Australia: New Archbishop of Sydney calls for ‘compassionate’ attitude towards gay community
The newly installed Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher says “the Catholic Church is and should be a church for the whole of humanity.”
The 54-year-old was installed as Archbishop during a ceremony at Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, taking over from Cardinal George Pell.
According to SBS, Archbishop Fisher said he wants to use the role to reach out to those who have felt alienated from the Catholic Church.
“I have a consciousness now of the struggles of people with same sex attraction”, he said.
“Our concern should be there to help them rather than to be adding to their problems and I fully back the view that we should be compassionate to people with a same sex attraction or with other struggles in their life.”
He added: “I think the Catholic Church is and should be a church for the whole of humanity.”
“Our arms are wide open for everyone. So whatever the struggles in their life, whether that’s with their sexuality or their marital history or any other issues, I want to say to them: ‘Come to the Church. The Church loves you because God loves you’.”
