The Church of England's General Synod voted on February 9 to permit the offering of prayers and liturgies at civil marriages.

This compromise measure included the church's desire to "lament and repent" its failure "to welcome LGBTQI+ people and for the harm that LGBTQI+ people have experienced — and continue to experience — in churches".

The church has not changed its doctrine that marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman, but the archbishops of Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria are rejecting the decision to bless the unions as contrary to the teaching of the Bible.

The Church of England joined several other member churches in recognising all civil marriages, including the Episcopal Church of America, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Episcopal Church of Brazil.

The archbishops of Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria posted responses on their diocesan websites to the Church of England's decision.

Archbishop Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu of Uganda said, "The Church of England is very good at making contradictory statements and expecting everyone to believe both can be true at the same time. That's what they have done with this decision".

Kaziimba stated that despite the English church's insistence that it was not changing its doctrine on marriage, it is doing exactly that. The only significant difference is the terminology of a wedding versus a service of blessing.

Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit, the primate of the Church of Kenya, attributed the move to "the unfortunate rise of devious liberal churchmanship within the Anglican Communion".

He said, "We make a humble request to these churches: Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead".

Anglican Church on threshold of reformation

According to Archbishop Henry Chukwudum Ndukuba of Nigeria in a statement on Sunday, "The Anglican Church is at the threshold of yet another reformation, which must sweep out the ungodly leadership currently endorsing sin, misleading the lives of faithful Anglicans worldwide".

The news from England pleased LGBTQ activists in Africa, including some who are Anglican clerics.

The Rt Rev. Christopher Senyonjo, a former bishop in the Anglican Church of Uganda and a founder of Integrity Uganda, said the Church of England had allowed the blessing of partnerships, not marriages.

"It is expected that when two people come together in a love relationship, they are going to have children, but as time goes on, it is realised that two people can be in love when they are not going to have children," said Senyonjo.

"We should not just condemn the action (by the Church of England) without a very careful consideration of what love relationship is."

The Rev. Michael Nzuki Kimindu, a former Anglican priest now president of Other Sheep Africa, a Christian organisation that advocates for LGBTQ rights in Christianity and Islam, criticised the African hierarchy's attempt to paint the Church of England's action as a Western anomaly.

"Homosexuality is not a Western issue," Kimindu told RNS.

"It is a human condition found in every culture, geographical area and religion. It's just fair that people should understand that it is not going anywhere no matter how much we bury our heads in the sand."

Sources

Fox News

Religion News Service

It was an era of civil unrest, race riots, anti-war protests, and the sexual revolution.

One of the popular bumper stickers at the time stated: Question Everything.

These societal events coincided with the sessions of the Second Vatican Council and its early implementation.

The council brought beautiful and much-needed renewal to many aspects of Catholic life.

Sadly, there was also a serious misinterpretation of the council that fostered moral confusion. The poisonous ideas of the sexual revolution crept into the Church.

A great cultural myth was propagated that one could not be happy or fulfilled unless you were sexually active.

The rate of divorce rose dramatically within society and the Church.

Traditional sexual morals were considered antiquated.

The virtue of chastity was mocked. Influential voices within the Church sought to use the "spirit of the council" to change Catholic sexual moral teaching and practice.

With the availability and cultural embrace of oral contraceptives, Pope Paul VI warned that sexual intimacy outside of the marriage covenant would become commonplace, and the harm inflicted on children, women, men, and society would be catastrophic.

The Holy Father was prophetic.

• Out-of-wedlock births, abortion, and pornography became common.
• Sexually transmitted diseases reached epidemic levels.
• Contrary to the predictions of advocates for contraception and abortion, child abuse and child trafficking hit record levels.
• The unparalleled happiness that proponents of so-called sexual freedom promised never materialized.
• Instead, we find among young adults alarmingly high levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
• Pornography and other forms of sexual addiction have become rampant and enslave many at a young age.

The unravelling of sexual morals has continued for decades.

Among the cultural fallacies is a prevalent notion that homosexual activity is healthy and normal, just another lifestyle choice.

In recent years, our cultural confusion has now spawned gender ideology, asserting that human beings can deny their biological gender.

