Let churches refuse weddings, Catholic bishops tell inquiry

Churches should be allowed to stop the use of their property for weddings against their beliefs, Catholic bishops will argue.

Broken Bay Bishop Peter Comensoli.

Freedom of religion must be enshrined in law and churches should be allowed to stop the use of their property for weddings that go against their religious beliefs, Catholic bishops have argued.

In a submission to Phillip Ruddock’s Religious Freedom Review, ahead of the group’s appearance before the panel next week, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference says Australian laws must be updated.

The Catholics suggest there needs to be a specific law recog­nising religious freedom separate to exemptions and ­exceptions in anti-discrimination laws.

“Exceptions are in legislation in order to allow religious groups to operate in accordance with their beliefs, particularly with regard to whom they employ,” the bishops’ submission says. “(But) the language of exemptions is misleading and fails to recognise that religious freedom is not a special permission to discriminate granted by government in contradiction to the general law, but a fundamental human right that government is obliged to protect and which helps to define what kinds of discrimination are in fact unjust.”

It follows a document calling for a Religious Freedom Act, submitted to the inquiry by the Freedom for Faith think tank and endorsed by church groups including the Presbyterian Church and the Anglican Diocese of Sydney.

The Catholic bishops say there are currently questions over whether churches can legally refuse to hire their halls for wedding receptions that go against their beliefs. They say the law should clarify whether “religious freedom protection (is) offered to religious bodies so they cannot be compelled to allow Church property to be used for purposes which do not accord with their beliefs”.

The bishops say they are also concerned about laws that force doctors who disagree with abortion to refer patients to another medical practitioner.

Catholic schools should also be allowed not to employ staff whose personal behaviour or actions are “contrary to the values of the school”, they say.

“The freedom of Catholic schools to employ staff who embrace Christianity is essential for providing effective religious education and faith formation to their students,” the bishops say.

“Staff in Catholic schools have a professional obligation to be supportive of the teachings of the Catholic Church, to act as role models to students and to do ­nothing publicly that would undermine the transmission of those teachings.”

Broken Bay Bishop Peter Comensoli will represent the bishops at the hearing of Mr Ruddock’s panel next week.

The inquiry was established in the wake of the same-sex marriage plebiscite to deal with the concerns of religious groups and conservative Coalition MPs.

The review panel includes the president of the Human Rights Commission, Rosalind Croucher, retired Federal Court judge Annabelle Bennett, Jesuit priest and human rights lawyer Frank Brennan, and University of Queensland constitutional law professor Nicholas Aroney. It is chaired by former attorney-general Philip Ruddock. The panel will hear testimony in closed-door hearings and will report by March 31.