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Catholic World News News Feature

Retired Australian bishop wants "a very different Church" August 24, 2007

An Australian Catholic bishop will call for sweeping changes in Church doctrine and discipline in a book scheduled for release on August 25.

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, a retired auxiliary of the Sydney archdiocese, endorses "the most radical changes since Martin Luther started the 16th century Protestant Reformation," the Australian newspaper The Age reports.

In his book, Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church, the bishop is sharply critical of Church teaching on a number of issues including sexuality and papal authority."I'm looking for a very different church," he told The Age. Bishop Robinson discloses that he accepted retirement from active ministry in part because of his disagreement with Church teachings.

Bishop Robinson argues in Confronting Power that the Church has not honestly confronted the problem of sexual abuse, and any real solution to the problem will entail a change in Church teachings on sexuality. He discloses in his book that he himself was a victim of childhood abuse.