Tragically, many young people have been pressured to undergo gender-transitioning hormonal regimens and to mutilate their bodies by "gender reassignment" surgeries.

Gratefully, St. John Paul II, with his landmark teaching on the theology of the body, gave us new language to articulate the beauty of human sexuality and to help restore moral sanity.

Pope Benedict also provided clear teaching in these important areas.

Pope Francis has spoken plainly and strongly about the evil of abortion and the danger of gender theory.

I have been saddened that in the preparation for the Synod on Synodality, there has been a renewed effort by some in Church leadership to resuscitate moral confusion on human sexuality.

The German Synodal Way is a striking example.

The leadership of the German bishops' conference has rejected correction from Pope Francis.

Most troubling has been statements by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, who asserts that Church teaching related to homosexuality is false because he believes the sociological-scientific foundation of this teaching is no longer correct.

Cardinal Hollerich's statements are particularly concerning because of the leadership role that he has been assigned as relator general for the Synod on Synodality.

Most recently, Cardinal Robert McElroy's article in the Jesuit journal America Magazine has charged that the Catholic Church "contains structures and cultures of exclusion that alienate all too many from the Church or make their journey in the Catholic faith tremendously burdensome."

Cardinal McElroy champions what he terms radical inclusion that embraces everyone into full communion with the Church on their terms.

The mandate of Jesus given to the apostles to make disciples of all nations is construed to mean to enlarge the tent of the Church by accommodating behaviours contrary to Our Lord's own teaching.

Cardinal McElroy appears to believe that the Church for 2,000 years has exaggerated the importance of her sexual moral teaching and that radical inclusion supersedes doctrinal fidelity, especially in the area of the Church's moral teaching regarding human sexuality.

In my opinion, this is a most serious and dangerous error.

Our understanding of sexual morals significantly impacts marriage and family life.

The importance of marriage and family to society, culture, the nation, and the Church cannot be overestimated.

Proponents of radical inclusion cite Our Lord's association with sinners.

In the face of harsh criticism of religious leaders, it is true that Jesus manifested great concern, compassion, and mercy to sinners. Continue reading

• Joseph F. Naumann is Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas
• He is writing in response to recent statements by Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego

Primarily targeting Catholic educators, "Aroha and Diversity in Catholic Schools" is the opposite of so many policies which have harmed students and upset school communities in recent years, Shine comments.

The document clearly shows the bishops' core concern is young people's safety and well-being, not with defending church teaching, he says.

He sees the guideline as exciting "as it provides Catholics worldwide with an opportunity to grow in understanding and to improve pastoral practice."

First, most importantly, the bishops address LGBTQ+ issues primarily through the lens of social justice, Shine says.

"The text stresses repeatedly values like respecting human dignity, advancing solidarity, and promoting the common good.

"At the document's heart is the clear statement, 'How we as a Church treat those members of the LGBTQIA+ community should reflect Catholic social teaching.'"

Shine notes the bishops recognise this commitment to social justice is central for young people.

"Such a social justice-focused approach is different from nearly every other diocesan or national gender policy, which sadly focus instead on upholding orthodoxy and imposing LGBTQ-negative prohibitions."

Second, and linked to the first point, there is a repeated emphasis on the need to end discrimination and curtail bullying, Shine notes.

He says he likes the guideline's practical advice, which includes general principles like:

• "Ensure that school is a safe place - many young people may not feel accepted anywhere else ... school may be their only ... sanctuary."
• "Acceptance of others sets a very ‘low bar' - Catholic schools need to be centres of welcome from all the community. . ."
• "Ensure ... procedures and guidelines on how homophobia, sexism, racism, and other forms of violence are unacceptable and how they are to be addressed ...".

The third point is the role an informed conscience has in handling personal, complex issues like gender and sexuality.

"Catholic schools are called to help form the consciences of the young people in their care, while recognising that parents, caregivers and whanau have a role to play in this area. . ."

Practical suggestions include encouraging staff to educate themselves about LGBTQIA+ people, to develop relevant resources and revise gender-related dress codes. It also provides practical guidelines for young people themselves.

The final section - "Tools for Decision Making" - includes questions on how to hold events or promote resources.

