Australian Bishops Slammed For 'Unreasonable' Request For 17,000 More Afghan Refugees

Australian Government Insiders Have Revealed That Australian Bishops Were Rebuked For 'Unreasonable Requests' To Increase Refugee Numbers

Laudetur Iesus Christus.

Senior sources within the Australian Government have reportedly rebuked the Catholic Bishop's Conference request for thousands more Afghani refugees, calling Archbishop Coleridge's request for an additional 17,000 refugees "unreasonable and ludicrous".

Left: Archbishop Mark Coleridge. Photo: CEQ

One source, a practising Catholic who works within the Government, and spoke to Vox Fidei on the condition of anonymity, said, "The request is both impractical and unrealistic. Under both Labor and Liberal Governments, Australia has only taken 8000 refugees from Afghanistan in the past ten years; it is ludicrous that one would now expect the Government take 17,000 more Afghan refugees this year."

This comes as President of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference Archbishop Mark Coleridge called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to accept an additional 17,000 Afghani refugees; he also noted that "There is a particular risk to women, their dignity and human rights." The Archbishop was publicly backed in his call by Jesuit Fr Frank Brennan, who said, "The Government must do more."

Later in our conversation, the same source said, "the [Australian] Bishops' have lost serious political clout in the past years." before also suggesting that Australian Bishop's held considerably less political power than US Bishops', and many Australian Bishops' failed to use this power, contributing to their own political demise.

Others have noted that while the compassion and concern the Church is showing for these refugees is admirable, very few of these individuals are Christian, let alone Catholic.

Another found it "Incredibly odd." that the Bishop's had made such a statement, noting how different the circumstances were compared to post-war Italy, Greece, Vietnam and Korea, and noting the Archbishop's media release hardly mentioned Christians or Catholics.

Some commentators have, however, suggested this left-swing of Archbishop Coleridge could be a move to appease the Vatican, with many predicting a consistory before the end of the year where they expect a new Australian Cardinal to be named, both the Archbishop and Fr Brennan have been clouted as possible contenders for the prized red zucchetto.