AUSTRALIA
The Standard
CLARE QUIRK
18 Jul, 2012
A CONTROVERSIAL priest says the Catholic Church lost the contraception fight a long time ago and needed to be open to change.
Father Timothy Radcliffe addressed the National Council of Priests of Australia in Warrnambool yesterday and told the convention the church had a tendency to be too defensive when faced with modern times.
Father Radcliffe said secular people were prevented from accepting the good things the church had to offer if it in return can’t accept good things from the secular world — including the equality of all people, the value of due process, respect for gay people and the contribution of women.
He said priests had been associated with an “image of false impurity” as a result of sex abuse scandals.
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