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"In these Gasson Lectures, Frank Brennan addresses various contested contemporary issues such as church-state relations, physician assisted suicide and national border protection. He writes, 'I hope that these lectures can help persons of all faiths and none maintain what Pope John Paul II, when addressing the Italian Parliament, called ""a convinced and pondered trust in the heritage of virtues and values handed down by your forebears"". In these lectures I have drawn much inspiration from Pope Francis who travelled to the island of Lampedusa to speak boldly and prophetically about the plight of asylum seekers coming across the Mediterranean Sea in search of new life. Before offering his blessing and casting a wreath on the waters, Francis asked, ""Who is responsible for the blood of these brothers and sisters of ours?"" In these lectures, I seek to draw on my own religious tradition to answer that question to the satisfaction of persons of all faiths and none, and in the many precarious situations in which people find themselves, especially at the borders of life and of nation states.'"

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9781925232622

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Frank Brennan has been a long time advocate for human rights and social justice in Australia. This collection of essays brings together some of his major addresses and writings on justice in the Catholic Church and in Australian society. Placing the individual's formed and informed conscience as the centre piece in any work for justice, he surveys recent developments in the Catholic Church including the handling of child sexual abuse claims and the uplifting effect of the papacy of Francis, the first Jesuit pope. He then applies Catholic social teaching and the jurisprudence of human rights to contested issues like the separation of powers and the right of religious freedom, and to the claims of diverse groups including Aborigines, asylum seekers, the dying, and same sex couples. At every step, he is there in the public square amplifying that still, small voice of conscience, especially the voice of those who are marginalised.

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