We thank God for the idler with pinked spicy hands, at ease with us, with wide mouth that has practised the name of each of us whether telling us not to cling or inviting us to place our hand in his side.  On this Sunday of Divine Mercy, we recall Pope Francis’ reflection: ‘The peace of Jesus made the disciples pass from remorse to mission. The peace of Jesus awakens mission.  It entails not ease and comfort, but the challenge to break out of ourselves. The peace of Jesus frees from the self-absorption that paralyzes; it shatters the bonds that keep the heart imprisoned.’   Let’s walk free in this Easter season.  Let’s embrace the new possibilities for us as Church emerging from the pandemic and preparing for the next phase of our Plenary Council.  Let’s be free enough to follow the prohibition not to cling and the injunction to walk free.

Homily 24.4.22

Happy Christmas.  On Thursday one of my nieces gave birth to her first born.  Both are well and thriving.  What better Christmas present could there be.  What better pointer to the real meaning of Christmas.  I was a grand uncle for the 28th time.  My niece texted me on the morning of the birth: ‘Thank you for all the prayers.  They were much needed and appreciated.  Can’t wait to introduce you.’  Like the shepherds, I felt I should set out as soon as possible to meet the newborn.  We will meet in Queensland early in the new year.

Christmas Homily 2023

Happy Australia Day.  

Let’s stop right there.  

Is it right to wish each other a happy day on this of all days as we reflect on our nation?  Is this the right day on which to engage in such national introspection?  

Since the defeat of the 2023 referendum, we have not yet settled on a narrative acceptable to those who voted ‘Yes’ and approved by those who voted ‘No’.  Some suggest a change of date, but there is no other national date with popular appeal at this time.  A national day usually bears some relationship to an event which constituted the nation.  We’d be hard pressed to convince our fellow citizens to run with 9 July, the date in 1900 when the Imperial Parliament passed a Bill approving our Constitution, or New Year’s Day, the date in 1901 when our federation was proclaimed by the Governor-General in Centennial Park, Sydney. And anyway, New Year’s Day is already a holiday.  May 9, back in 1901, was the date of the first sitting of the Commonwealth Parliament; May 9 in 1988 was the date of the opening of the new Parliament House in Canberra.  I just can’t see 1 January, 9 May or 9 July cutting it. And no matter what the date, we would still need to reflect on our past as well as our future.  So unless and until there is another nation defining event, I think we are stuck with January 26.  There’d still be calls for national soul searching.  Those of us who place the First Australians front and centre on this day are able to affirm that 26 January 1788 was the great caesura in human history in this land – marking the end of uninterrupted Aboriginal occupancy and the commencement of large scale migration from every other nation on earth.  If you had to name one defining moment in the modern history of human habitation in this land, January 26 is it – whether you live in Sydney or Perth, whether you are Aboriginal or a recent migrant.


Homily 26.1.25

Celebrating the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, we hear Luke’s account of this scene when Jesus and his parents are greeted by 2 elders of the Temple, Simeon and Anna.  They’ve been holding out for this and now Jesus has arrived in their midst, fulfilling all their hopes.  Simeon proclaims his Nunc Dimittis:

    Now, Master, you may let your servant go 
        in peace, according to your word,
    for my eyes have seen your salvation,
        which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples:
    a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
        and glory for your people Israel.

Anna gives thanks to God and speaks about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
Some years ago, Pope John Paul II decided that this feast should be celebrated as the World Day of Consecrated Life, urging us to pray for all those who have taken vows in the Church to live a consecrated life, and to pray for more young people to choose this path.  

Homily 2.2.25

This was my first interview on Easter Monday evening when we received news of the death of Pope Francis

