John Paul II Would Not Have Supported The Voice

Pope John Paul II waves the faithful in Vercelli, May 23, 1998, during beatification ceremonies for Italian army chaplain Secondo Pollo, who died in 1941. Gerard Julien/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

Following the election of the Albanese government last year, religious leaders from various Christian denominations and other faiths expressed their support for the proposal to amend the Constitution to include a provision for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and the Executive.

In the church I belong to, the Catholic Church, the Archbishop of Perth, Timothy Costelloe, who is the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, and the Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, have been particularly fulsome in such support.

Following a recent meeting, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference reiterated that support, stating that the Voice “could be a significant step towards a more just and equitable Australia.”

However, I have been told by one bishop (who, for obvious reasons, I cannot name) that the view among his fellow prelates on The Voice is not unanimous.

As he pointed out: “Whenever the Church marries the spirit of the age, she will be a widow in the next.”

Indeed, all clergy would do well to carefully read a speech by Pope St John Paul II during his visit to Australia in 1986.

Pope John Paul II (R) is greeted on Jan. 19, 1995, by children at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney before celebrating mass with the Sisters of St Joseph. David Hancock/AFP via Getty Images

In the speech, given on Nov. 29 of that year, John Paul II addressed Aboriginal people at Blatherskite Park, Alice Springs, calling on all Australians to seek “a just and proper settlement” on the Indigenous Affairs question.

However, he added a note of caution:

“The establishment of a new society for Aboriginal people cannot go forward without just and mutually recognized agreements with regard to these human problems, even though their causes lie in the past. The greatest value to be achieved by such agreements, which must be implemented without causing new injustices, is respect for the dignity and growth of the human person ... You are part of Australia, and Australia is part of you.”

Over the last 36 years since that exhortation was given, Australians have heeded John Paul II’s call. Indeed, there are 11 members of Aboriginal descent in the Commonwealth Parliament, which is the voice for all of us.

Aboriginal Involvement

Aborigines are part of the broader political system and have been for several generations.

The contribution of Aboriginal people to this country has, as John Paul II encouraged us, been joyfully received. Witness the many Indigenous people who speak out so powerfully and effectively in our public life, the now routine acknowledgements of country and the presence of the Aboriginal flag alongside the national flag.

Jetski’s fly the Australian and Aboriginal flags during Australia Day celebrations at Circular Quay, in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 26, 2021. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Moreover, as John Paul II stated all those years ago, Aboriginal people should reject the idea that they are perpetual victims forever in need of special measures, declaring:

“You, the Aboriginal people of this country and its cities, must show that you are actively working for your own dignity of life. On your part, you must show that you too can walk tall and command the respect which every human being expects to receive from the rest of the human family.”

In other words, he understood that the key to helping the minority of Aborigines who have not adjusted to life in a liberal modern society is to end the obsession with identity since that is what is causing the most harm.

As Gary Johns notes in his book, “The Burden of Culture,” 80 percent of people of Aboriginal descent today are already integrated into wider Australian society and are doing well, if belatedly, without a Voice to Parliament and without Aboriginal policies and programs.

As we know, many eminent members of the legal profession have advanced positions in support of the No case. Their submissions highlight, among other things, the proposition that a constitutionally enshrined body defined by race, which only Indigenous Australians can vote for or serve in, is inconsistent with the fundamental principle that all citizens are to be treated equally.

This principle has its origins in the ultimate Christian statement of the inherent dignity of each person, found in St Paul’s Letter to the Galatians (3: 28): “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, given you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

As John Paul II stated all those years ago, present injustices are not removed by resentment. Additionally, there is a real danger of creating some of the new injustices he spoke of in terms of The Voice.

It may well not end up being the just and proper settlement that he called for.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.