Ah, Catholic centralism, a significant issue that reaches much further than folk often realize. Daniel Weir has pointed the discussion towards a key issue of Christian understanding. A contemporary case study from Canberra illustrates the point.

An outstanding Catholic medical charity, the Little Company of Mary, operates one of two public hospitals in Canberra and I have personal experience of their excellent care and competence. They recently decided to sell the Calvary public hospital to the Territory Government for some $70 million Australian dollars (Canberra is the national capital located in the Australian Capital Territory a la DC). LCM operates, superbly, our local hospice for the dying that is owned by the Territory Government and as part of the Calvary sale the LCM will be given ownership of the hospice. The LCM also operates the major private hospital in Canberra. Readers will understand that as an operator of hospitals there are times when Catholic doctrines limit the services provided by the LCM, as is also the case in Catholic hospitals in America but that issue is not in contention in Australia as there is almost always an alternative.

With its schools, hospitals, aged care, etc etc the Catholic Church is the largest private employer in Australia and contributes massively to the welfare of the Australian community far beyond any narrow sense of religion.

What is relevant in the context of Daniel Weir’s contribution is that both the local Catholic bishop and the provincial archbishop (in Sydney) are opposed to the sale of the public hospital on the grounds that it provides an essential Catholic/Christian public service, an undeniable situation. It has been made clear that approval must come from Rome before the sale can proceed. It would be beyond my understanding of diocesan and episcopal authority to learn that any Anglican institution in Australia (or America) required the permission of Canterbury before it could be sold, and that perhaps highlights the very deep division between Anglican and Roman concepts of episcopacy and church government. It is not just a matter of beliefs expressed in liturgy and a catechism that divides Anglicans and Protestants from Rome.

Ian Welch, Canberra