Catholics from across Perth are collecting signatures on a petition asking Members of the Western Australian Parliament to keep the Lord’s Prayer at the start of each sitting day, joining a growing number of West Australians who have made their views known to a parliamentary committee now weighing in on the question.
The proposal to drop the prayer came from Bassendean MP Dave Kelly, a former Labor cabinet minister, in a submission to the Legislative Assembly’s Procedure and Privileges Committee.
According to the Australian Christian Lobby, the Legislative Council carried the practice through from Federation and the Assembly adopted the Lord’s Prayer by resolution in 1928.
Christian prayer has opened sittings in the Westminster tradition since 1558, and the Commonwealth Parliament has done so since 7 June 1901.
Mr Kelly wants the prayer replaced with a moment of silent reflection. In a news report by the ABC on 22 June, the committee is conducting the first substantial review of the Assembly’s standing orders since 1999 and has acknowledged the question raises wider issues about the balance between tradition and modernisation.
Mr Kelly argued that a Christian prayer is no longer appropriate in a state with many religions and none, and that Parliament is the only government workplace in Western Australia required to begin the day with an act of worship.
He also raised the effect on survivors of institutional child sexual abuse, saying the daily recitation can read as though Parliament is siding with the institutions responsible.
The petition circulating through Ellenbrook Parish prepared by Catenian members Lou and Yvette O’Hara, with the blessing of parish priest Father Bonaventure, takes a different starting point.
Its authors write that the proposal concerns more than a standing order.
It asks whether Western Australia should set aside a practice that has framed public service with humility, reflection and a commitment to the common good.
“The Lord’s Prayer contains timeless principles of humility, forgiveness, responsibility, service to others and moral accountability,” the petition reads.
“These are qualities most Western Australians would hope to see in those elected to govern on their behalf.”
The document makes a point that has been largely missing from the public argument. No member of Parliament is required to take part. Members may remain silent or may choose not to be in the chamber.
“A truly inclusive society should be able to accommodate different beliefs without requiring the removal of longstanding traditions that cause no harm and impose no obligation,” the petition states.
It also puts forward a compromise. Retain the prayer, then follow it with a brief period of silence so that members of all faiths and none can reflect according to their conscience.
A separate e-petition lodged with the Legislative Assembly by Gingin-Chittering parishioner Cáit Folan-Sfakianakis asks members to oppose any move to cancel or replace the Lord’s Prayer.
With the support of Parish Priest Fr Paul Fox, Ms Folan Sfakianakis is encouraging her local community to back her initiative by signing the e-petition on the WA Parliamentary website
Australian Christians MLC, Maryka Groenewald, described the push to scrap the opening prayer as “troubling” in a post on social media.
“Opening Parliament with the Lord’s Prayer was seen as a simple acknowledgement of the Christian heritage of our nation, and the faith that shaped so much of our law and culture,” she wrote.
Ms Groenewald said Mr Kelly’s link between the prayer and institutional child sexual abuse “is effectively to say that any reference to Christianity must be read through the worst actions ever committed by people within the church”.
“Christians have been among the strongest voices calling out abuse and demanding justice and reform,” she said.
“We should stand firm – graciously, but clearly – in saying that our Christian heritage is a vital part of the foundations and history that built the free, democratic Australia we love.”