OPINION
Dear Editor
I remember when Israel Folau performed a Spiritual Work of Mercy, as defined by the Church, when he tweeted a quote from St Paul, warning sundry sinners to change their ways or risk Hell. For doing so, he was sacked from the Australian rugby team and sacked from playing rugby in Australia, even though he was the best player in Australia.
That was an extraordinary response from a supposedly secular body, chaired by a New Zealander notorious for giving the kiss of death to anything she leads, Raelene Castle. And we’ve seen Australian rugby go into a death spiral since.
Although Israel’s quotation from St Paul included varying categories of sinners, the Australian rugby union filtered out and gave all their focus to the inclusion of sodomites in St Paul’s warning. Raelene didn’t care about thieves, fornicators, etc. It seemed, and still seems, that homosexualists hold great influence in Australian rugby.
But what was even more extraordinary and unprecedented, was the public condemnation by New Zealand’s Catholic bishops of Israel’s warning, Israel’s Spiritual Work of Mercy. Again, the bishops’ focus was entirely on sodomites being included in the words of St Paul. Like Raelene Castle, they didn’t care about thieves, fornicators, etc. being offended, just homosexuals.
That was bad enough and sufficient to identify them as protective of homosexualists, but what really gave the game away was that Israel and his Twitter tweet had no connection to the jurisdiction of New Zealand’s Catholic bishops – New Zealand. There is no known previous instance, nor any since, when New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have issued an angry public condemnation of the Twitter tweet of anyone not connected to New Zealand, and not concerning anything of New Zealand.
This display was more than adequate to alert New Zealand Catholics that their bishops are in thrall not only to feminism but also to feminism’s close ally, homosexualism. Most concluded that homosexuality is rife among the bishops.
Now we have a very offensive Twitter tweet from someone who does have a serious connection to New Zealand. Money Sonny Bill Williams is a New Zealander and played rugby for the All Blacks.
If he made a very offensive Twitter tweet, it would be within the duties of our bishops to issue a condemnation.
Williams has issued a tweet supporting another tweet wherein the vile Hamas terrorists are described as freedom fighters. Condemnation has come from many sources. Many more sources than those that condemned Israel Folau.
Has the New Zealand Rugby Union done an Aussie, and condemned this former All-Black? Have they removed him from having any connection to New Zealand rugby?
But, more importantly, have the New Zealand Catholic bishops issued a condemnation of Williams?
Leo Leitch