Sharri Markson

150 Years of Catholic Mavericks on Aboriginal Land Rights
– from Fr Duncan McNab to Bob Katter

Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO

St Leo’s College
19 August 2025
2025 Duhig Lecture

Next month (September) marks the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Fr Duncan McNab in Queensland. He worked in Queensland for five years.  The Australian Dictionary of Biography notes: ‘At Mackay he began to see that the one hope for Aborigines was to treat them not as 'a problem'. He therefore sought for them the right to own land and to be treated as responsible adults by law and as individuals. His dour common sense did not appeal to either the government or his clerical superiors, while his fervent and mystical Catholicism made him suspect in the Protestant majority. In March 1876 he became ill and went south to recuperate. On his return he began raising money for work among tribes at Gympie, Kilcoy, Durundur and Bribie Island. He was gazetted a commissioner for Aborigines but became unpopular with other commissioners by advocating individual homesteads rather than reserves. He quarrelled with Bishop James Quinn who considered him a tool of government and refused help, while Tom Petrie believed that he was the dupe of supposed converts. In June 1878 he wrote a long appeal to Rome for help but received no reply and decided to appeal in person. In August 1879 he sailed in the Kent and next year induced Pope Leo XIII to authorize a Jesuit mission to the Aborigines, vainly importuned the Colonial Office in London, travelled through the United States and returned to Victoria. After persuading the South Australian Jesuits assigned to Aboriginal missions to select the Northern Territory rather than Queensland, he turned his attention to Western Australia.’

For the last 40 years, Bob Katter, an old Leonian, has campaigned in the Queensland and Commonwealth Parliament for Aboriginal land title which is workable for those native title holders and others who are wanting to put their land to good use while at the same time preserving it for future generations.  

In this lecture, Fr Brennan will highlight the ideas of these two mavericks who have often gone unheeded and consider ways forward for avoiding the situation outlined by the Cape York Partnership 8 years ago: ‘ Despite our Land Rights successes, First Nations people often observe we are “land rich but dirt poor”. Land is not effectively used to build wealth. Wealth is not just about money: it is also about culture, country and kinship. It is about ensuring for generations to come First Nations people do not just survive but thrive.’  Now is the time for permanent communal land title to be utilised with individual titles underwritten by an Australian First Nations Bank ensuring native title always remains with traditional owners.  McNab was saying as much 150 years ago, and Katter has been agitating the idea for the last 40 years.


St Leo's College

Response to Chief Justice Gageler AC

Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO

Gerard Brennan’s Articles and Speeches (Connor Court, 2025)

Banco Court
Supreme Court of New South Wales

21 August 2025


Response to Chief Justice Gageler at Launch of Gerard Brennan's Articles and Speeches

Brisbane Launch of Gerard Brennan's Articles and Speeches

During the week, we have had many celebrations in Brisbane for the 100th birthday of Sister of Mercy, Angela Mary Doyle, the legendary longtime administrator of the Mater Hospital.  On Friday we celebrated the Eucharist with her companion Sisters of Mercy in company with 13 members of her family who came from Ireland for the occasion. On Saturday, the Lord Mayor hosted an event in City Hall with 700 people.  She told us: ‘I know you all; you have helped me; and I love you all’.  And it was true.  The Irish ambassador read a message from the President of Ireland. The Brisbane lord mayor presented her with the keys of the city.  

Homily 24.8.25

Today is Social Justice Sunday.  Our bishops have produced a statement entitled Signs of Hope on the Edge.  It focuses on serving homeless people with mental ill-health.  Introducing the statement, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, says: ‘Many Australians find it embarrassing, uncomfortable or even confronting to see homeless people on the streets; but we encourage all who are baptised to, instead, offer loving friendship to people on the edge of society. Instead of walking by and not noticing the plight of our neighbours, pay attention to them and their plight, listen to their stories, and serve them with the love we learn from Jesus.’

Homily 31.8.25

From Pope Francis to Pope Leo XIV: An Australian Perspective.  I was delighted to accept the invitation of Bishop Niall Coll, Bishop of Ossory, to deliver this talk in Kilkenny at the end of my time in the parish of Muckalee.

Kilkenny Address

On this  second Sunday of Advent, our first reading is from the prophet Isaiah.  The Chosen people have been devastated in war by the Assyrians.  Initially, the poet writing this first part of Isaiah sees Assyria as an instrument of God calling the Chosen people to account.  But then military victory goes to the heads of the Assyrians.  And the Chosen people are struck mercilessly low.  The cedars of Lebanon are cut down.  The forest is laid bare.  Then comes the promise – the promise of Advent.  ‘A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse’, Jesse being the father of the great king David.  And on this new leader ‘the spirit of the Lord rests’.  This new leader exhibits all seven gifts which we Catholics associate with the sacrament of Confirmation: ‘wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God.’  This new leader is committed to truth and justice for all.  At Advent, we await the one in whom all things hold together.  We hope for the one who empowers us to engage in the culture of encounter bringing peace and justice to our world.  During Advent, we expand our horizon.  A life of faith is not simply a matter of minding our own business, our own family or traditions, keeping within the limited circle of our own community.

