Letter to the Clergy and People of the Diocese of Broken Bay,
Friday 27 September 2019
Feast Day of St Vincent de Paul, Apostle to the vulnerable
Dear brothers and sisters,
The Abortion Law Reform Act 2019 has now passed the NSW Parliament and will soon be enacted in law. For those of us who are deeply committed to an understanding that life is a gift received, a responsibility not a commodity, sacred not discardable, any development that extends the legal sanction to terminate life is distressing. When a society congratulates itself for extending its capability for the destruction of life at its most vulnerable, something has gone awry. If we kill those who are vulnerable, either at the beginning or the end of their lives, have we become a society of genuine human flourishing? Our greatness is known in the way we substitute killing for a quality of care that demonstrates us at our best: together in our uncertainty, suffering and love.
Legality does not equate with morality. As Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, recently commented, the majority makes rules, they do not make consciences. On your behalf, I want to record and express my gratitude to the many men and women, especially within our own Catholic community and within the Parliament itself, who throughout this entire debate have not surrendered their conscience to political expedience, who were not seduced by the lazy discourse of individual rights and liberal freedoms, and who demonstrated their grave concern with the legislation in its original form. By their political participation, the legislation now to be enacted has a range of protections for children, women and doctors that it would not have if it had not been for such active involvement. This demonstrates to us the importance of our civil engagement.
The practice of abortion is complex. As we appreciate, sometimes medical circumstances require it. Such situations are traumatic for those involved. However, the projected figure of nearly 80,000 abortions annually in Australia suggests that, for many, the practice is a choice motivated by other factors. Those choices speak of views about life that are incompatible with a Christian and Catholic understanding of the world and the ethical practice that flows from it.
In the face of such social developments, our challenge, now, as people of Catholic conscience, is twofold. Firstly, it is critically important for us to look for new and creative ways to share
our understanding of life in a way that is as engaging and as invitational as possible, especially for our young people so that they can make choices that work for them, not against them. It is the time to affirm, positively and constructively, what makes us most human. Two thousand years of experience, based on the liberating message of Christ, has taught us this. And secondly, we must recommit to the means to support women and families who find themselves in a situation in which the possibility of abortion presents as a solution to their difficulties. We must strive to create an experience of community in which people know they are welcomed and supported whatever their circumstances, and because of which they do not need to travel the dark and tragic pathway of abortion which all of us know, deep within ourselves – whether we are Christian or not - separates us from what is truly good and beautiful. If we want our society to be a context in which people can flourish in their humanity, we must commit ourselves to creating a community of safety, of respect, of welcome, and of solidarity. This alone presents as the most authentic solution to the problems we face.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Very Rev Dr David Ranson
Diocesan Administrator