in the pulpit of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
In the wake of the announcement that a Royal Commission will be held into the abuse of children in Australia, one has to ask:
How deep are the nation's pockets?
Some years ago I was invited to a small gathering at a small private hotel just down the road from St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. This multi-story building was home to some of the priests attached to the Cathedral. However, it was explained to me that the main purpose of the building was so that wealthy business people could be schmoozed for donations. At the time, much restoration work was being undertaken at St Mary's which was quite expensive. The hotel, I was led to understand, was known in the Catholic community as Clancy's folly.
Wouldn't it be a good idea to sell this property and donate the proceeds to the Australian Government to alleviate the costs of the Royal Commission into abuse - a great deal of which took place within the responsibility of the Catholic Church. Alternatively, the Catholic Church could be billed for its share of the Royal Commission costs and it could go about schmoozing the wealthy businessmen once again in the private hotel for the money to pay the bill.