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Figure 1: The crucified Christ, 1632. Oil on Canvas, Velazquez Diego Rodriguez De Silva Y, Museo Del Prado

1
 St Mary’s in
Exile
Figure 2: 'St Mary's in Exile’ Congregation performing an outside Liturgy at night. Picture obtained from the 'St Mary's in
Exile' website, date unknown.
Do the
institutions
we cling to
define us?
It seems we allow institutions to give meaning
to our lives. Before we begin, let us define the
word ‘institution’. ‘Institution’ can be defined
as
3. ‘an established law, custom, or practice.’ i
With this definition in mind, we can begin to
assess the significance we as individuals and
as a society place in the institutions that
pervade our everyday life. For example, the
institution of marriage has been nurtured and
propagated as a custom that makes one
‘whole’. However, historically, its origins a
more akin to a familial business arrangement.
Or what about the tendency of educational
institutions to reduce the intellect of a student
down to a letter grade. As if only an A+
warrants a healthy self-esteem. Or as I intend
to explore, how organized Religion claims to
monopolise morality, faith and spirituality.
This piece will examine the schism between
the ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’; and in doing so,
will perhaps uncover why society permits
institutions such significance. This analysis
will be viewed through prism of a South
Brisbane community called ‘St Mary’s in
Exile’; a group that came to the realisation that
the Roman Catholic Church could not define
them as Christians. In rejecting the doctrine
and dogma of the Catholic Church, ‘St Mary’s
in Exile’ evolved into a community that both
taught and practiced radical acceptance. Due
to the community’s dissent, their leader, Father
Peter Kennedy was exiled; shunned by an
institution (Roman Catholic Church) that
claimed ownership over faith, spirituality and
virtue. In turning away from the doctrine and
dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, ‘St
Mary’s in Exile’ grew into a community which
no longer needed to look to the Catholic
Church to define and justify their identity as
Christians. The people of ‘St Mary’s in Exile’
were no longer at the mercy of an organized
body to give meaning to their lives. The
2
purpose of this essay will not be to discuss the
workings of ‘St Mary’s in Exile’, but to use
the community as an opening to examine
dissidence and its impact on our societal.
A New Model
of Being a
Church
Peter Kennedy, the former Priest of St Mary’s
Catholic parish in South Brisbane, was exiled
by Archbishop John Bathersby in February
2009. Kennedy and his congregation were
accused of straying from the traditional
practices and beliefs of the Roman Catholic
Church. They began to bless same-sex unions
and encouraged Women from their
congregation to preach. As result, Kennedy
received the support of number of likeminded
Priests internationally. In support of
Kennedy’s progressive stance, Roy Bourgeois
a fellow ‘rebel’ priest from Louisiana (U.S.A.)
stated in his essay, A New Model of Being
Church
“If we, as people of faith, profess that God
created men and women of equal stature
and dignity, if we say that the call to
priesthood comes from God? Who are we
as men, to tamper with the sacred? Who
are we to negate God’s call of women to
the priesthood?” ii
Similarly, an Episcopalian Priest from the
United States, named John Shelby Spong,
wrote an essay titled A Manifesto supporting
Father Kennedy’s blessing of same-sex unions,
forecasting that some day
“Homosexual marriages will
become…recognised by the state and
pronounced holy by the church.” iii
structure. Also, perhaps uncovering why we
humans seek meaning and self-worth in
institutions.
Figure 3: 'St Mary's in Exile' official logo, also
obtained from their website.
Dissidence
When a group or an individual come to the
realisation that an established way of being no
longer defines them, societal structure can
begin to reform. The protester engages in the
questioning of the validity of the dominant
system, exposing that which was always
conformed to. This dominant system usually
constructs itself as more than simply an idea or
a symbol, but as something that is intrinsically
linked to those who obey it. Morphing from a
simple construction into the very identity of
those who adhere to it. For example, in The
Revitalisation Movement in the Catholic
Church, Ebaugh articulates that she believes
that “Catholicism constitutes an ethnic
identity” iv, she goes onto to say that “most
people are born into a religious tradition
and socialized in its symbols, myths,
rituals, and community ties such that
religion becomes part of personal
identity” v. From this, we can begin to
understand how institutions have the ability to
transform into more than simply a
construction; in fact, they become the very
identity of those who cling to them. However,
the act of dissent has the potential to ‘shine a
light’ on our identification with constructions
and ‘St Mary’s in Exile’ is an example of this.
3
 Monarchy as an Institution

