A Statement From the Bishops of the Anglican Church of Australia - April 2003
(following their Conference held near Adelaide from 30 March – 3 April 2003)
The Bishops of the Anglican Church have called for Australians to show great openness and generosity of spirit to heightened tensions related to the Gulf War.
The annual Australian Bishops’ Conference, meeting near Adelaide expressed concern about the growing risk of religious polarisation in Australia and the wider world, with some voices already painting the present conflict as a conflict of religions.
The Bishops’ Conference expressed profound grief at the human suffering taking place in Iraq. They called on Australians to “recognise the dignity of others and to act in love”.
“We acknowledge loved expressed in sacrificial service by our armed forces personnel. Equally we acknowledge love in the anxiety expressed in the Australian community about this conflict.
We look for Australians to act in love by showing a generosity of spirit towards each other through this time. When the time comes for Australian service personnel to return home we urge the whole Australian community to welcome them unequivocally.
“As we look to Iraq after the war, we urge a sustained and long-term commitment by Western countries, in proportion to their wealth, in rebuilding that nation. We look for the provision of immediate and adequate aid to relieve the humanitarian crisis. We encourage Australians to give generously to aid appeals”.
In other matters dealt with at the conference, the gathering of more than forty Bishops gave strong support for uniform national protocols for clergy and church workers’ conduct, child protection and responding to allegations of child abuse. The Bishops welcomed progress made on the development of such protocols during the past year.
The proposed national protocols are meant to standardise a variety of processes at present in place throughout the church. Most dioceses already have in place clergy codes of conduct and protocols for dealing with misconduct by clergy and other church workers.
However, the Bishops’ Conference has been concerned that the lack of national standards and protocols created problems of accessibility for those needing care or seeking to bring a complaint about the conduct of all church workers.
The Anglican Primate, the Most Rev Dr Peter Carnley AO, said the proposed code of conduct would foster best practice by clergy and church workers throughout the country.
“This is a serious national response by the church to what has been a very difficult and painful matter. It is clear that we have to establish a national process that will be simple and accessible to victims, so that they can feel confident of coming forward with their unresolved complaints”, the Archbishop said.
Media enquiries:
Michael Bromilow,
Director of Communications to the Primate
(mob) 0409 522 210
