After decades of being labelled a nonbeliever, a self-proclaimed nominal Catholic, a tribal or “cultural Catholic”, Anthony Albanese’s return to his mother’s church has been revealed. Rather than a “finding God moment”, the Prime Minister’s drift back to the childhood habit of going to mass under his mother’s guidance, and Catholic education from nuns at Sydney’s Cathedral school has been a gradual, intermittent and occasional shift. The quiet church attendance grew after the death of his mother and with mounting pressure as he became opposition leader then Prime Minister, as well as negotiations with faith leaders over religious freedom and growing social divisions. Mr Albanese has been attending Catholic mass for some time, but his move to Canberra has made it more difficult to attend an early mass “unobtrusively” when his local church of choice is the city’s St Christopher’s Cathedral. St Christopher’s is a vibrant and diverse congregation with a fine choir and often the formal setting for the ecumenical service to mark the start of the parliamentary year. It is also the church visited by ambassadors – US envoy Caroline Kennedy and the papal nuncio among others – as well as former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce.
Parish priest Trenton van Reesch confirmed Mr Albanese does attend mass occasionally at St Christopher’s and sits unobtrusively in the body of the church. Father van Reesch said it was hard for the Prime Minister to not be noticed despite his understated attendance and polite greetings as he left the church. In private discussions, Mr Albanese no longer refers to being a nominal Catholic but now a “flawed Catholic” who occasionally attends mass. While not speaking often about his religious beliefs – apart from childhood reminiscences – he has occasionally referred to saying a private prayer but, after becoming Prime Minister and moving to The Lodge, Mr Albanese’s church attendance has become more obvious. On the Sunday morning after the Bondi Junction knife attack, Mr Albanese held a brief press conference outside St Christopher’s after attending an early mass and passed on the “thoughts and prayers” for Australia by world leaders. Given Kevin Rudd was criticised for holding press conferences outside church services in Manuka after attending services, the Prime Minister’s official transcript of the press conference only referred to “remarks in Canberra”, nor did the official footage include the cathedral in the background.
During the 2019 election campaign Scott Morrison had also been attacked by leading Labor figures for having his photo taken in his local evangelical church. But the Prime Minister’s public appearance after the Bondi attack drew attention to the attendance at his parish church and confirmed he was attending mass after years of not doing so. With file footage from his university days being used more to demonstrate his Trotskyite background, leftist sympathies and inner-city socialist causes, the Prime Minister’s personal history has few records of his Catholic religious background. Brought up as the only child of single mother Maryanne, who had the support of the church to educate her son, Mr Albanese, named for his Italian father whom he did not meet until just before his death, was seen in his late teens as a socialist rabblerouser rather than a Catholic believer. He has famously framed his three pillars of youthful faith as the ALP, South Sydney rugby league team and the Catholic Church.
There are ample photographic records of him in university demonstrations or arguing as a Young Labor delegate but none of him attending the St Mary’s Cathedral school in Sydney. Although he has often acknowledged the help the church gave his mother, colleagues have seen him as non-religious, a nonbeliever and a nominal or cultural Catholic at best. Straight after his election win in 2022, Mr Albanese had to go to Japan for a meeting, but one of the first things he did on his return was to visit his mother’s grave on the 20th anniversary of her death. It is clear his seeking some quiet thought and meditation in church has been more apparent since his mother’s death. It has also involved his growing involvement and “warm dealings” with Catholic archbishops Anthony Fisher of Sydney – who hosts him at his old cathedral school – and Peter Comensoli of Melbourne, as he negotiated the tortuous path of religious freedom legislation predecessor Mr Morrison was unable to deliver.
But it’s unlikely Mr Albanese is going to be able to achieve any more than his predecessor on religious freedom in an atmosphere of secular-religious tensions. Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese recently discussed the pressures of the top job after the former Liberal prime minister delivered a signed copy of his deeply personal book about the role of religion in his life as a leader. There is a footnote to Mr Albanese’s St Christopher’s visits. Near where he sits, there is a dedication in the St Patrick’s stained-glass window for Francis Forde MHR. Forde was a Labor, Catholic prime minister who served between the ALP giants of John Curtin and Ben Chifley. But Forde, Australia’s shortest-serving PM at just seven days, served at a time of great stress with the Second World War still on, Curtin dead and uncertainty about his replacement. Like Forde, Mr Albanese is serving at a time of social stress and political uncertainty, and the need for quiet contemplative time is obvious.
Source: Compiled by APN from media reports
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