Homily 7.12.25

Adelaide launch

On this very day 40 years ago I was ordained priest.  It was a very hot night in St Stephen’s Cathedral in Brisbane.  The ordaining bishop was Archbishop Francis Rush.  At the time he was president of the Australian Catholic Bishops conference.  He had just returned from a synod in Rome.  Knowing that he was to ordain two Jesuits within the week, he visited the tomb of St Ignatius Loyola and sought out Fr Peter Hans Kovenbach, the superior general of the Jesuits.


I give thanks for this past 40 years of priesthood.  I thank God that you have claimed me as your priest.  I hope and pray that I can continue to grow in patience, not judging you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and growing ever stronger of heart.  Preparing for Christmas, let’s pray that every one of us can follow a vision of ‘serenity, frankness, realism and Christian hope’.


Homily 14.12.25

Emeritus Archbishop Mark Coleridge spoke superbly this evening when launching my book 'Pope Francis: the Disruptive Pilgrim's Guide'.  This was my response.

Brisbane launch 2

All week we have witnessed the funerals of the deceased victims.  And all week, politicians have been launching or confronting allegations of blame, that not enough has been done to counter anti-Semitism here at home since the horrific Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 and the Israeli state’s obliteration of so much of Gaza with massive loss of life, including innocent non-combatants.  
Our prime minister has asked that this Sunday be a day of reflection on all that has occurred at Bondi and in the synagogues this past week with the funerals of those who were mercilessly and callously shot in cold blood.  
During our reflection, we pray for all those who died on Bondi Beach as well as those innocent people who have lost their lives in Israel and Gaza.  We pray that the lights of the menorah might shine brightly, driving out the darkness and drawing all people of goodwill together into the light.  


Homily 21.12.25

May the light of Christ, the Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince of Peace exercise dominion over our world ‘in a peace that has no end’ – a dominion established and made secure in justice and integrity.

May the joy and bounty of your Christmas tree and Christmas table produce ripples of peace and hope in the most unexpected places in the year to come.  

May the fruits of our Christmas eucharist be more than enough for us to share.  May we take the light of the newborn Christ child to shine in the darkest recesses of our world.  

Happy Christmas.


Homily 25.12.25

Let’s pray that the yoke on the shoulders of Aboriginal Australians still seeking a place of secure belonging for their children and on the shoulders of Jewish Australians still needing heightened security for their children whether at school or at Hanukkah by the beach at Bondi can be broken as on the day of Midian.  Let’s pray on this Australia Day that all our children – Aboriginal or migrant, Jew, Muslim, Christian or atheist - can be ‘carried forward, loved and nurtured and able to live a full life’ in this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit.  May this be the next strong but fragile stage of the new trajectory of human endeavour commenced on this land on 26 January 1788. 

Homily 25.1.26

Like many of you, I have been watching a bit of the tennis these recent days.  It’s surprising to see the increasing number of players wearing crosses around their necks.  And we are now well used to the Serbian Orthodox Novak Djokovic invoking God’s name and giving thanks to God after his every win.  Having defeated Jannik Sinner over five sets to get into tonight’s final against the first ranked Carlos Alcaraz who is 16 years younger than him, Djokovic told Channel 9’s Jim Courier:  ‘I just hope that I’ll have enough gas to stay toe to toe with him (Alcaraz).  You know that’s my desire. And then let the God decide the winner’.  With all respect to Novak and his supporters, I don’t think God is too interested in deciding the winner of tonight’s final.  But Novak is indeed blessed to know that God is with him in his quest, whether he wins or loses.

I thought there was one truly blessed moment on the court this past week.  That was when the umpire awarded a critical point to Novak having determined that Lorenzo Musetti’s return shot had gone out.  If it were cricket we would have had all sorts of technology to make the decision including the snickometer and the third umpire.  There’d have been no room or need for human virtue.  The technology would have decided the issue.  Without that technology, Novak volunteered: ‘I touched the ball’, thereby yielding the point to Musetti.  It was a gracious act by Novak, a blessed moment on the court.


Homily 1.2.26

President Herzog’s visit to Australia could be an opportunity not only ‘to honour and remember victims of the Bondi antisemitic terrorist attack and provide support for Jewish Australians and the Australian Jewish community at this time’.  It could also be an opportunity for President Herzog to make clear his concern for innocent Palestinians in Gaza.  Australia is an ideal place for the Israeli president to provide such a clarification given that we are a nation with a proud Jewish heritage since the arrival of the First Fleet and with peace loving Palestinians who have made their home here, maintaining and handing on the hope that one day there will be a secure homeland for their relatives back in the Middle East.  Aware of the complexities confronting President Herzog, we can provide the secure and respectful space for him to give an account of how we can all work together for peace.  

