THE Queensland Catholic Education Commission will consult with Australia’s bishops before it decides if Catholic school authorities should sever ties with Amnesty International over its new stance on abortion.
This follows Amnesty International’s controversial decision to change its formerly neutral position on abortion.
QCEC executive director Mike Byrne said he’d been advised by Townsville Bishop Michael Putney on behalf of the bishops of Queensland that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference had issued a statement calling on Amnesty to reverse its policy.
“The bishops said they would now consider the situation carefully in consultation with the Catholic education sector and other arms of the Catholic Church in Australia,” Mr Byrne said.
“I will write to the president of the Bishop’s Conference, Archbishop Philip Wilson, seeking advice about how the QCEC might be part of this consultation and I am hopeful that a clear direction on the matter can be achieved as quickly as possible.
“Many of our schools have had a long association with Amnesty and it is disappointing that this situation has arisen.”
Mr Byrne said the commission had been made aware of moves by some within the Church to establish an alternative action group with similar goals to Amnesty International, but more aligned with the original ideals of its founder, Englishman Peter Benenson, who died in 2005.
