Church: We Feel Their Pain
By Clare Quirk
IN the wake of the sex abuse scandal engulfing the Catholic church, the leader of a progressive network of priests says the church must be open to change if it is going to survive. More than 160 members of the National Council of Priests of Australia arrived in Warrnambool yesterday for their four-day national convention. Council chairman Father Eugene McKinnon, of Donald, said all Catholics felt the pain, hurt and mistrust of the sex abuse scandal. “We have tremendous sympathy for the victims and we struggle to comprehend the hurt that they feel,” he said. “I know some would say they don’t want to hear ‘sorry’ but it is an ongoing pain we carry and certainly live with.” Discussion topics are likely to include marriage and the role of women in the church. The membership includes prominent Melbourne media identity Father Bob Maguire and a former Anglican who is now a married Catholic priest “We still believe in the greatness of God’s spirit, we’re just saying we have to be open to change,” Father McKinnon said. “If you don’t change you will only deteriorate.” Father McKinnon, a former south-west priest, said the priesthood was not the vocational choice for the ordinary Australian male. He said a lot of good men left the priesthood to get married but would have liked to continue on as priests. “There aren’t the numbers that want to be priests,” he said. “The reason we’re here is we’re looking at going forward. We’re not denying any part of our story.” Guest speakers in-clude outspoken UK priest and author Father Timothy Radcliffe and Sydney journalist and lecturer Chris McGillion. Last year Father Radcliffe, former Master of the Order of Preachers, was banned by the Vatican from delivering a keynote address to the Catholic aid agencies international forum.
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