Frank Brennan

Frank Brennan AO is a Jesuit priest and Rector of Newman College at the University of Melbourne. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the PM Glynn Institute at Australian Catholic University and an Adjunct Professor at the Thomas More Law School at ACU.

Frank's recent articles

Frank Brennan SJ. The genie may be out of the bottle but it is still in the ecclesiastical kitchen.

The Vatican has now released the official English translation of the relatio synodi, the concluding document from the Synod of Bishops convened by Pope Francis to consider pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelisation. (http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2014/10/18/0770/03044.html) In my last post (https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/blog/?p=2565), I dealt with an earlier document, the relation post disceptationem which was the punchy and slightly provocative discussion paper put together by Pope Franciss small hand-picked group charged with putting the issues for discussion on the table. (http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2014/10/06/0712/03003.html) That document indicated a novel acceptance of some constructive elements of couples living together without marriage,...

Frank Brennan. My tribute to Gough

Gough Whitlam once asked me why there were so many social reformers to emerge from Queensland in the early 1970s. I told him it was simple. We had someone to whom we could react: Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen; and we had someone to inspire us: him. I have written elsewhere about his contribution to Aboriginal rights, human rights and international law. Here, I reflect on the man who inspired me so affectionately, so supportively, and with such a sense of fun. What he did for me, he did for countless other Australians who dreamt of a better world and a...

Frank Brennan SJ. The Vatican Synod has let the genie out of the bottle. Deo Gratias

Let there be no doubt. There is change, and a great deal of uncertainty, in the air in Rome. And it is not just coming from Pope Francis. The Catholic Church retaining some of the attributes of a royal court in its mode of governance provides its senior prelates with every opportunity to emulate the tone and substance of the remarks and the ambiguity of approach of the one they call the Holy Father. The Pope has the opportunity even when convening a synod of 190 bishops to handpick those who steer the synod process, write the minutes and manage...

Frank Brennan SJ. We think we have a problem!

Eureka Street has run an article by Frank Brennan which highlights the far greater problems that the US has in managing its land border with Mexico. Frank Brennan also reflects on sending refugees to Cambodia, our locking up of children in Immigration detention facilities and the holding of 157 people including over 30 children in detention on a ship in the Indian Ocean for almost a month. See link to the Eureka Street article below. John Menadue   http://eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=41857

Frank Brennan SJ. A Jesuit Bicentenary

Everyone knows that we Jesuits have had a rocky history. We were fabulously successful in educating the European elite for quite some time. Things went off the rails badly in the eighteenth century. We lost out to the Vatican Curia over the dispute about accommodating some Confucian and Hindu traditional rites in prayer and liturgy on the missions in China and India. We fell out of favour with the imperial court in Portugal, then in France, and then in 1767 in Spain. By then many Jesuits were on the run throughout Europe. The Portuguese were particularly upset with our defence...

Frank Brennan SJ. How the Bishop was forced to resign because he played too much for the local team

I have followed the Bishop Bill Morris saga closely. My one new insight from reading Bill's book Benedict, Me and the Cardinals Three - is that he was sacked because he was too much a team player with his local church. By sacking their local leader, the Romans hoped to shatter the morale and direction of those who had planned the pastoral strategies of a country diocese stretched to the limits as a Eucharistic community soon to be deprived of priests in the Roman mould. He was the consummate team player who planned his pastoral strategies in close...

Frank Brennan SJ. Homily for Trinity Sunday with the Royal Commission in town.

On Fridayafternoon, I called into the Canberra Magistrates Court to watch an hour or two of proceedings at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The court was packed with lawyers. These are shameful times for us Australians as we realise how great has been the problem of child sexual abuse in our society, and presumably still is. They have been especially shameful times for us Catholics as we realise what a problem this has been in our schools, welfare institutions and parishes. Thank God, we have the help of the State to investigate matters thoroughly and...

Frank Brennan SJ. Why I am not just getting over the boats stopping.

Some people keep saying, The people have spoken. The Abbott government is right. The boats have stopped. So just get over it. I am getting a little weary of this populist refrain. I am quite prepared to accept that the majority of Australians want the boats stopped. Then arise the questions: how can this be done ethically? How can it be done respecting the rule of law and the sovereignty of parliament and the separation of powers? Even the second question should be of concern to all citizens, and not just lawyers. The historical perspective is important. The High...

Frank Brennan SJ. Cardinal Pell at the Royal Commission

Last September I addressed the Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand on issues the Catholic Church would need to address with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and in the follow-up to the Victorian Parliaments Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Organisations. I said: Those who exercised high office in our Church before 1996 will need to apprise the royal commission of the clerical structures and culture which precluded them from taking further action to arrest child abuse in the Church prior to the institution of Towards Healing...

Towback of boats to Indonesia. Frank Brennan SJ

It is essential that we receive unambiguous public confirmation that Indonesia is agreeing to the tow-back of boats. Unilateral action by the Abbott Government is just not on. It would fracture our relationship with Indonesia, would be counterproductive and contrary to our international legal obligations. All you need do is consider Recommendation 19 of the 2012 Expert Panel chaired by Angus Houston who had headed our armed services and Michael LEstrange who had been head of John Howards Cabinet Office and then head of the DFAT. Recommendation 19 reads: The Panel notes that the conditions necessary for effective,...

A reflection on Pope Francis's Exhortation. Guest blogger: Frank Brennan SJ

Pope Francis has published his first and very prolix papal teaching document entitled Evangelii Gaudium (the joy of evangelisation). With a tone of delightful self-mocking he observes, I am aware that nowadays documents do not arouse the same interest as in the past and that they are quickly forgotten. On the scale of papal authority, the document is called an Apostolic Exhortation which comes in below an Encyclical. This gives the pope licence to be more free ranging, adding anecdotes and pastoral tips. Since the Second Vatican Council, there have been synods of bishops convened to discuss particular topics. In...

Asylum seekers - a regional solution and Bob Carr's nonsense. Guest blogger: Frank Brennan SJ

This morning Frank Brennan was interviewed by Fran Kelly on ABC Breakfast. See link below to the interview. (John Menadue) http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2013/07/bst_20130702_0821.mp3

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