Geoffrey James Robinson
Encyclopedia
Robinson was ordained for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Erected in 1842 and directly responsible to the Holy See, the Archdiocese is responsible for the suffragan dioceses of Armidale, Bathurst, Broken Bay, Lismore,...
in 1960. He earned advanced degrees in philosophy, theology and canon law, first in Australia and subsequently in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. From 1967 until 1983, after a few years as a parish priest, he taught canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
at the Catholic Institute of Sydney. In addition to serving as Chief Justice of the Archdiocesan Marriage Tribunal, he was secretary and then president of the Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand.
For many years Robinson served as the Chairman of the Sydney Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Board and the Australian Catholic Education Commission for New South Wales. Finally, he worked extensively in the areas of ecumenism and professional standards in ministry. In 1984, he was named an auxiliary bishop of Sydney, combining administrative work with his tribunal and other duties.
In May 2002, Robinson called on Pope John Paul II to commission a church-wide study of clerical sex abuse.
Robinson retired in July 2004 with health issues and is now a bishop emeritus.
According to Pat Power, Auxiliary Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, addressing Catholic Social Services of Australia in September 2007,
Bishop Robinson's newly published book, Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church is a brave exposition of what the author judges to be some of the root causes of abuse. He sees this crisis as an opportunity for the whole Church to 'read the signs of the times' in thoroughly re-examining whole areas of its life which are in need of reform.
He pleads for open and honest discussion, painful though it might be. Ultimately, he recognises that it is the truth which sets us free. In no area of Church life should we back away from the hard questions. At this point in the history of Catholic Social Services Australia we are at a 'kairos' moment, a time of challenge and risk but also of great hope and opportunity. Bishop Robinson would be telling his old colleagues to face up to this moment with courage and confidence and in a spirit of dialogue and mutual trust.
On the other hand, on 6 May 2008, 10 days before Robinson's scheduled public lecture at Temple University in Philadelphia—the first event in a month-long speaking tour in the United States and Canada—the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference issued a statement critical of aspects of Robinson's book, noting:
We are deeply indebted to him for his years of effort to bring help and healing to those who have suffered sexual abuse and for what he has done to establish protocols of professional standards for Church personnel in this area. . . . The book's questioning of the authority of the Church is connected to Bishop Robinson's uncertainty about the knowledge and authority of Christ himself. Catholics believe that the Church, founded by Christ, is endowed by him with a teaching office which endures through time. This is why the Church's Magisterium teaches the truth authoritatively in the name of Christ. The book casts doubt upon these teachings.
This leads in turn to the questioning of Catholic teaching on, among other things, the nature of Tradition, the inspiration of the Holy Scripture, the infallibility of the Councils and the Pope, the authority of the Creeds, the nature of the ministerial priesthood and central elements of the Church's moral teaching.
Robinson replied to the bishops in his "Reflections on US Tour and
Response to the Australian Bishops' Conference Statement".
Books
- Marriage, Divorce and Nullity - A Guide to the Annulment Process in the Catholic Church. Melbourne: Collins Dove, 1984
- A Change of Mind and Heart : the Good News According to Mark. Revesby, N.S.W.: Parish Ministry Publications, 1994.
- Travels in Sacred Places. North Blackburn, Vic.: HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
Religious, 1997. - Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus. Mulgrave, Vic.: John Garratt, 2007. (U.S. edition: foreword by Donald B. Cozzens, Collegeville, Minnesota, : Liturgical Press, 2008.)