THE Catholic Church is no longer on the periphery, and it can no longer afford to be comfortable or feel safe there, English Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said during a lecture in Brisbane on September 2.
The Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales addressed about 200 people on the topic of “Communion and Mission” as part of a series of lectures that also took him to Sydney and Melbourne.
In his Brisbane lecture, he said until the last 40 or 50 years, the Catholic Church in Australia, just as in England and Wales, had a history of looking after its own people, and remaining on the periphery of social and public life.
“Today things are utterly different,” he said.
“The Catholic Church in England and Wales, as here in Australia, is at the heart of what it means to be Christian in our two countries.”
The cardinal said while there are many who subconsciously are trying to remove God from their life, there are many also who wish to quench their thirst for real freedom by endeavouring to satisfy their deepest needs.
Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor also outlined some essential priorities for the renewal of the Church.
