Sydney, Australia, Dec 2, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric has said he supports the archbishop of Brisbane’s stand against priests who do not use the correct Scriptural words when giving the sacrament of baptism.
“I strongly support what Archbishop Bathersby is doing in Brisbane to try to regularize an irregular situation," said George Cardinal Pell, archbishop of Sydney, in an interview with The Australian yesterday.
Cardinal Pell said he believes Archbishop John Bathersby’s ruling on the matter is "theologically correct."
Archbishop Bathersby called for hundreds of people, who were baptized at St. Mary Parish, to be rebaptized after he learned from a grandparent that a priest had used the words "Creator, Liberator and Sustainer" instead of the correct formula, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," for the last 10 years.