‘Living truth’ will wipe out barriers

Sydney
28 April 2002

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‘Living truth’ will wipe out barriers

Part of the crowd who took part in the Ecclesia in Oceania seminar

By Marilyn Kerjean

“When I hear, so often, groups or individuals being branded as liberal, left, right wing or arch

conservative, I wonder if people are talking about our family of the faithful, the Body of Christ, or rather a political party with as many factions as it has activists,” said Selina Hasham.

“Such generalised judgments are mostly unhelpful, and more often than not, painfully divisive,” the national World Youth Day pilgrimage co-ordinator told a seminar exploring Ecclesia in Oceania, the Pope’s response to the Special Synod of Bishops in Oceania, which was held in Rome late in 1998.

Selina said: “The Holy Father had something to say about this: ‘The truth given to the Church by Christ is neither ‘liberal’ nor ‘conservative’, it is simply true’. If we all busy ourselves with sincerely seeking and living truth, these boundaries and barriers will fade.”

Selina said lack of unity in the Church could stifle its ability to evangelise.

On the upside, the ‘new evangelisation’ that the Pope often speaks of is “an outpouring of grace for our times”, she said.

This is evident in the witness of the Pope as he travels the world, the new movements and comm unities that have emerged in the Church, and youth ministries and initiatives such as World Youth Day, she said.

The Archbishop of Sydney, Archbishop George Pell, told the seminar - at the Catholic Centre in Lidcombe - that the Church in Australia had been affected by two significant factors, an increase in the number of people who subscribe to no religion (now up to 17 per cent) and a decrease in Catholic practice.

But Sydney, often touted in the media as a completely secularised city, had the highest rate of practising Catholics in the country - 18 per cent.

The archbishop spoke of the need for effective evangelisation through inculturation, which he described as translating inform ation in a way people can understand, and meeting their particular need.

He said each generation was fundamentally different.

People could not pass on the faith to their children in the same way that they needed to learn it when they were young.

His generation, for instance, may well have needed a bit of “loosening up” in their day.

Archbishop Pell and Fr Julian Porteous, rector of the Good Shepherd Seminary, spoke of the harm done to all the faithful by the allegations and occurrence of sexual abuse by priests - something the Pope had acknowledged and apologised for in his exhor tation.

“Priests are going through a particularly painful period when the sins of their brothers are paraded in the media and through the courts,” said Fr Porteous.

“The loss of respect for the priesthood among people in the society as a whole and the dis illusionment of so many within the Church means that priests who are faithful and generously dedicated to the ministry need encouragement and support.”

Overall, though, he said, the Pope’s letter, which was issued late last year, “breathes a spirit of hope and optimism for the future”.

The director of Catholic Adult Education, Fr John Flader, convened the seminar.