Therefore, it is my hope that the upcoming presentation discussing the full ideal of marriage would be done in a respectful and compassionate manner enabling people who attend to be well informed.

_ Bishop Peter Ingham

It is one thing for the Catholic Church to condone a forum aimed at talking about the “impacts” of same-sex marriage.

It is a whole other thing for a Catholic primary school to act as a promoter of such a forum by emailing the school’s parents a flyer.

And clearly Bishop Peter Ingham has no problem with that?

Nor does the Wollongong Parish and Parish Priest of St Therese West Wollongong, Fr David O’Brien, who sanctioned the event to be hosted on school grounds.

However, the school has remained silent on the issue.

That silence probably speaks louder than any sentence in Bishop Ingham’s extensive response which you can read online.

Two online comments spoke volumes in response to the story _

“I'd like to say this surprises me but sadly it's not the first time I've seen this sentiment from St Therese in the wake of an election or decision-making process. It's the main reason I left this Church. It is awfully plain that this has come from the Office of the Bishop. However, the parents of the school children are completely right in saying it doesn't meld with the School's charism of welcome and justice. The thing people need to understand is that whilst this is aimed at same-sex marriage, the argument always involves the sentence “Children denied a Mother and Father”. By that understanding you're also saying that families under the bracket of single parents, widows and broken relationships are not true families. And that is just not on,’’ One commentator said.

“A uneducated, scared bunch of twits put out a brochure preaching rubbish and it's acceptable. They are able to preach it in a educational space where this kind of hatred and bullying is suppose to be frowned upon,’’ another said.

The sign outside the front of the school reads “welcome”. Really?