Editorial Comment and Introduction: Fr Eric Hodgens sent us through late yesterday an expression of moral support to both Archbishop John Bathersby and the parish community at St Mary's, South Brisbane. It is published below this Editorial. Catholica fully supports what Fr Hodgens writes and urges the Church authorities to take the time necessary to find a truly pastoral response that responds to the spiritual needs of all the people. It is time for this constant appeasement by the Church authorities of a tiny, insecure minority who constantly want to prove how loyal they are, or how well they can read the mind of God, or how well they know all the rules and rubrics to stop. This "game" of constantly appeasing those of a pharisaical mindset which has driven so many out of the doors of the Catholic Church is a travesty of all that Jesus Christ came into the world to teach and model to us.

We urge the other more pastoral bishops of Australia to show solidarity with Archbishop Bathersby in finding a solution that truly does begin to help rebuild the Catholic Church in Australia and reverse this long pattern of attrition that has driven most people and most families out the door. There is a responsibility to attend to the pastoral and spiritual needs of the conservative and insecure sectors of society who seek certitudes over truth, or a return to the liturgical and communication styles of the past. That responsibility has to be exercised in ways that do not disadvantage the vast majority of the faithful and lead to them being driven out of the sanctuary of their own Church.

It is also time for the authorities in Rome to start providing moral support to the majority of the Australian Catholic Bishops and to end this game of giving constant succour to the tattertales, dobbers, and liturgical and ecclesial bullies. The Church does have enough conservative priests and parishes in Australia to meet the needs of the conservative and insecure sectors of the baptised population who are afraid of all change or who want to return to past ways of thinking or liturgical practice. It is time to start showing some concern for the great majority of families who do not approach life, and their spirituality, through the mindframe used by that minority. It is in the realms of delusion and fantasy to proclaim that those insecure sectors of the Church, and those of similar mindset in the hierarchical structures of the institution, have some exclusive access to the truths that our God is leading his people to discern.

St Mary's is certainly a Catholic parish…
by Fr Eric Hodgens

St Mary's, South Brisbane is certainly a Catholic parish and in communion with the Catholic Church.

Masses celebrated at St Mary's are real Catholic masses.

Baptisms at St Mary's are true baptisms.

All you have to do is the duck test. If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck and looks like a duck, it is a duck.

Go to Mass there any Sunday and you find the church full of Catholics who have gone there precisely to celebrate Sunday Mass. They and all the locals of South Brisbane know it is a Catholic church and it is Sunday Mass.

Go to a baptism there and you find the family with their baby, their godparents and friends all gathered round. What are they there for? A baptism. So, a baptism it is. Anyone who quibbles that saying the wrong words makes the sacrament invalid are not applying the duck test. Invalid means it was not a real baptism. I once baptised inadvertently saying "I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". Was it invalid — i.e. not a real baptism? Anyone present will tell you it was a baptism. That is why they came and that is what they celebrated.

Does the celebration style matter? Do the ritual words and actions matter? Of course they do; but they do not make or break the reality of the celebration. They are a matter of taste. And that is precisely why St Mary's is important. For those people St Mary's style suits their taste while it puts others off; just as reverting to the Tridentine mass suits the taste of some and puts others off.

Archbishop Bathersby is well known to be a genuinely pastoral bishop. And he is being pressured from the current reactionary and power obsessed Roman administration — because people turned off by St Mary's style have dobbed them in — to Rome.

Archbishop Bathersby has other parishes where the sacramental ministry is bad but nobody is dobbing them in. These parishes are dismal and lifeless while South Brisbane is alive.

To condemn this matter of style under a rubric of non-negotiable doctrine is to misread the discourse, misunderstand how sacramentality works and to act not as a bully but as a tyrant.

To say they are outside the Church's communion is dangerous hubris.

The best solution is to take as long as it takes to organize a win-win solution.

More photos from the celebrations on Thursday at St Mary's, or just general photos
of life at St Mary's can be found by clicking the image above or HERE.
St Mary's Parish website can be found at: southbrisbane.wordpress.com
Archdiocese of Brisbane website can be found at: www.bne.catholic.net.au
Fr Eric Hodgens' website can be found at: catholicview.typepad.com

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