On the minus side, Shine says the document reiterates... a conservative interpretation of church teaching!

"Yet, the document does so in a way that is far more limited than other policy documents on this subject."

Catholic education worldwide can now study the guidelines, he says. By being so focused on localised decision-making, the bishops end up offering universal principles and tools for reflection.

New Ways Ministry has locked horns with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the US bishops for its dissent from Catholic teaching on homosexuality.

Pope Francis, however, has praised its founder in a handwritten letter.

Source

• New Ways Ministry

New Zealand's Catholic bishops, who released the guidelines, say all young people in Catholic schools are to be welcomed, supported and encouraged. This is important as they navigate their journey from childhood to adult and discover more about who they are, the guidelines say.

"Vulnerable rangatahi" are specifically mentioned as requiring support.

Called "Aroha and Diversity in Catholic Schools" the National Centre for Religious Studies drafted the guidelines. The draft followed a "comprehensive dialogue" between the bishops, principals, national and diocesan Catholic education leaders, as well as young people.

Bishop of Auckland Stephen Lowe says the bishops are well aware of the need to support school leadership and rangatahi in navigating the complex reality of sexual diversity.

"Young people today do not live in a bubble. They are aware and inform themselves of the range of social, scientific, ideological and religious stances regarding this issue, and there is a lot of pressure and rhetoric about this issue.

"This challenges and can pressurise young people, their whanau, and schools and wider communities," says Lowe.

The diversity guidelines clearly articulate the rich teaching of the Catholic Church, he explains.

They also provide practical information and tools to help schools make informed decisions regarding the support of rangatahi who are grappling with issues about sexual diversity in the complexities of our modern world.

"All of us are made in the image of God, and all are called into an authentic relationship with God, ourselves, each other and our world," he says.

"Such relationships are never static, and our young people must navigate their own challenging and sacred journey from childhood to adulthood.

"Our identities as adults take time to form, and vulnerable young people should not feel pushed or coerced to make decisions about themselves too soon.

"In the midst of their journey, the rangatahi in our schools deserve to be welcomed with aroha and manaakitanga, and encouraged to discover the beauty and wonder of themselves in a way that reflects Jesus' words and actions of love, compassion and challenge."

Source

• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference
• The Aroha and Diversity in Catholic Schools document

Long gone are the days when the statue of David displayed in Melbourne's Myers emporium had to be covered with a fig leaf and where nudity in the musical Hair caused moral outrage.

The cultural revolution of the late 60s and early 70s heralded a sexual revolution epitomised by the slogan ‘make love, not war'. This was a time when the birth control pill radically changed sexual mores, the gay/lesbian pride movement became active and the traditional family was seen as inflexible and outdated.

We now live in a world where pornography of every description is available in a virtual world 24/7, where marriage no longer involves a man and a woman, where children are taught boys can be girls and girls can be boys and where explicit sex scenes on TV and in movies is commonplace.

"To overthrow capitalism and what he describes as "repressive morality" Reich, instead of focusing on the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, champions complete sexual empowerment and freedom."

While many see this age of sexual liberation and empowerment as beneficial and beyond reproach, the Italian philosopher and cultural critic Augusto Del Noce, in his essay ‘The Ascendance of Eroticism' published in 1970, describes what he terms eroticism as a dangerous and malignant disease infecting Western societies.

Del Noce traces today's sexual revolution to the publication in 1930 of Wilhelm Reich's The Sexual Revolution.

To overthrow capitalism and what he describes as "repressive morality" Reich, instead of focusing on the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, champions complete sexual empowerment and freedom.

Central to Reich's thesis, Del Noce writes, is the belief "the core element of life will be sexual happiness" and "the achievement of sexual happiness would lead to the extinction of the authoritarian spirit and to a form of internationalism free from all compromises".

Reich argues religious teachings about the sanctity of marriage and the importance of monogamy reinforce capitalist domination.

As a result, Del Noce warns "the idea of indissoluble marriage and other ideas related to it (modesty, purity, continence)" no longer apply. Proving how prescient he was, Del Noce also notes, given the impact of Reich's book and the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s,

"It is clear that what today is called the left fights less and less in terms of class warfare, and more and more in terms of ‘warfare against repression'".

The lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, intersex, queer, plus rainbow alliance (LGBTIQ+) best illustrates how successful the neo-Marxist inspired cultural-left has been in its fight against what is condemned as the repressive morality associated with Western civilisation and Christianity.

"The Canadian gender activist Cristian Scarlett Milloy argues ‘With infant gender assignment, in a single moment your baby's life is instantly and brutally reduced from such infinite potentials down to one concrete set of expectations and stereotypes …'"

The so-called Safe Schools gender fluidity program, funded by Liberal and Labor governments, tells students there is nothing preferable or beneficial about the love between a woman and a man. Such a relationship is condemned as hetero-normative and guilty of cis-genderism.

While the overwhelming majority of babies are either female or male with XX or XY chromosomes respectively, hospitals are now ‘assigning' a gender on the basis that babies must not be stigmatised by labelling them as boys or girls.

The Canadian gender activist Cristian Scarlett Milloy argues "With infant gender assignment, in a single moment your baby's life is instantly and brutally reduced from such infinite potentials down to one concrete set of expectations and stereotypes, and any behavioural deviation from that will be severely punished …"

In Tasmania, it is now possible to change one's birth certificate to identify as non-binary, indeterminate or other (including but not restricted to transgender, transsexual, bigender or agender).

In a recent article in The Age newspaper, the journalist Madonna King praises schools and students for championing LGBTIQ+ rights.

Examples include wearing non-binary ‘they' badges, setting up a non-binary ‘safe space', not telling parents their child wants to transition and girls wearing pants so as not to be seen as female.

A second article in the same paper by Farrah Tomazin praises a boy who transitions to being a girl and his role in changing the law to make it easier for teenagers to take puberty blockers. The author also praises the Victorian government for banning gay conversion therapy.

"As argued by Del Noce, radical, neo-Marxist inspired eroticism and gender ideology represents an attempt to destroy human sexuality and the family."

Not surprisingly, in the UK, America and Australia programs like Safe Schools and the campaign to normalise LGBTIQ+ ideology, there has been an upsurge in gender dysphoria, especially among girls, with clinics recording ever-increasing numbers.

As argued by Del Noce, radical, neo-Marxist inspired eroticism and gender ideology represent an attempt to destroy human sexuality and the family. Ignored, as argued by Pope Francis, is radical gender ideology, especially transgenderism, which is against the natural order and God's plan.

Francis argues: "when the freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God".

• Dr Kevin Donnelly is a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Catholic University and the author of The Culture of Freedom.
• First published in Catholic Weekly. Republished with permission

The proposal seeks to ban any discussion of gender diversity in the state's classrooms.

The state's main Catholic education body supports One Nation leader Mark Latham's the bill.

The large Parramatta diocese, however, is lodging a strong objection.

Latham's bill proposes to prohibit the promotion of gender fluidity in schools, including the classroom and teachers' professional development courses.

He says this is about "re-establishing the primacy of parents in shaping their children's development and sense of identity".

The Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta put forward a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the anti-trans education bill.

The Diocese described the proposal as "counter to promoting and respecting the human dignity of all".

It is "an unacceptable incursion into the professional judgement of Catholic schools and school systems," the submission continued.

If passed, the bill would probably cause discrimination and harassment to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) students," the submission said.

It warned "prohibitions on what can be discussed within the learning process can stigmatise these matters and people whose life experiences are connected to them".

LGBTQI rights group Equality Australia says there is "nothing in this bill which merits further consideration by NSW Parliament,".

They say it denies the existence of trans and gender diverse people, allows parents to withhold important lessons about the world from their children and makes teachers fear dismissal if they acknowledge that trans people exist.

In contrast, Catholic Schools NSW, representing the state's 600 Catholic schools, 30,000 staff and 257,000 students, said parental primacy was paramount.

It supports the anti-trans education bill, with the caveat it must not prevent schools providing pastoral care to LGBTQI students.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, led by Archbishop Anthony Fisher, also supported the bill.

But the Parramatta diocese - which controls 80 schools with 43,000 students in western Sydney and the Blue Mountains - submitted that if parental "rights" clashed with the best interests of children, the latter must prevail.