No matter what our heritage, we Australians can take this opportunity to display to President Herzog the truth of our Prime Minister’s declaration on Australia Day this year:

‘Overwhelmingly, people have come here to make a better life for themselves and their families. The Australian covenant is that if you have any hatred or prejudice, you leave it in the customs hall.  And people here need to show respect for each other.’ 

As we continue to mourn the death of hundreds of innocent persons in Israel on 7 October 2023, of thousands of innocent persons in Gaza since then, and of 15 persons at Bondi on 14 December 2025, let’s put aside any hatreds and prejudices while treasuring our heritages and aspirations, showing respect for each other, being committed to justice and peace for all.  

Homily 8.2.26

I came away from the National Apology Breakfast wondering how much and how soon, if at all, things might change for the better for Aboriginal children in out of home care - no matter how much we open our ears and our hearts.  How likely is it that the overwhelming cloud of gloom can be lifted?  This Lent, let’s continue to pray for healing in our land; let’s continue ‘to hope for a stronger, compassionate, more resilient and fairer country’; and let’s do something about it.
Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Instruct me, O Lord, in the way of your statutes,
that I may exactly observe them.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.

Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!


Homily 15.2.26

During Lent, we reconfirm our belief that the wounds can be bound up, that there can be justice some day, even if only in the life to come.  In his message for Lent, Pope Leo draws on his Augustinian heritage.  He quotes St Augustine, much like Pope Francis was fond of quoting St Ignatius Loyola.  Augustine says: ‘In the course of earthly life, it is incumbent upon men and women to hunger and thirst for justice, but to be satisfied belongs to the next life. Angels are satisfied with this bread, this food.  The human race, on the other hand, hungers for it; we are all drawn to it in our desire. This reaching out in desire expands the soul and increases its capacity.’ 

Leo invites us to ‘a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence’.  He urges us this Lent to refrain from words that offend and hurt our neighbour.  He says: ‘Let us begin by disarming our language, avoiding harsh words and rash judgement, refraining from slander and speaking ill of those who are not present and cannot defend themselves. Instead, let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media and in Christian communities. In this way, words of hatred will give way to words of hope and peace.’ 

This Lent, let’s speak well of each other, as we seek to bind up the wounds and bring justice to our world.  These 40 days could make a difference.


Homily 22.2.26

As the royal commission starts its difficult task, let’s pray that we can all exhibit the empathy and mutual acceptance needed for social cohesion.  At the mass for the beginning of his pontificate Pope Leo said: ‘I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.’  Fired by the vision of the Transfiguration, we can be that reconciling leaven.

Homily 1.3.26


Why and how the Vatican now opposes the death penalty

Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO

Julian Wagner Memorial Fund Inc & Australians Against Capital Punishment


Once when asked ‘What have death-row inmates taught you over the years’, Sr Helen Prejean replied:
Human beings are more than one terrible act.  I also see just how cushioned and protected I have been in my life, and I can’t say that is just virtue on my part.  People on death row make me feel so alive.  I know that sounds like a contradiction, but when you want to make every second of your life count it reminds you what is real.  You learn the meaning of grace.

In his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis went to great lengths outlining the need for church teaching to reject capital punishment despite what might have been past teaching.  He said: ‘The firm rejection of the death penalty shows to what extent it is possible to recognize the inalienable dignity of every human being and to accept that he or she has a place in this universe.  If I do not deny that dignity to the worst of criminals, I will not deny it to anyone.  I will give everyone the possibility of sharing this planet with me, despite all our differences.’  Helen Prejean says, ‘The church was behind on human rights.  Now faith is aligned with human rights on the death penalty, and that is a powerful thing.’  Being a Jesuit and a lawyer, that brings me some graced satisfaction.  


Death Penalty Address

The most unlikely dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman led ultimately to the conversion of the entire village.  Mark Carney has offered us Australians the hope that our commitment to the most unlikely dialogues might contribute to a surer path to peace and security in our ruptured world.

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
    ‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
    as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
    they tested me though they had seen my works.’

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.


