Prominent Australian Jesuit Fr Frank Brennan and Sydney's Anglican Archbishop Glenn Davies have taken opposite sides in a televised discussion about same-sex marriage, with the result of a national postal survey to be announced on 15 November.
The two churchmen appeared with actress, comedian and LGBTQI advocate Magda Szubanski and lawyer and senior Liberal Party office-holder Karina Okotel, from the "No" campaign, on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation program 'Q&A' on 23 October, with Fr Brennan declaring: "I believe in my Church in the dogma of the sacrament of marriage and, yes, I believe Magda cannot have a sacramental marriage in the Catholic Church. But, equally, I... believe she can have a civil marriage in Australia and I actually think God would be happy with that.
"In terms of the question of the civil law, I just see it as quite a different question from that about the dogma within the Church."
But Archbishop Davies said marriage could not be separated from the Biblical definition of being between a heterosexual couple.
"I believe that Jesus' words continue to have power and influence and authority today," he said, referring to the Gospel of St Matthew chapter 19, a passage in which Jesus speaks on marriage and divorce.
"I suppose I differ here with regard to Frank. It's not just for Christians, like a sacramental marriage might be in their tradition, but rather, marriage is God's design for all people... In that regard, I want to propose that to the Australian nation. I do not want to coerce. That's not my job."
Ms Szubanski told Dr Davies: "...I accept that the Church will never marry me. That grieves me in ways you will never know. I'm the one in my family, when I buried my parents, I organised every detail of the requiem masses, I wrote the orders of service, I put the pall over my mother's coffin. Now I accept the Catholic Church will never marry me but you won't even let me marry outside the Church... Why should you have the right to tell me or any other person – straight or gay – what they do in the civil domain? That’s not your domain."
Ms Okotel said should a "Yes" vote prevail, she would campaign for legislation to guarantee "religious freedom, free speech, parental choice".
Archbishop Glenn Davies and Magda Szubanski debate same sex-marriage ©YouTube
Fr Brennan and prominent columnist with Rupert Murdoch's The Australian newspaper, Greg Sheridan, have been criticised for their stances supporting same-sex marriage by Dr Conor Sweeney, a lecturer at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne.
Dr Sweeney wrote in Sydney's Catholic Weekly on 24 October: "For Catholics such as Brennan and Sheridan it is incompatible with their faith to support the redefinition of civil marriage to include same sex couples. While they might still seek to advocate a 'yes' vote it needs to be clear that this would involve dissenting from Catholic teaching and place one in an irregular relationship with the Church."
Almost 12 million of the 16 million Australians eligible to respond to the survey had done so by the end of last week, the Bureau of Statistics, which is conducting the survey, estimated.
PICTURE: Magda Szubanski is seen at a marriage equality rally in South Melbourne in Melbourne, 17 September, 2017. Szubanski was attending the launch of the Get Out to Vote campaign encouraging people to vote Yes in the forthcoming marriage equality plebiscite
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