Australian Left Review
Article Title
The Catholic Church in Sydney and the Vietnam conflict
Abstract
This article discusses and attempts to account for the rise of opposition to the Viet Nam war within the Catholic Church in Sydney in the years 1966 to 1972. In order to i l lu s tra te this, I wi ll d e s c r ib e the development and growth of the group “Catholics for Peace” in Sydney during these years, and my own involvement with this group as a Catholic priest o f the Archdiocese of Sydney. Vital to any consideration of the development of this organisation “ Catholics for Peace” , is the attitude of the then Archbishop o f Sydney, Cardinal Sir Normal Gilroy. But before proceeding with my consideration of this period, I will examine at some length attitudes prevalent in the Catholic Church to Viet Nam in the decade prior to this period, and the attitudes and associations of Cardinal Gilroy in particular, who was, in many ways, the key figure in the whole affair.