AUSTRALIA’S bishops have condemned the scourge of domestic and family violence in their annual social justice statement, saying relationships must be “marked by respect and freedom rather than coercion and control”.
At the Brisbane launch of this year’s statement titled ‘Respect: Confronting Violence and Abuse’, Karyn Walsh CEO of the community organisation Micah Projects, underlined the impact of DV on us all by reading aloud the names of five women murdered in Queensland in the last three weeks.
“We also acknowledge the courage it takes to live with the experience of domestic violence… and the trauma and tragedy that comes with it,” Ms Walsh, who has spent decades advocating for disadvantaged and marginalised people, said.
The bishops’ statement points out that the roots of domestic and family violence “lie in the abuse of power to control and dominate others” and that “this stands in contrast to the relationships to which God calls us”.
“The teaching of Christ urges us to promote relationships marked by respect and freedom rather than coercion and control,” Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB wrote in the foreword.
“The message of the Gospel is not a message of domination of one person over another but a message of mutual esteem and kindness.”
The statement concedes that in some contexts, Scripture has been used to explain or even justify instances of violence against women or children. It rejects such distortions.
Passages used to imply the inferiority of women or children “do not reflect a context in which the equal dignity of every human being created in the image and likeness of God is acknowledged, or in which marriage is based on a relationship of love, mutuality and partnership”.
“The respect due to each member of a family, household or community should reflect the respect and care shown for others by Christ,” the statement said.
Ms Walsh noted there has been a big shift in attitudes about DV, within church communities.
“In the seventies… it was so unacceptable for a woman to leave a marriage,” she said.
“Divorce was unacceptable - a sin. Many women were trying to get heard about what was happening but were told to serve their husbands, to stay in relationships.
“Religion was often a roadblock for anyone who even wanted to think of leaving.
“It was the beginning of the refuge movement, which was really a movement of women and making the link between women not being possessions in a relationship, but equal partners.”
Brisbane auxiliary bishop Tim Norton also spoke at the statement launch, drawing on his own experience during the last eight years running renewal courses in Italy for international members of his Society of the Divine Word missionaries.
He pinpointed the need to raise awareness about embedded behaviours, saying that culture “can lead us in ways that will be demeaning and disrespectful and we can still call ourselves Christians within that culture”.
“Embedded behaviours and embedded cultural understandings can trump notions of justice, fairness, respect and even love,” Bishop Norton said.
The bishops’ statement, citing the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, explains that family and domestic violence “affects people of all ages and from all backgrounds”, but notes it “predominantly affects women and children”.
The statement promotes programs and agencies that support those who suffer various forms of violence, but also highlights the importance of support for those who perpetrate such violence.
The Catholic Church is a major provider of services for all people affected by domestic and family violence through its dioceses, agencies, religious institutes and other organisations.
The social justice statement launch was held at St James Catholic Church Coorparoo on August 23. The statement can be found here. This Sunday, August 28 is commemorated as Social Justice Sunday.
