David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the condolence motion on Pope Francis. As the first Jesuit Pope and indeed the first non-European Pope for over 1,200 years, he really did seek to break the mould in part. Others in this chamber would know that he took the name of Pope Francis in part to emulate St Francis of Assisi and to build on those teachings, hoping to ground the church in work for the poor and social justice, to speak for the powerless and also—something that, as a Greens senator, I always valued in Pope Francis—to recognise the beauty and the spirituality in our connection to the natural world.

I rise as a very much lapsed Anglican in this debate. My mother was raised Catholic, and, in moments in her life of incredible stress and incredible challenges, I saw her take strength in her Catholic faith. So I know that, for Catholics around the world, the passing of Pope Francis was deeply felt.

But of course, Pope Francis didn't speak in the abstract. Pope Francis spoke about the challenges, the unfairness and the wrongs of the current world, and he sought to make the church a force for good. Pope Francis demonstrated unwavering support for Palestinians throughout the Gaza conflict. From the war's very beginning, he made nightly phone calls to Gaza's Holy Family Church, and he reached out every evening—every evening—to offer comfort and prayers. I know that the videos of those calls circulated online. They touched many people, including me. When you listened to his prayers, his support extended to all Gazans—in his words, 'Christians and Muslims alike'—as he prayed daily for their safety. Tragically, last week, the same Catholic Church to which he reached out and made calls to the priest was in fact bombed by Israeli forces after Pope Francis's passing. That killed three people and wounded the priest. I think we can all agree that the people protesting outside this parliament today would have had Pope Francis's blessing.

Pope Francis also demonstrated profound solidarity with the Tamil people, and he did that throughout his papacy. In January 2015, Pope Francis made history by becoming the first pope to visit Tamil Eelam. When he visited, he visited Our Lady of Madhu in Mannar, which was a Catholic sanctuary that, like the churches and holy places in Gaza, was also devastated during a genocide, and, in fact, it served as a place of refuge for displaced Tamils, whether Catholic or of other faiths. Indeed, just last week, new mass graves were discovered at Chemmani in northern Sri Lanka, continuing to display the revelations of atrocities against Tamils. As we mourn Pope Francis, the Tamil people are again mourning yet more deaths and the discovery of this new atrocity. Now, more than ever, the diaspora in Australia must be supported in their quest for justice. Truth about what happened here is essential, as a necessary means of promoting justice, healing and unity. Pope Francis knew that and prayed for that.

Pope Francis also consistently emphasised climate justice, holding wealthy nations—the United States, Australia and others—accountable for their disproportionate role in global warming, and advocating for vulnerable populations most affected by climate impacts. When he warned the world and called the world to action, he spoke the words, sometimes directly, of St Francis of Assisi, speaking up for the poor and nature in the one moment. Those messages continue to be timely. As we debate and discuss this motion, an algal bloom continues to contribute to mass death of sea life across our southern coasts. We have regions recovering from catastrophic fires and floods, and droughts persisting across much of Australia. We're in a climate crisis that Pope Francis acknowledged. Of course, the answer is to acknowledge and value nature, to recognise our connection with nature, the spirituality of nature and the essential connections that we have with nature, and to keep coal and gas in the ground. The answer is for this place to listen to those teachings, listen to the values of nature, take climate action and protect vulnerable populations and our precious globe from the impacts of climate change.

I can't finish this contribution without also reflecting on Pope Francis's complicated response to child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. I know it's the feeling amongst many of my friends in organisations like SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, that he didn't go far enough in this work. There were also strong criticisms of his handling of child sexual abuse matters in Argentina. That is a part of his history too, and I don't want to airbrush over it. Pope Francis spoke about placing victims at the heart of the church's response to sexual abuse by priests, but little changed in the institution's approach to survivors on his watch. I acknowledge it's an institution that's hard to reform, even for the Pope. His earlier abolition of the pontifical secret was meant to enable cooperation with authorities, but the fact is that the Catholic Church continues to obstruct survivors and it continues to fail to cooperate with domestic judicial proceedings for justice. Reforms to investigations in the church still had bishops investigating each other.

His 2014 creation of a pontifical commission for the protection of minors was very much welcomed at the time. It was another moment that appeared to hold promise, but many observers will say that the commission has been shockingly ineffective and has achieved little. Children deserve safety; survivors deserve justice. That has not yet been achieved by the church.

In a deeply flawed institution, Pope Francis did push for reform. He spoke with generosity, compassion and empathy, and he spoke with hope. He connected millions and his loss has been felt deeply by people of all religions and of none.