ARCHBISHOP John Bathersby of Brisbane has suggested that in light of stories of sexual misbehaviour in its ranks the Church’s ‘greater need’ is to ‘have a good look at itself’.
In an article for The Courier-Mail newspaper on April 22, Archbishop Bathersby said the Church should look ‘not only at the adequacy of its structures and the integrity of its ministers, but most importantly the soundness of its theology’.
‘It seems to me,’ he said, ‘that the problem of the Church is not so much one of predatory sexuality, but of power, which has a subtle tendency to convince religious leaders that they are free of the constraints that bind lesser mortals because of their elevated calling.
‘Sadly such delusions often lead to inappropriate exploitation in areas of sexuality.
‘To try to overturn such attitudes the Church must return to its origins, to Christ and the style of leadership he advocated for his followers.
‘His most significant gesture, found in John’s Gospel, shows him washing his disciples’ feet. It is a most powerful symbol for the Church, indeed for all leaders, but sadly one that although recognised is often neglected.’
Archbishop Bathersby said that until the servant model of leadership espoused by Christ was learnt the Church would continue to be afflicted by problems that undermined its mission to bring the good news.
‘For me,’ he said, ‘that is the very heart of the problem that confronts the Church today, whose probing by the media, no matter how aggressively, should not be resented but welcomed.’
Archbishop Bathersby said he had attended the archdiocesan priests’ assembly from April 15-18 and the ‘worldwide sexual abuse scandals hung like a cloud over the discussions but did not destroy a sense of optimism about the Church’s future’.
The assembly’s outcome was one of the ‘significant signs of hope’ in the Church.
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