some Read more