A Monarchy is an example of an institution

that requires its subjects to believe its
existence is directly linked to theirs. To be
clear, when I say ‘existence’ I don’t simply
mean physical ‘existence’, I mean the
existence of a personal and/or cultural identity.
For example, the existence of a Roman
Emperor justified the existence of Roman
Citizens. To expand on this, the personal and
cultural identity of the Roman citizen was
solidified by the Empire’s official Religion; an
ancestral ethnic Religion unique to the city of
Rome. The ancestral customs of Rome, were
central to a Roman identity; and the role of the
Emperor was intrinsically linked to this. For
instance, deceased Roman Emperors were
deified, as Rome identified Emperors as
divinely approved heads of State. The purpose
of this custom was more than simply Religion,
in fact, some may say that Religion was
simply façade used to conceal the true purpose
of a custom used to secure a common and
stable Roman identity, as the Empire
expanded. Illustrating the tendency of human
beings to identify with a cultural hegemony,
despite its tyrannical application.
“Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the
most exquisite tortures on a class hated for
their abominations, called Christians by
the populace…Covered with the skins of
beasts, they were torn by dogs…nailed to
crosses, or were doomed to the flames and
burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination,
when daylight had expired” vi
Similarly, the Roman Catholic Church is an
institution that has operated in an intensely
hierarchical manner. Both Nero’s persecution
of the Christian minority in Rome and the
exile of Father Peter Kennedy in 2009, are
examples of the ramifications that can occur
when a system prone to autocratic rule is
challenged.

As we address tyranny and dissent let us

discuss the effect the early Christians had on
the Roman Empire. From Nero (54-68 A.D.)
to Diocletian (284-305 A.D.), Christians, as
they were known to the Romans were a
despised minority. This was primarily due to
their rejection of the divine status of the
Roman Emperor. Their very existence
threatened the validity of an autocratic
institution that secured the cultural and
political identity of the greatest Empire of its
time. Due to Rome’s distaste for these
‘nonconformists’, the Christians became a
scapegoat minority. For example, when Nero
was accused of having ordered the ‘Great Fire
of Rome’ he blamed the Christians instead.

4
Figure 4: A Picture of the Second Vatican Council in action, image obtained from a website called 'OnePeterFive', a forum
dedicated to ‘Rebuilding Catholic Culture. Restoring Catholic Tradition’.

VATICAN II significant shift. Instead of looking to the

clergy to define their faith, the laity began to
The attitude toward the Church as an feel empowered as ‘People of God’. This
oligarchic system in the mid-20th century ultimately weakened the autocratic power of
reared its head during the Second Vatican the Vatican and encouraged freedom and
Council (1962-1968). Neil Ormerod, a
democracy.
Professor of Theology at the Australian
Catholic University states, The following is a poem from The National
Catholic Reporter (Feb 10, 1965) that draws
“It is now over 40 years since the
attention to the potential power dilemma
conclusion of the Second Vatican
brought about by the Second Vatican Council.
Council…Changes in liturgical and
sacramental practices spread through the The Emerging Layman
church like wildfire.” vii
The Layman’s emerging
By the 60’s, Democracy was a system many
people world-wide had become accustomed to Who let him out?
and this meant the rigid and authoritarian He’s going to cause confusion
structures of the Church had become an Without any doubt.
anachronism. The Second Vatican Council
ultimately resulted in the reconceptualization He’s going to start checking
of the Church. Ebaugh highlights, “the most If things are all right
significant change effected by the Second He may even wonder
Vatican Council was the If Father’s real bright.
reconceptualization of the Church as the
“People of God,” viii. This meant that power Who taught that chap
and influence had shifted from the hierarchical To pray out loud?
clerical structure, to the laity. It was an He was easier to handle
attempt by the then Pope John XXIII to reform In a nice quiet crowd.
a belief system that exclusively relied on
hierarchical authority. The phrase embodied a

5
Someone grab his missal community can achieve if given the ability to
Swipe his hymnbook too emerge from the bottom up, as opposed to the
Nudge him off the lectern top down. Additionally, the letter offers a
Back into the pew. snippet of prophecy. As Bromley explains

“If the current decision made by the

Submerge that layman Bishop remains, then unfortunately…I see
Lower the boom this as the catalyst for a schism to grow,
We’ll have this church again initially from the parish. But it will infect
Quiet as a tomb. ix the diocese; later it will infect other
dioceses and it will spread.” xi p. 2
The heart of Bromley’s prophetic statement clearly points
the matter to a potential trend of apostasy that may ensue
due to the rigid and exclusive nature of the
A primary source that I obtained, was a Church. This is also supported by Ebaugh, as
Newsletter excerpt, from a letter titled she explains,

