A catholic primary school has condemned a letter sent earlier this month by the archbishop of Hobart, in which he railed against the “radicalised transgender lobby”, same-sex marriage and the “woke movement”.
The letter from Archbishop Julian Porteous, dated May 2, was widely distributed among Tasmania’s Catholic schools. Politicians and LGBTQIA+ advocates criticised it at the time as being transphobic, homophobic and draconian.
On Wednesday, in a message to school parents, the advisory board of St Cuthbert’s Catholic School, on Hobart’s eastern shore, said it had sent a letter in response to the archbishop.
The school also told parents it was “committed to developing an inclusive and accepting culture that is in harmony with the Catholic tradition”.
“The board felt it important to note that, as a school, St Cuthbert’s meets students and members of our diverse school community both where they are at and as they are in their life journey, without judgement,” the statement read.
“As a board, we are confident St Cuthbert’s will continue to foster a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for our students and school community.”
The Independent Education Union applauded the school for pushing back against the archbishop.
“Taking a stand like this on behalf of students, staff and the whole community is in the best tradition of Catholic social justice,” the union’s general secretary, David Brear, said.
The Archdiocese of Hobart declined to comment on the school’s response.
By Wednesday evening, the school’s message to parents, via an internal communication app, had been deleted.
School’s now-deleted message to parents
Advisory Board Response to Archbishop’s Pastoral Letter
Dear Families,
Earlier this week, the St Cuthbert’s Catholic School Advisory Board wrote to the Archbishop in response to the ‘We are Salt of the Earth’ Pastoral Letter circulated on 13 May 2024.
In particular, the Board noted that St Cuthbert’s is committed to developing an inclusive and accepting culture that is in harmony with the Catholic tradition. The Board felt it important to note that, as a school, St Cuthbert’s meets students and members of our diverse school community both where they are at and as they are in their life journey, without judgement.
As a Board, we are confident St Cuthbert’s will continue to foster a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for our students and school community.
Warm regards
St Cuthbert’s Catholic School Advisory Board
What was in the Archbishop’s letter
Archbishop Porteous, in his pastoral letter titled ‘We are Salt of the Earth’, tackled a long list of groups and issues.
Among those included in the letter’s crosshairs were the “radicalised transgender lobby” groups, legal abortion access, voluntary assisted dying and euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and the “woke” movement.
“What we are now witnessing in our Australian society is the imposition of certain ideological positions on social and moral questions by means of legislation,” the archbishop wrote.
“We are challenged as to why we do not accept what is now viewed as the reasonable and acceptable behaviour.
“But we cannot. We are different. We are God’s own people.”
Archbishop Porteous wrote that since the same-sex marriage plebiscite “we have seen the growth in what has been referred to as the ‘woke’ movement, seeking to overturn other traditional values and beliefs”.
“This has included the push for ‘diversity and inclusivity’ training in the corporate sector and the attack on the biological reality of being male or female through a radicalised transgender lobby.”
Under a subheading “Enough is enough”, Archbishop Porteous wrote: “As the church we cannot stand by as we experience our freedoms being taken from us.”
Archbishop’s letter was ‘arrogant and exclusory’, Catholic group says
The letter was met with condemnation over its contents and potential breach of the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
Concerned Catholics Tasmania (CCT) — a group “committed to renewal and reform in our church” — offered a sharp rebuke to what it said was the letter’s “heartless” and “alarmist” tone.
“His reference to ‘God’s own people’ is both arrogant and exclusory,” CCT chair Susan Chen said in a statement provided to media earlier this month.
“His words may well be construed by many inside and outside the Catholic Church as a form of aggression and violence against those who struggle to find recognition for their full human dignity.”
Ms Chen said most disconcerting was the archbishop’s statement that the Catholic school system was accused of wanting to fire staff or discriminate against students who disagreed with Catholic teaching.
In the letter, Archibishop Porteous suggested “no one is being forced to teach in or be a student in a Catholic school if they disagree with the teaching of the Catholic Church”.
“If they initially can accept the catholicity of the school but later find that their personal views are at variance with those of the Catholic faith, then it would only make sense they should seek an alternative educational institution more aligned with their views.”
Anti-discrimination laws raised
Independent Tasmanian MP Kristie Johnston criticised the letter earlier this month as “nothing short of hateful speech”.
“Where the Catholic system education system receives government funding, then I’m very concerned that we have government funding going to a school or to a system which condones this kind of breach of anti-discrimination laws,” Ms Johnston said at the time.
It also drew the ire of the Tasmanian Greens, with party leader Rosalie Woodruff raising concern that it was “clearly in breach of … anti-discrimination laws”.
Tasmania’s peak body for LGBTQIA+ advocacy, Equality Tasmania, said the letter contained “a number of misinformation and disinformation, and also some homophobic and transphobic beliefs”.
Equality Tasmania president Rowan Richardson, a transgender man and school teacher, said he had written to all Catholic schools that distributed the archbishop’s letter asking for a right of reply.
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