Church in the World

Police called to Aboriginal church demonstration

Australia

Police have been called to a Sydney church that was at the centre of an innovative ministry to Aboriginal people only days after a bishop warned parishioners against disrupting the liturgy.

Parish clergy who are members of the Neocatechumenal Way called the police after a disturbance at Mass on 5 June, only two days after the Sydney auxiliary bishop Anthony Fisher had written to parishioners of St Vincent de Paul in the inner-city suburb of Redfern asking them to support their clergy.

Last month, parishioners mourned their former parish priest, Fr Ted Kennedy, who had helped establish a team ministry with a heavy social-justice emphasis for more than 30 years until ill-health forced his retirement in 2002 (The Tablet, 28 May).

Bishop Fisher, in his letter, first acknowledged how deeply loved Fr Kennedy was by his community. ?I know that you will want to carry forward his legacy by ensuring that there is a vibrant and holy Catholic community in Redfern for many years to come,? the bishop wrote. He then appealed for cooperation with the appointed clergy, led by the parish priest Fr Gerry Prindiville, and said he was aware of disruptions to liturgy outside the rites of the Church and without the permission of the clergy. ?I know that there are strong views and emotions around some of these matters,? Bishop Fisher wrote. ?The Liturgy is not, however, the place to express such differences of opinion by defying the appointed celebrant of the Mass or the liturgical rites of the Church. If there are further disruptions of the Mass I have directed Fr Gerry and Fr Denis [Sudla] to contact the police and seek their assistance.?

The current conflict centres on a small table, topped by a red, black and gold cross (the colours of the Aboriginal flag) that was placed in the church by some supporters of Fr Kennedy and then allegedly damaged.

Fr Sudla is believed to have objected to the use of the small table, known as the Aboriginal altar, which customarily had been brought up to the main altar at the Prayers of the Faithful as a memorial to honour the Aboriginal people who had suffered or died as a result of European settlement. He is alleged to have kicked the table during Mass on 5 June. A parishioner remonstrated with him after Mass, a heated exchange is believed to have followed and police were called.

Fr Prindiville told The Tablet he was away from the parish when the incident occurred and that there had been no problem last Sunday. He described the situation with the protesters as ?extremely difficult, you can?t discuss anything with them?. The protesters had very little to do with the Aboriginal community, he said, but were ?disciples? of Fr Kennedy from his days as a university chaplain.
Mark Brolly, Melbourne