Sydney's Cardinal George Pell expressed trepidation about the country's proposed human rights commission, telling a gathering of the Australian Christian Lobby that it could expect restrictions on religious people. He cites his lack of optimism to a statement from the commission's race discrimination commissioner, Tom Calma, who was reported right from the start as expressing his concern about a "growing fundamentalist religious lobby" in matters such as same sex relationships, stem cell research and abortion, according to the Zenit news agency.
The same commissioner jointly delivered in August a conference paper about the inquiry, which began by stating, "The compatibility of religious freedom with human rights is the subject of the most comprehensive study ever undertaken in Australia in this area."
Cardinal Pell was cited saying in a speech to the ACL conference last week that the claim underlying that first phrase: "[T]he clear meaning of these words is that religious freedom is not a human right and may not be compatible with human rights."
"This," the cardinal affirmed, "is an astonishing claim from a senior officer of the body responsible for the protection and advancement of human rights in Australia."
He cautioned that Calma and the other writer of the paper, Conrad Gershevitch, conclude by suggesting a greater role for government in managing religious freedom.
"If these individuals have their way," the prelate said, "religious people in Australia can expect much more government restriction and interference, 'even if gentle and gloved.'"
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