Sydney, Australia, May 14, 2008 / 02:05 am
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has issued a statement responding to a controversial retired bishop for his new book that doubts Catholic teachings.
In 2007 Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, retired Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney, published a book titled “Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus.” According to The Age, Bishop Robinson argued in his book that the Church’s refuses to examine Catholic teachings on extramarital sex, women priests, homosexuality, and papal power this means the Church is not serious about responding to clerical sexual abuse but is only “managing” it.
The 71-year-old Bishop Robinson headed the Australian church’s efforts to address sexual abuse for a decade. The bishop, who says he was a victim of abuse as a child, retired in 2004 because he was reportedly disillusioned by his work.
He is presently in the United States on a lecture tour for the activist group Voice of the Faithful, which formed in response to the clerical sexual abuse scandal in Boston. His book has sold more than 8,000 copies in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.