According to a bloke I know (ex-priest, still catholic) it’s not quite that simple.
Priests are supposed to do God’s work on earth, and god is supposed to be infinitely forgiving beyond the comprehension of humans. So yes, god WILL forgive transgression and transgression after lapse after lapse - if those lapses and transgressions are sincerely repented for. Cos it’s catholic doctrine that we are all flawed and weak and the temptation of sin is constant, and we probably will succumb at times. But god is supposed to know your innermost self, and if some child molester is all just rocking up to confession once a week and confessing everything just to get the seal of approval from the priest that all is hunky dory but with no intention of changing his ways - well, it doesn’t work like that and god isn’t fooled. Cos the most important part of the rite of confession is the demand and sincere desire for repentance.
Of course, from the priest’s point of view, the priest is entitled to assign penance. Most often it’s just ‘say 10 hail mary’s’ for minor stuff, but they really have carte blanche about what to assign (I assume there is doctrine saying what penances are appropriate for what sins, but I don’t know what that is). Priests will rarely assign penances that are too brutal or arduous, because the purpose of a priest is supposed to be to bring his congregation closer to god, and a assigning a penance that is so severe that the penitent would be unlikely to do it is counterproductive to that aim. But when a priest is hearing the confession of a child molester they COULD theoretically assign a penance of ‘go hand yourself in to the cops’, or somewhat less arduously ‘go join a cloistered monastic order and never have unsupervised contact with children again’, for example. If these priests were indeed confessing their abuses (which i have no idea of one way or the other), then these preventative penances obviously were either not assigned or not adhered to.
Dutton might be up for more compensation following the 15 December ruling by the PNG Supreme Court on breaches of human rights. More cases to come refugeeaction.org.au
The Royal CommIssion also recommended that Jewish bodies review their rule of not reporting transgressions to outside authorities and that Jehova Witnesess drop the rule requiring two witnesses to an act.
One of the strongest recommendations is to impose a criminal obligation on institutions where child abuse has occurred. That could be the biggest shake-up
“After some initial counting, there is a 5.43 pre cent swing away from John Alexander and a 6.77 swing to Kristina Keneally.
The Australian Electoral Commission says if voting continues in that way, the two candidate preferred vote would be 55.01 per cent (Liberal) to 44.99 per cent (Labor).
That’s not enough for Ms Keneally to take the seat, but it’s not a bad effort either.”
Bridget McKenzie, the newly appointed Deputy Nationals leader, may be in trouble for claiming travel expenses for attending a shooters award night in Sydney. A Vic, she put it down as electoral business.
As for those claiming expenses for travel to Grand Finals etc …
Howard himself noted changing demographics, with higher perecentage of Chinese and Koreans, less likely to be rusted on Liberal. And he was perceived as anti-Asian , at a time when One Nation was running the anti-Asian immigration line ( now it’s anti- Muslim). And Kevin 07 was speaking Mandarin.
Also as PM he probably spent little time on electorate issues.
[quote from the Age]A senior Labor MP said the relatively small swing of about five per cent to Labor’s Kristina Keneally was “a terrible result, we poured a lot of resources into it and it’s an ordinary outcome”.
“Bill was a big negative in Bennelong but he wouldn’t stay away.”
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Despite Bacchusfox’s view, I really feel Shorten is a significant millstone around Labor’s neck.
I used to think the same thing about Brumby and was vindicated when he surprisingly lost to Baillieu.
Always love these anonymous quotes from a Senior Labor MP.
The key difference between Brumby and Shorten is one of Leadership. You may not think it is a big deal, but Shorten has united the ALP better than any leader since Gough. Brumby is a nice guy, but should not have got the job after Bracks quit.
The cost of Parliament’s dual citizenship imbroglio has been laid bare in the Turnbull government’s mid-year budget update. Taxpayers will fork out $11.6 million in the 2017-18 financial year for legal costs arising from the saga.
Australian taxpayers shafted yet again by those incompetent, dishonest tossers who regard elected office as an automatic entitlement to put the snout in the trough.
