It is difficult to comprehend why the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, when presented with a way it can demonstrate God’s love in a very practical gesture of reconciliation, has declined (“How church ignored a worthy cry for help”, October 15).
asserted
church → comprehend → help
The church has been blessed in its presence in Redfern over many years; likewise, God has been at work through the Aboriginal Medical Service there, supported in no small way by the church itself.
asserted
God → bless → church
Where was that original vision lost sight of?
asserted
vision → lose → sight
The boffins scrutinising legal niceties and “financial security through future preservation of value” aren’t hard-hearted, and it seems a workaround could overcome their objections.
uncertain
workaround → scrutinise → objections
The pastoral care element of these mammoth institutions has forever evaded their purported charitable aims at the expense of hoarding their treasure troves of money and empire building facilitated by their dubious tax-free status.
asserted
element → evade → status
Plus, it’s barely surprising to see George Pell’s name crop up in historic efforts to stonewall an obvious kindness to a much-needed and dedicated service doing the exact work of their espoused Christian ideals.
asserted
name → ’ → ideals
Rebecca Semple, Abbotsford
Is the statement that the Catholic Church “turning over the title deeds [of the Aboriginal Medical Service] would make little difference to the church’s current status” the oxymoron of the century?
asserted
Church → turn → century
Cecily Chittick, Wyong
Jesus feeding thousands with five loaves and two fish was a miracle.
asserted
feeding → feed → loaves
It appears it requires another miracle for the Catholic Church to dispose of a small, unwanted, poorly maintained property.
asserted
Church → appear → property
Grahame Marks, Manly
The Catholic Church isn’t responsible for modern Sydney property prices and historically was forced to buy out-of-the-way, unwanted land on which it continues to do remarkable and widely acknowledged charitable, medical and educational work for tens of thousands of people of every race, colour and creed, according to the commandment to “love your neighbour”.
uncertain
it → force → neighbour
And Jesus wept.
asserted
Jesus → weep → ?
What would he think?
asserted
he → think → What
Keith Hartmann, Bowral
I bet that if Pope Leo had any say in it, he’d be making sure the Catholic Church gifts that vital little Redfern building Bevan Shields wrote about to the Aboriginal Medical Service.
asserted
Shields → bet → Service
Alas, Sydney’s local Catholic captains of property ownership appear to have no such belief in or instinct for such charity or helping the needy, despite their massive property holdings, described so well today.
asserted
captains → appear → holdings
It often seems that Pope Leo is an impressive outlier in Catholicism, where cold, hard greed, grasping and scandal are more common.
asserted
greed → seem → Catholicism
May he recover from his current brush with lung cancer and continue to lead and inspire.
uncertain
he → recover → cancer
In anticipation of letters accusing the Catholic Church of “hoarding” property, it is worth noting that the church is far from unique in providing property to community organisations at nominal rent.
asserted
church → accuse → rent
The City of Sydney, Inner West Council and many other local councils routinely lease community buildings and land to not-for-profit organisations at reduced or peppercorn rents.
asserted
City → lease → rents
The Aboriginal Medical Service is not being denied the use of the Redfern property.
asserted
Service → deny → property
The building is occupied, serving the community, and is neither vacant, land-banked nor operated for profit.
asserted
building → occupy → profit
This dispute, as I read it, is not about access to the property but ownership.
asserted
I → read → property
While the Aboriginal Medical Service may have compelling reasons for seeking a transfer, gifting the property would create a moral and political precedent.
uncertain
gifting → have → precedent
Governments, churches and other charitable landowners could reasonably be asked why similar treatment should not be extended to other worthy organisations providing community services.
uncertain
treatment → ask → services
Perhaps the more important question is not who holds title to the property, but what charitable capital improvements the archdiocese executive could fund to support better health outcomes that would otherwise need to be funded or delivered by government.
uncertain
that → hold → government
It isn’t just the Brethren who have controlling demands on their flock; some subsections of mainstream religions try it on as well (“Ex-members claim their church leader directed political push”, October 15).
uncertain
leader → have → push
Accepting those who only behave or think like the church’s leader, only accepting “Christian” tradespeople or dealing with “Christian” businesses are found in some places.
asserted
who → accept → places
Of course, women are highly “respected”, so they don’t get a look-in when these controlling males take charge.
asserted
males → respect → charge
The original Christian, Jesus, interacted with all sorts, some of them considered unsavoury by the people of his time.
asserted
some → interact → time
He didn’t make selections and only deal with “decent people”.
asserted
He → make → people
If the joint standing committee of parliament wants to get to the bottom of Plymouth Brethren involvement in the last federal election, then Peter Dutton, former leader of the Coalition, must be called to state what he knows about the Brethren push, which, as we all remember, backfired heavily on the Liberal Party in particular.
asserted
we → want → Party
Glenn Johnson, Leura
I’m reeling, after reading the latest article in the Herald about the Exclusive Brethren, that shares very important evidence from those who have experienced this so-called religion first hand.
asserted
who → reel → religion
It seems so obvious that the Exclusive Brethren, led by men of extreme wealth, keeping power by coercive control, dictating every aspect of followers’ lives, is not a religion.
asserted
Brethren → seem → lives
The fact that they don’t vote but try to influence voting by others is a shameful indictment of the Coalition.
asserted
they → vote → Coalition
All tax exemptions should be removed from this organisation that puts power before education and family values.
asserted
that → remove → education
Jane Lorimer, West Hobart (Tas)
Did I really read that Brethren members are not permitted to own pets?
asserted
members → read → pets
Goodness, I’m left feeling a bit giddy.
asserted
I → leave → ?
Peter Skrzynecki, Eastwood
Elderly fear a bad bill of health
I am very pleased that the non-government senators have “teamed up to scrap a bill that would have dumped private health insurance rebates for people over 65” (“Rebates on private health sink in Senate”, October 15).
asserted
Rebates → team → Senate
However, moving a motion to discharge the Private Health Insurance Amendment Bill only blocks it for now.
asserted
moving → move → it
It should be voted down – scrapped entirely.
asserted
It → vote → ?
Withdrawing the rebate for over-65s by arguing “intergenerational fairness” negates the decades I have been paying for my healthcare.
asserted
I → withdraw → healthcare
…and 58 more, not listed.
The Aporia
