Day: February 22, 2009

That is, I’m happy for Harry Nicolaides that he is out of prison in Thailand and back in Australia with his family.

But I can’t see what he has to be angry about. He certainly knew the law in Thailand – he had lived there for some time. You can’t be in Thailand for more than a few days without knowing that insulting the royal family is considered a bad thing. So when you hope to make money by writing a book thats insults a member of the royal family, even if no one buys it, and then you are arrested for doing so, you might be disappointed you didn’t get away with it, but you have no right to be angry.

The Australian government acted with all due speed and care in requesting Mr Nicolaides’ release, and this was granted almost immediately, and with considerable generosity, by the Thai king.

Mr Nicolaides apparently intends to write a ‘tell-all’ book. Perhaps he’ll be less angry if this one sells more than seven copies.

That is, I’m happy someone found peace through the ministry of ‘maverick cleric’ Peter Kennedy. It’s nice to feel empowered. Whatever that means.

But if you are a Catholic Christian who is serious about your faith, then you have a responsibility to your children, your fellow parishioners, and yourself, to take your part in ensuring that what is taught and practised in your parish really is the Catholic faith.

Baptism in the name of the ‘Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer’ is not Christian baptism, no matter how personally gratifying you may find it. Christianity is not about moulding God and our worship of God to fit our own whims, but about allowing ourselves, body, soul and spirit, to be renewed in the image of Christ.

I have no objection to anyone believing anything they like. But it is simply dishonest to call yourself a Catholic priest, and lead your parishioners to believe that the personal philosophy you are teaching them is the Catholic faith, when you know very well it is not.

As I said earlier, if you want to do things your own way, there are plenty of Anglican Churches which will welcome you with open arms. There are a few different franchises to choose from, you should find one that suits. Try one. Or start your own. Just leave off the false advertising.

An earlier headline said that services around the nation were expected to bring comfort to those who had lost homes or loved ones in fires in Victoria two weeks ago.

Expected by whom the headline did not say. There is not much that can compensate for the death of someone you love. But the milllions of dollars raised, the thousands of services around the nation, and other public expressions of sorrow and support, are an indication of real care. And perhaps the knowledge of that care may bring some small light of comfort. I hope so.

Cornelia Rau was briefly detained in a detention centre for illegal immigrants by Australian offcials four years ago. She did not appear to speak English, said she did not have Australian citizenship, had no identification, and could not explain how she came to be in Australia. It was soon recognised that she had a mental illness and treatment was provided.

Her family, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, made a thundering row about her having been illegally detained (it turned out she had dual German and Australian citizenship) and Cornelia was granted $2.6 million dollars in compensation. It was never quite clear to me how the government or people of Australia (the compensation money comes from tax payers) had done anything wrong.

Now she has travelled to Jordan, where her behaviour has caused her to be arrested. She has refused Australian assistance. Yet somehow this is all still Australia’s fault.