Homily 8.3.26

With this wretched war in the Middle East overflowing with dire consequences from Iran to beyond, many are blind seeking answers and the light; others are sure they have the answers and are blind.  We pray that the blind might see.  In today’s gospel, Jesus declares: ‘I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.’  This is a message not just to the man in the gospel scene, his neighbours, his parents, and the Pharisees.  It’s a message for us, flaying about in the fog of a war without clear strategic objectives and without legal or moral justification.  

Homily 15.3.26

The Rule of Law, the Common Good and Catholic Social Thought

The Rule of Law and the Common Good: An emerging synergy between legal theory and Catholic Social Thought

Boston College
12 March 2026

Frank Brennan SJ


1.	My proposals:
-	Catholic social thought supports the processes and structures for a rules based order, nationally and internationally
-	Catholic social thought espouses a rules based order which includes substantive protection of human rights – ie. Respect for human rights, Non-discrimination and equality before the law.
-	Catholic social thought stands for the rule of law and not simply rule by law
-	Catholic social thought endorses the dual goal enunciated by Aziz Rana: ‘meaningful freedom to all at home and actual self determination for all abroad’.

2.	Popes to Parliaments
-	Benedict at Westminster
-	Francis to European Parliament
-	Francis to US Congress

3.	Defining the Rule of Law 
-	Lord Bingham
-	Joseph Raz
-	Venice Commission

4.	Different Modalities of the Rule of Law
-	Not necessarily rule by judges

5.	The role of the judge in acute controversies
6.	Rule of Law and War
7.	Middle Powers and Abandonment of Rule of Law
8.	Middle Powers and Restoring the Rules Based Order
9.	Immigration and the Rule of Law – the Distinctive Catholic Contribution
 


Boston College Rule of Law

The raising of Lazarus ends with the great declaration from Jesus at the entrance to the tomb: ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’  I daresay we are all feeling bound down at this time with the ongoing uncertainty and catastrophe playing out in the Middle East where neither morality nor law counts for much – a catastrophe impacting on everyone, even those of us on the other side of the world, and impacting on us, not just at the petrol bowser.  We long to be set free.  We long for life, peace and security in our broken world.  But how can we be set free?  Who can set us free?


Homily 22.3.26

Many countries, particularly in Europe, boast a handful of canonised saints.  Some even have a string of them.  We Australians have only one.  Today we celebrate her feast day.  Mary MacKillop is now known universally in the Catholic Church as St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

One of the graces of Mary’s life was her capacity to make good out of evil and to learn from others’ mistakes.  She told her mother: ‘I feel that the events of the last few months have made me much older in many things.  They have strengthened me for still weightier cares than I have yet had.  At least I trust in God’s mercy and love that they have done me this good, which indeed I needed.’

If only we who are both weighed down with COVID-19 and a mounting economic recession as well as being troubled by issues of vision, governance and transparency in our Church in the wake of the royal commission were able to be so truthful, charitable, and open to new possibilities.  May our truly Aussie saint continue to inspire us and energise us for mission, with renewed hope in our Church and our world.  May our bishops be open to meeting with those most affected by their episcopal rulings.  And may our bishops always be assisted and well counselled by ‘true priests’ and not those others who need our prayers.

Mary MacKillop

Today is Social Justice Sunday.  Our bishops have issued a statement entitled To Live Life to the Full: Mental Health in Australia Today.  They urge each of us to take three practical steps:

1.	Reject stigmatisation of those with mental illness
2.	Work for the transformation of social determinants of mental ill-health
3.	Call for policies and service provision that meet the needs of the poorest, most marginalised and recognise in them the face of Christ Jesus.

At a loss how to put flesh on these bones, I consulted an experienced psychiatrist.  I asked, ‘What can a lay person like me do to support people with mental illness?’  Answer: ‘Once someone is mentally ill, there’s not much you will be able to do.  The emphasis must be on prevention first up.’  On one level, it’s very simple.  Your mental well-being is more likely to be assured if you have a roof over your head, if you’re warm enough, if you have food in your belly, if you have someone to talk to, and if you are spared domestic violence or abuse.  Better still if you’ve got gainful employment and good education.  In a time of pandemic, your physical and mental well-being will be enhanced if you have a regular routine, regular exercise, healthy food, hobbies, and mindfulness exercises or meditation.  And don’t keep looking at the 24/7 COVID news reports which are sure to make you lose perspective.  The determinants of mental illness are biological, psychological, social, and cultural.

Frank Brennan 6

Popular tracks