SYDNEY (ChurchMilitant.com) – Catholic parents in Sydney are locked in a stalemate with bishops after the diocese rejected their demands for a public apology over an offensive musical featuring a same-sex couple.
Tony Farley, executive director of Sydney Catholic Schools
In a letter to Abp. Anthony Fisher on Tuesday, parents said they were “deeply concerned and offended with the lack of attention, action and urgency in responding to this serious issue in a timely manner.”
Tony Farley, executive director of Sydney Catholic Schools — which runs 150 schools with 70,000 pupils across the diocese — had “rejected the possibility of a public apology in fear of upsetting ‘the other side,'” the parents pointed out.
Faithful Catholics seeking a public apology and Farley’s resignation have held talks with diocesan authorities after SCS staged a performance in October of the controversial musical School of Rock before an audience of over 20,000 students and parents.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical features two male pupils playing a same-sex couple. Catholics also objected to adult themes, sexualization of children, offensive language, references to pagan gods, and a scene where the children “prayed to the god of Rock.”
Sydney Catholic Schools billed the show as “extraordinary” and a “musical extravaganza,” with Farley in a casting video advertising the musical as “spectacular” and “on a size and scale never seen before in our system of schools.”
“Four thousand performers from our 150 schools will perform this worldwide hit musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and be part of one of the largest musicals ever seen in the city of Sydney,” Farley quipped, promoting the show, which begins with the song “I’m too hot for you.”
While Farley sent personal letters of regret to Catholic parents, he refused to publicly apologize, as this would antagonize LGBTQ+ supporters.
However, even after raising their concerns, an event celebrating the musical’s success was held at the Southern Cross Catholic Vocational College in Burwood on Nov. 28. The college advertises itself as “proudly Catholic” and incorporating “all aspects of Catholic life, including regular prayer, Mass, opportunities for retreats and reflection days.”
“This indicates serious doubts of the sincerity of his apology. We are absolutely appalled by this!” parents wrote.
After being approached by parents, a priest from Sydney told Church Militant that parents who complained to Tony Farley got “a response which could hardly be called an apology but rather a pathetic attempt to shift blame while taking no responsibility.”
The faithful priest elaborated:
It is, unfortunately, typical of Catholic education in this country, including in a diocese headed by Fisher who is deemed to be a ‘conservative.’ By their fruits you will know them. I’m afraid Fisher runs with the hare and hunts with the hounds. It is disappointing that Bp. Umbers would not be more forthright, but he’s an auxiliary, and I guess his hands are tied.
Fisher must take responsibility, as well as Tony Farley. As usual, the archbishop’s appointments manifest the same old political expediency that suits his ambitions and is concerned with not offending the powers that be and on keeping government money coming to the coffers of the archdiocese of Sydney.
School of Rock, based on a film of the same name, is about a down-and-out musician who pretends to be a teacher to get a job at a strict private school and turns his class into a school-uniformed rock band in the tradition of AC/DC.
Bp. Richard Umbers
The teacher refuses to teach “boring” math and English. Instead, he encourages students to embrace rock music. In one scene, a student suggests a band should be named “Pig Rectum.”
In a telephone conversation with Church Militant, parents blamed Fisher for refusing to take responsibility and passing the buck on to his auxiliary bishop Richard Umbers. Parents also said they were offended by the fact that Farley chose not to upset “the other side” but had no qualms about upsetting faithful Catholics.
Umbers acknowledged that “the matter was serious and spoke directly to the Catholic ethos of those entrusted with the task of acting ‘in loco parentis‘” but ended discussions noting that the “listening session” in November “is the final outcome of your complaint.”
The bishop said that Farley’s “personalized approach” of dealing with parents’ objections “has not been without effect,” and the executive director had admitted that “with the benefit of hindsight” the musical “would not have been chosen.”
Parents accused Umbers of being disingenuous; Farley was the executive producer of the musical and had oversight over the production for 18 months but “deliberately ignored the ‘controversial’ scenes and nature of the chosen musical.”
“Evidence that this was not an oversight but a deliberate undermining of the gospel, who in deliberately choosing a production that was neither good nor true nor beautiful in effect, used innocent children to further their agenda,” parents wrote.
Brian Falduto, the actor who played homosexual pupil “Billy” in the movie version of School of Rock, revealed last year that he was homophobic toward himself when playing the role but later came to terms with his homosexuality.
Fisher sparked controversy during the COVID-19 crisis after making a dramatic U-turn by pressing his bishops, priests and deacons to get vaccinated almost a year after he opposed the abortion-tainted jab on ethical grounds, Church Militant reported.
Predicting the introduction of vaccination passports for visiting the sick in hospitals, care homes and even home visitation, the prelate warned that a cleric refusing vaccination “would render it impossible for him to perform important parts of his ministry.”
Earlier, Fisher joined Anglican Abp. Glenn Davies and Greek Orthodox Abp. Makarios in slamming the government for choosing to “throw its lot with one [vaccine] that makes use of a cell line (HEK293) cultured from an electively aborted human fetus.”
A lay leader accused Fisher and other bishops of being “too cowardly” to address “police brutality” as Australia was turned into a “police state” with officers firing rubber bullets, pepper spraying children and using excessive force to “indiscriminately arrest and fine women and teenagers.”
Church Militant has contacted the archdiocese of Sydney for comment.