SOUTH Brisbane priest Fr Peter Kennedy’s decision to lead parishioners to a new worship location at the Trades and Labour Council (TLC) building does not mean that St Mary’s parish itself is in exile.
Brisbane archdiocese chancellor and canon lawyer Fr Adrian Farrelly said this was because St Mary’s parish South Brisbane has “a past, present and a future”.
“St Mary’s parish started in 1893 … it has a present and it will have a future,” Fr Farrelly said.
“In other words St Mary’s will continue on its present site – if Fr Peter and his followers go into exile, as they’re calling it, this certainly doesn’t mean the parish has gone into exile.”
Fr Farrelly also told The Catholic Leader that Fr Kennedy was “clearly in an area of disobedience” by setting up such a community and so was acting contrary to a promise of obedience to his bishop made on his ordination day.
He also noted that Archbishop John Bathersby, in his February 6 letter to Fr Kennedy this year, which removed him as St Mary’s administrator, had also indicated that “those who follow you should realise they will not be in communion with the Roman Catholic Church or the Archdiocese of Brisbane”.
Fr Farrelly was responding to media reports that Fr Kennedy intended to lead members of St Mary’s parish to the TLC building 200m down the road from the church after his final Mass there on April 19.
Fr Kennedy announced his decision in the wake of mediation talks between Brisbane archdiocese and representatives of St Mary’s parish held on March 26. He did not attend the mediation.
Ian Callinan QC facilitated the mediation at the invitation of Archbishop Bathersby.
Among other matters agreed to in the mediation was that dean of St Stephen’s Cathedral Fr Ken Howell would take over administration of St Mary’s parish on April 20.
Both Fr Kennedy and Fr Farrelly gave opinions of the latest developments in a local radio news program on March 30.
In the interview, 71-year-old Fr Kennedy who has been a priest for 44 years, 28 of them in South Brisbane, said the name of the new community would be St Mary’s Catholic Community in Exile.
He said the announcement had been made during a homily he delivered at St Mary’s Church the previous weekend.
Fr Farrelly on the same radio program said communion with the Catholic Church hangs on three main issues – “faith, sacraments and governance” – and that “any move by a priest or a group of people to set up another community would need to be looked at from the point of view of those three key issues”.
Fr Farrelly later said it was now a matter of seeing what Fr Kennedy “actually does”.
“… We need to wait and see what the reality of the situation becomes. Ecclesiastical penalties can be imposed for such disobedience to the archbishop’s wishes.
“However, the Church still looks for a change of heart; it’s still hoped that Fr Peter may reconsider his plans.”
