Fun Fast Facts
- Legal code based on Italian laws from 1929.
- There are no laws against consensual, private same-sex sexual relations.
- Age of consent is 12 years.
- Holy See laws deem that Trans people remain their birth sex–transsexuality is deemed a mental disorder.
- No known cases of HIV or AIDS.
LGBT organisation: Acceptance Melbourne
- Provides pastoral outreach and support for Catholic gay men, lesbians and their families & friends.
- Services include Mass, social gatherings, spiritual outreach for people living with HIV/AIDS, fund-raising initiatives, discussion time, counselling and support. A rural outreach service is available.
- Acceptance Melbourne can put people in contact with priests in rural Victoria who provide support for gay men and lesbians.
- Acceptance Melbourne welcomes all Christians and is a Chapter of Acceptance Australia.
W3JOY interviewed: Bernie Sheedie from Acceptance Melbourne
About the new Pope:
I am very hopeful but at the same time, what he professes always takes a while to filter through to parish level, the local level here in Australia.
He’s all about open dialogue and that includes issues of sexuality, divorce, women’s issues, gays… He said we should be concentrating on love and love of one another.
About Cardinal Pell:
Cardinal Pell is the ultimate politician. He’s a politician first before he is a church man. So if you’ve got a liberal Pope in Rome he will probably be leaning to the liberal side of things.
What he’s doing is opening up dialogue at this stage and he wants dialogue because when you are setting up reform you set up a committee to get the mechanical aspects of reform but then you get the ground level feedback in the form of community dialogue…so they he will be able to make an informed decision.
He is really saying he has got nothing against people who are gay.
Published on: December 30, 2013 at 21:18
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:33 — 29.8MB)