"The bill not only fails in this regard but conspicuously and deliberately ignores these rights and actively detracts from them," it said.

Greg Whitby, the head of Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta, said his schools had a duty of care to their students, informed by a Catholic world view and with parents "deeply involved".

"It's not for a school or a central office or dare I say even politicians to make those decisions," he said.

"If you seek to codify those things, you are putting a personal perspective on what's right and what's wrong."

Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney doesn't think the bill denies the existence of trans and gender diverse people.

"[It] is more focused on learning and curriculum and less on the culture wars or individuals. It is around what belongs in scholarship and school instruction and what doesn't.

"Our support for the bill is contingent upon our schools being able to extend all support - pastoral, physical, counselling - [to] these kids in our schools."

Source

• Brisbane Times
• Image: Star Observer

Letting In - Closing Out, published by academics at the University of Auckland, found cultural expectations of marriage and children are pushing ethnic youth in New Zealand to remain silent about their sexual orientation.

Parents struggle with understanding their children's queerness, with many choosing to ignore or deny it, some because of their religious belief or reputation, the report found.

Pooja Subrananian, 28, moved to New Zealand from India with her family in 2004. She is bisexual, and opened up about her sexuality to her parents six years ago.

"My own sexuality acceptance journey has been very recent, and up until that point it has been really emotionally difficult," the Howick, Auckland resident said.

"You feel a sense of isolation, like you don't belong in either world, and you've got to choose which world you're going to perform for that day."

Subrananian said there are a number of factors that make it difficult for ethnic queer youth to open up to their families.

"In a lot of our communities we're told that's not our culture. There's also a sense of obligation or respect for our family, we want them to feel supported by us," she said.

"So we remain silent out of that sense of respect."

North Shore resident Eugene Velasco, 27, is non-binary and came out to their family in 2017.

"They weren't happy, they were disgruntled and weren't really welcoming about the idea of me not being straight," they said.

Velasco is yet to see their family, who live in the Philippines, since sharing the news with them.

They said they didn't come out until they moved to New Zealand because of their family dynamics. Continue reading

Where to get help for the LGBTQI+ community

• OUTline NZ 0800 688 5463 (0800 OUTLINE)
• RainbowYOUTH 09 376 4155
• 1737, Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counsellor
• Depression.org.nz 0800 111 757 or text 4202
• Lifeline 0800 543 354
• Suicide Crisis Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
• Kidsline 0800 54 37 54 for people up to 18 years old. Open 24/7.
• Youthline 0800 376 633, free text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz, or find online chat and other support options here.

But for his birthday he wanted to bring attention to the needs of a Norfolk, Virginia-based church that received backlash after voting to become a LGBTQ+ affirming parish. Read more

The proposed legal changes could see organisations owned by religious groups, such as schools, hospitals and aged care facilities, be given the right under federal law to legally expel students and fire staff on the grounds of sexual orientation, trans status or marital status.

A bill in relation to the proposed exemptions that was expected to be passed last month was delayed as a result of opposition from the LGBTQI community.

During the rally the Morrison government will be asked not to "further entrench and broaden discrimination" with new "religious freedom" laws, organisers say.

Speakers will include Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) spokesperson Shelley Argent, Anglican Minister Jo Inkpin, transgender activists and school students.

"After marriage equality was achieved, the right-wing of the government decided Christian rights were at risk," Argent says.

"A religious review chaired by Phillip Ruddock was held, and it found there was very little of concern to Christians.

"But now LGBTIQ people and their supporters fear religious groups and businesses, large and small, will soon be given the right to refuse any retail service, healthcare or employment just because their clients, customers or staff are LGBTIQ."

Although Australia's Attorney-General will probably introduce an as-yet undisclosed Religious Discrimination Act before the end of the year, conservative MPs want broader laws than those they suspect are being developed.

An unseen "omnibus" bill addressing recommendations from the Ruddock "religious freedom" review has also concerned advocates, with Equality Australia warning the legal detail of the bill may undermine federal marriage equality.

"We need to change the conversation around religious freedom", they say.

