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April 28, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Faithful Catholics of the Diocese of Parramatta, which is to the west of Sydney, are petitioning the Vatican to remove Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen and the diocesan head of Catholic Education, Greg Whitby, following a parliamentary submission that directly defies the Church’s teaching on gender.
The submission was in written in response to New South Wales (NSW) Upper House Member Mark Latham’s Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020, which seeks to remove gender theory from all classrooms in the state.
As expected, the anti-transgender indoctrination education bill is being supported by Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher as well as regulatory body Catholic Schools NSW.
LifeSite has comprehensively covered Bishop Long’s controversial track record, which includes speaking in favor of women’s “ordination,” urging his flock to accept the homosexxual orientation, and ushering in a new religious education curriculum that promotes gender fluidity.
The architect of that curriculum is also the author of the submission in question, Catholic Education CEO Greg Whitby, whose office oversees 80 Catholic schools and approximately 43,000 children.
And while the agnostic politician Mark Latham is advocating the primacy of parental judgement in how their children learn about gender and sexuality, the professional Catholic Greg Whitby has used his submission to speak emphatically against this perennially Catholic principle: “The concept of ‘parental primacy’….has long been discarded in Australia,” Whitby wrote.
The uproar from faithful Catholics has been led by popular priest Father John Rizzo, who wrote the following public letter to his bishop:
Dear Bishop Vincent, I hope that you are doing well. I am forwarding you today’s article from the Sydney Morning Herald regarding the “split” between the Archdiocese of Sydney and the Diocese of Parramatta over Mark Latham introducing an anti-trans Education Bill. If the contents of this article and the quotes of Greg Whitby are accurate, then I kindly ask you to resign as the Bishop of Parramatta. Your stance regarding homosexuality is at odds with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Your zealous approach at “inclusivity” towards the LGBTIQ Community is very confusing to Catholics wanting to be faithful to the Church. Enough is enough Bishop. I’m praying for your conversion and the salvation of your soul. In the meantime please consider leaving the Diocese and allow for a Catholic bishop to replace you.
Sincerely in the charity of Christ,
Fr. John Rizzo
P.S. Please take Greg Whitby with you.
Conservative commentator and outspoken supporter of Latham’s bill Miranda Devine also took aim at Whitby in her most recent column for The Daily Telegraph:
He slams as “short-sighted and lacking insight” Latham’s thesis that parents should have the right to object to their child being indoctrinated in gender fluidity.
He claims that the bill would make it impossible to teach students Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, As You Like It or Merchant of Venice.
Astonishingly, Whitby’s submission also goes on at length about international treaties, as if they somehow should usurp age-old Catholic teaching.
Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long needs to step up and tell us where he stands on the indoctrination of children in the concept of multiple genders, and how setting them on a path to puberty-blocking hormones and mutilating surgery accords with God’s creation. Until the Bishop comes out of the shadows, we are left with the words of his envoy, Whitby, who explained his objection to Latham’s bill on the weekend to Nine newspapers: “It’s not for a school or a central office or, dare I say, even politicians to make those decisions. If you seek to codify those things, you are putting a personal perspective on what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Actually, teaching right from wrong is what the Church does.
If the Parramatta Diocese wants to pander to transgender activism, that’s their business, but don’t mislead parents into thinking you’re providing a Catholic education.
Local Catholic Bernadette Ching is inviting fellow Catholics to sign a petition demanding full transparency from Bishop Long.
For more updates, readers can also follow The Laity Advocacy Group on Facebook.