Bathersby censures St Mary's Church

The Archbishop of Brisbane, John Bathersby, has told St Mary's Catholic Church, South Brisbane, that it "no longer belongs to the Archdiocese or indeed the Catholic Church", but stopped short of taking firm action against the parish.

Archbishop Bathersby wrote a letter to the parish priest, Fr Peter Kennedy, last July, which was made public two weeks ago. It is understood that the Archbishop has made three specific objections: that St Mary's baptises 'invalidly', that it disobeys the rules about liturgical dress and that it uses a form of Eucharistic prayer that is not valid.

The Archbishop appears to have felt bound to act against St Mary's because of the Vatican instruction Redemptoris Sacramentum, issued last April. The instruction restated liturgical norms, and said that these be followed exactly "to ensure reverence for the Eucharist and to preserve the unity of the Catholic Church".

Fr Peter Kennedy told Online Catholics this week that he understood the Archbishop's situation. "St Mary's is a community that has been operating this way for many years. In the past, Archbishop Bathersby has sought to accommodate us," he said. "But in the current environment he has to be seen to be taking a stand."

Ironically the crackdown has come the same week that St Mary's has received an award from Uniting Care Queensland Social Justice for its Micah Project, a community justice and advocacy outreach that is so successful it attracts $2m in government and private funding. A third of St Mary's takings go to Micah.

(Before these events, Online Catholics asked Micah for an article about their work, for publication in this issue. Their article can be found here).

The some 3000-strong community of St Mary's is geographically and socially diverse, and described as unusually committed. Because justice has been a focus for St Mary's, questions arising from a justice perspective have, over the years, worked their way into the liturgy. Priests at St Mary's do not vest in the prescribed way, because the current emphasis on the separation of priest and people tends to suggest priestly superiority. Instead the Priests use an East Timorese stole known as a 'teese' as a sign of their role.

Fr Kennedy and his assistant, Fr Terry Fitzpatrick, insist that while the liturgy at St Mary's has been developed over years by the community there, there is no wish to "export" their practices to other communities. But equally, the priests remain committed to them. "We say our Eucharistic prayer antiphonally with the congregation and invite the people to join in the consecration," they say. "We will speak of God as 'Creator, Liberator and Sustainer' as often as 'Father, Son and Spirit' because it is ritually inclusive.

"Archbishop Bathersby may believe we lack faith, that we are just humanists. But we have come to this because we believe that our personal relationship with Christ is to be found in our deep connection with the poor," Fr Kennedy said.

"This is a church of the poor. St Mary's is the last resort for many, many people. People who leave the Church from here are very unlikely to leave altogether.

"There is a deep anger at what has happened."

Late yesterday Archbishop Bathersby's office issued the following statement:

"At the present time I am engaged in dialogue with St Mary's that I hope will eventually reach a solution agreeable to all. There are a number of liturgical matters that require a great deal of discussion."

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