Anglican priest Father Rod Bower says those pushing for "religious freedom" laws did not represent the majority view of Australian Christians.

"But you need to know, and especially vulnerable young LGBTIQ people need to know, that the Australian Christian Lobby does not represent Christians in this land.

"We need to change the conversation around this because religious freedom is not about discrimination. To be truly religiously free is to be free from the need to discriminate."

Other LGBTIQ anti-discrimination rallies have been planned and will be held in Perth, Melbourne and Canberra later this month.

Source

• QN
• Star Observer
• Image: Star Observer

"We haven't seen anything like this before," US Fordham University theologian Jason Steidl says.

"I think they are part of a bigger cultural movement. These people have hitched their wagons to Trump's presidency, to his tactics." Read more

During a sermon last Sunday, posted online by his wife Hannah, Mr Tamaki implied that gay and lesbian clergy are a "contamination".

"To speak of any person as a source of ‘contamination' is unacceptable", says Archbishop Philip Richardson.

"And especially so for someone who seeks to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Richardson says that when the leaders of the worldwide Anglican Church gathered in England last year, they issued a communique, which says, in part:

"The Primates condemned homophobic prejudice and violence and resolved to work together to offer pastoral care and loving service irrespective of sexual orientation. This conviction arises out of our discipleship of Jesus Christ. The Primates reaffirmed their rejection of criminal sanctions against same-sex attracted people.

"The Primates recognise that the Christian church and within it the Anglican Communion have often acted in a way towards people on the basis of their sexual orientation that has caused deep hurt. Where this has happened, they express their profound sorrow and affirm again that God's love for every human being is the same, regardless of their sexuality, and that the church should never by its actions give any other impression."

The Anglican Bishop of Auckland, The Rt Rev Ross Bay, has also responded with dismay at the Destiny leader's comments.

"The Anglican Church here values the contribution of gay and lesbian leaders across all aspects of church life, including those who are ordained", Bishop Ross said today.

"It is deeply disturbing that a church leader should regard such people as a contamination.

"Mr Tamaki is, of course, free to prevent LGBTQI people offering ministry in his own church.

"But to refer to them in this way is a denial of human dignity and encourages further stigmatisation and exclusion.

"The Gospel is about the love and reconciliation which we have been offered in Jesus Christ. Church leaders have a responsibility to model and preach this good news in ways that draw people together."

Source

• Nga Taonga
• Image: Stuff

The rally combined a fiesta atmosphere with fairground rides, food stalls, music and dancing. There were addresses by Members of Parliament, the Coalition for Marriage, his Excellency Robert Rabbat, Melkite Bishop of Australia, Dr Pansy Lai from Australian Chinese for Families, and Susan Hourani from Radio 2Moro.

Lai would have been known to the crowd as the person who coordinated petitions for several ethnic communities against the Safe Schools programme in New South Wales. (The programme, which was designed to educate students about sexual and gender diversity, was subsequently dumped in favour of a wider anti-bullying programme.)

Lai spoke about the link between the removal of parental rights, a change in the marriage law and the introduction of radical lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) sex and gender programmes into the classrooms.

"We parents have a say in what our kids get taught about life, relationships, sex and marriage. We parents are the ones who must speak up to protect our children because nobody is going to do it for us," Lai told the crowd.

The Honourable Michael Sukkar MP reiterated Lai's call to protect the family, commenting on the cultural importance of the link between mother and child.

"I've learned you don't come between a Lebanese mother and her kids," he said, reminding the crowd that it was not only okay, but their duty, to say ‘no' in the gay marriage referendum.

Coalition for Marriage spokeswoman Sophie York called the gathering "energising.''

"It shows that there is still so much energy and so much resolve in the ‘no' camp. The people I met today are committed to working tirelessly to ensure that as many ‘no' votes as possible are posted over the coming weeks.

"Too often in this debate, the diverse voices of Australia's migrant communities have been ignored. These people are the silent majority, but we heard them loud and clear in Fairfield yesterday. In different dialects, they had the same message: we are voting ‘no'," York added.

Clergy from numerous Eastern rite Christian faith communities were at the event.

Source

• Catholic Outlook
• Image: Daily Mail