Saturday, July 19, 2008

Anglican bishop raises questions on church unity

A SENIOR Anglican bishop has questioned the very existence of the Papal office at a meeting with the Pope and other Christian leaders yesterday.

The Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth, told Pope Benedict there remained "very great and significant differences" between the Anglican and Catholic churches: "Including, if I may say so, even your very office."

But the bishop said he had been inspired by the Pope's exhortation for Christians to see one another as brothers. At the same meeting - attended by representatives of the Assemblies of God, Uniting and Lutheran churches and held in the crypt of Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral - the Pope warned that the push for unity between the Catholic and other Christian churches had reached "a critical juncture".

His warning follows the Anglican Church's decision earlier this month to open the way to women bishops, a decision the Vatican decried as making reconciliation between the two creeds more difficult.

The Pope yesterday emphasised common ground between Christianity and other faiths when he met the leaders of other religions.

The Pope individually greeted about 30 representatives of the Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Zoroastrian religions, among others, and called on all people of faith to work for peace in a world threatened by "sinister and indiscriminate" forms of violence.

The pontiff - who has come under fire for previous comments in which he cited a medieval text suggesting Muhammad's teachings were violent - exchanged a warm handshake with Sheikh Mohamadu Saleem, of the Lakemba Mosque.

Sheikh Saleem - who spoke of the need for a fundamentalism of love rather than a fundamentalism of hate - described the meeting as "really positive".

Meanwhile, a Catholic priest who allegedly took photographs of naked schoolboys when he was a Brisbane high school teacher 25 years ago has been caught working for World Youth Day.

Last night the Seven Network reported that the priest had been working at an Augustinian stall at a vocational expo, setting up an audiovisual display.

Organisers said they did not perform background checks on everyone.

Members of the Augustinian order said they had kept the priest under close supervision.

Once his background became public, he was removed.

One of the priest's former pupils, Matthew Pedrazzini, said the abuse had ruined his life and had resulted in him committing a sex offence.
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