THE MacKILLOP PROVOCATION HE CANONISATION of Mary often was in earlier days, an expression of sec- MacKillop is a powerful and very pub- tarianism—opposition to one Church from Tlic assertion of Christian faith and other Churches. The ecumenical movement Catholic beliefs. It is a big event for Christi- has instilled mutual respect among the anity in Australia. Predictably, it is provoking Churches in Australia. a deal of heated criticism. We Catholics seem Anti-Catholicism now finds its source deep to have a special knack for stirring the cul- within the general Australian culture. What we tural pot. How good or bad is that, I wonder? Catholics are so publicly banging on about Possibly a bit of both. contradicts much of what passes for Mary MacKillop was a person who lived commonsense and wisdom in Australia today. by very Australian values. She was a woman Hence the canonisation of Mary MacKillop who supported the poor and underprivileged, and all that the event encapsulates is a provo- one of the common people, a woman who dis- cation, an in-your-face celebration of beliefs played great fortitude in face of ill-treatment that do not fit comfortably in contemporary by authority. She is a person that all Austral- Australia, and which seriously annoy many ians can appreciate. people. One has only to keep an eye on the But it is a very Catholic thing to have her columns and comments in The Sydney Morn- canonised and that does not go down well with ing Herald to see ample evidence of the fact. many of our fellow-citizens. Catholics have But there is more behind present-day anti- been accused of exploiting her. Catholicism in Australia, as I realized when I In declaring her to be a saint, it is objected, did my national duty and lined up to vote on we Catholics are publicly declaring our ‘pe- election day in the grounds of the local public culiar’ beliefs in holiness, in life after death, school. in heaven, in miracles, in the power of prayer. A little ahead of me in the line was a fel- The very fact that people in our enlightened low in his late 40s who was launched on a long twenty-first century Australia should hang on statement of his views on the Catholic Church to such beliefs is an embarrassment to many. and Catholics generally. I don’t know what ‘What century are we in?’ it is asked in dis- started him off because I only noticed what gust. was going on when he was already in full flight. If we Catholics would only keep these be- But I got the jist of his story and something of liefs to ourselves we would be tolerated and his grievances fairly quickly. left alone. But we insist on flaunting them in He had been baptised a Catholic, made his public. Such public display raises the hackles first Communion, been Confirmed—the lot! of many of our fellow Australians and pro- He felt he had had a bad time in the Catholic vokes a latent anti-Catholic feeling into the boarding school to which his parents sent him. open. Now he is an atheist, he declared—specifically Not that opposition troubles us much; we an anti-Catholic atheist, I gathered. He was list- are fairly hardened to it, having been served ing all the things he did not like about Catho- up with plenty of it down the generations. lics and the way we operate. But there is a difference in this present- From my place down the line I proffered day anti-Catholic feeling. No longer is it, as it him my quizzical half-smile that I use for such 1 Compass_2010-2_text.indd 1 7/09/2010 10:26:02 AM COMPASS occasions, to let him know that his voice was mands a lot of patience and acceptance from us carrying. all especially in recent times, even if the hurts THEOLOGY AS NURSING CARE Then he started on doctrine—the things being carried by these former Catholics cause ‘they’ ask you to believe on faith, unquestion- them to lash out inappropriately. ing faith. Such as: there is one God…but there All-in-all, the Canonisation and all the at- FOR CULTURES AND SOULS are three of them! tention it is receiving is valuable for causing Since he was now moving into the area of the Catholic voice to be heard in Australia. It BISHOP ANTHONY FISHER O.P. my specialty—theology—I could contain my- is a voice that speaks of different things, tran- self no longer. ‘Well …not quite!’ I interrupted. scendent realities, human possibilities with E’VE HEARD IT all before, we hearers, does it challenge us still, two millen- Then I identified myself: ‘I am the local par- the grace of God, the communion of saints know the ending, we’ve analysed it nia later, in our very different world? Lawyers ish priest.’ where we belong. Mary MacKillop’s story to bits, we could almost recite it don’t tend to ask questions about eternal life I gave him a moment to register that fact, offers many lessons on life as it should be W from memory. The Story of the Good Samari- these days, at least not in public. But they are then proceeded to a summary explanation, cit- lived. It is a rich time for Catholics in Aus- tan (Lk 10:25-37) is a warm, comfortable, al- still very interested in the question ‘who is my ing Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, of the tan- tralia. It makes us stand out as different, like most sentimental tale. neighbour?’ because it is a central question for talizing insights we can have into the mystery us or loathe us. It is far better than being ig- Yet scholars such as yourselves remind us the big damages cases in negligence. How that of mysteries, the life of the Trinity. nored. that when first it was heard, it was far from pays out in their own lives is another matter... Not bad, considering this was all happen- In his recent book Losing My Religion. comfortable: it was packed with shocking lit- Throughout the Gospel, Jesus invites his hear- ing in the public school yard! Unbelief in Australia, (UNSW Press, 2009) tle jibes for its first hearers. In the first place, ers to expand their notions of neighbour and It was an amicable enough exchange. I Tom Frame claims that Australians are disin- there is implicit criticism of the clergy—for friend, kith and kin, until we see all Christians, acknowledged that he seemed to have had a terested in religion, rather than indifferent to their unneighbourliness, self-protectiveness, indeed all humanity, from near and far, living bad boarding school experience. On the other it. He writes: ritual pernicketiness. It’s not unlike the lam- and dead, and still to come, as our people, as hand, I told him, I had had a very good time in Religion is not ignored wilfully or otherwise; it basting, justified and unjustified, that bishops ‘us’ rather than ‘them’. Piece by piece Jesus an equivalent institution (the ‘Apostolic just doesn’t mean much to a great many peo- and priests are receiving at present and for breaks down the tribalism, the ancient animosi- School’, our MSC minor seminary). ple. In my judgment, the culturally compliant some similar reasons. Then there’s the shock- ties, the in-groups and out-groups, enlarging At the conclusion he said I was ‘O.K’—by strain of Christianity promoted in Australia does ing suggestion that lay people might be more our moral imaginations and sensitivities, so we which I understood that I was all right even if not compel people to grapple with ideas that neighbourly than clergy. can put ourselves in the shoes of others af- a Catholic priest. will expand their horizons, nor does it oblige Last of all, there’s the intimation that a tra- fected by what we do or fail to do. At least some of the contemporary anti- them to embrace lifestyle choices that might ditional enemy like the Samaritans could be During this conference our attention was Catholic animus in Australia is attributable to involve discomfort. Much of what purports to good, indeed good to Jews, indeed better than drawn to the revival of the atheist book-and- the ‘ex’ factor, the once-were-Catholics and be Christianity in this country is a form of reli- Jews at being good to Jews. It is like telling conference industry. The product strikes me the baggage they carry. How many, I wonder, gious therapy whose aim is to make people feel Benjamin Netanyahu that his most reliable as of very uneven quality, commonly ill-in- of the more vocal critics are former Catholics better about themselves or help them gain more neighbour in difficult times would be the Pal- formed about religion and often rehearsing now venting their feelings about the Church enjoyment out of life. (p.15) estinians! rather tired nineteenth century arguments. The they have walked away from? Thanks to the canonisation of Mary This is typical, of course, of the reversals sex abuse crisis has been something of a gift We can acknowledge such feelings with a MacKillop, we Catholics cannot be accused of common expectations that we meet so of- for that industry, but apart from that and some fair degree of sympathy and understanding, and of being ‘culturally compliant’—at least, not ten in Jesus’ preaching and action—the most bits of new science, there’s not much that’s we must recognize that the Catholic Church can at the moment.