‘Obedience to Conscience or to the “Unless those in power are willing to

reconstruct the system and allow greater
Hierarchical Church.’
democratic representation, one of two
The letter was presented by Father Kennedy things tends to happen: either (1) the
and the St Mary’s community to the system is overthrown through revolution,
Archbishop of the South Brisbane diocese on
or (2) the masses cease to grant legitimacy
14/02/09. The letter was written by Gerard
Bromley, a member of the congregation and and authority to those who rule.” xii
was ultimately published in the community’s
first Newsletter, titled, ‘The Heart of the ‘St Mary’s in Exile’ is an example of a
Matter’ (April 5, 2009). The excerpts I found movement that combatted the rigid nature of
most relevant were the references to the an institution that rendered the ineffable down
second chapter of the Christus Dominus (a to a codified structure. An establishment that
decree from the Second Vatican Council) doled-out spirituality as if they, by a higher
“it begins with the definition of a diocese power were granted a monopoly on it.
as ‘a portion of the people of God’…From Kennedy’s defiance illustrates that
this the diocese is not seen primarily as an “change does not come from the top down,
administrative division of the universal but from the bottom up – from the
Church, but in itself a church, a grassroots” xiii
microcosm of the whole. It points to the
truth that the Church grows up from its
local constituents rather than coming
down from its administrative centre.” x
This quote perfectly points to the dilemma of
power produced by the decrees released at the
Second Vatican Council. It also highlights the
desire of the laity to have more influence in
their parish communities. Bromley’s quote
obviously speaks to the success a spiritual

6
In protesting official policy, established ways
of being are challenged. Jesus himself was a
revolutionary, a countercultural figure who
sought to up end the established order. He
expelled the merchants and money changers
from the temple and challenged the authority
of the High Priests. An example of Jesus’
disregard of established customs and traditions
can be seen in the Gospel of Mark where
the Pharisees and the teachers
of the Law asked Jesus, ‘Why
is it that your disciples do not
follow the teaching handed
down by our ancestors, but
instead eat with ritually
unclean hands?’ Jesus
answered them, ‘How right
Isaiah was when he prophesied
about you! You are
hypocrites, just as he wrote:
‘These people, says God,
honour me with their words,
but their heart is really far
away from me. It is no use for
them to worship me, because
they teach human rules as
though they were God’s laws!’
‘You put aside God’s
command and obey human
teachings.’ xiv
In challenging the established order and
customs of the time, Jesus presents himself as
a revolutionary figure. He rejected the
ancestral customs and structures of his society
and encouraged others to do the same. From
what I can gather from the verses above, it
seems Jesus believed that the customs and
traditions of Judaism had become self-serving
institutions that no longer addressed the
spiritual requirements of the people.
Similarly, in Mark Chapter 3, it describes
Jesus healing a man with a paralysed hand on
the Sabbath; an act that was strictly forbidden,
as the Sabbath was a day of strict observance,
a day of rest and worship.
Then Jesus went back to the
synagogue, where there was a
man who had a paralysed
hand. Some people were there
who wanted to accuse Jesus of
doing wrong; so they watched
him closely to see whether he
would heal the man on the
Sabbath. Jesus said to the
man… ‘What does our Law
allow us to do on the Sabbath?
To help or to harm? To save
someone’s life or to destroy
it?’… ‘Stretch out your hand’.
He stretched it out, and it
became well again. So the
Pharisees left the synagogue
and met at once with some
members of Herod’s party, and
they made plans to kill Jesus. xv
The Gospel of Mark clearly depicts Jesus as a
renegade. It illustrates the life of a man who
constantly challenged the status quo; tearing
down the structures and institutions that
claimed to be righteous. Ultimately, Jesus was
crucified, which was a uniquely Roman
punishment reserved exclusively for those who
had committed crimes against the State. It is
clear, from what we have read, that Jesus was
a radical, he re-envisioned society to be place
of justice and acceptance; and in doing so, he
challenged the powers that be. The same
could be said for Father Peter Kennedy and his
community, as they rallied behind those who
were excluded by the Roman Catholic Church,
confronting its hierarchical and oligarchic
disposition. Interestingly, in Lesley
Hazleton’s biography of the Prophet
Muhammad, The First Muslim, she describes
Moses, Jesus and Muhammad as
countercultural figures who combatted the
elites of their time.
“The scriptures of all three of the great
monotheisms show that they began
similarly as popular movements in protest
7
against the privilege and arrogance of
power, whether that of kings as in the
Hebrew bible, or the Roman Empire as in
the Gospels, or a tribal elite as in the
Quran. All three, that is, were originally
driven by ideals of justice and
egalitarianism, rejecting the inequities of
human power in favour of a higher and
more just one.” xvi
As Lesley explains, the founders and prophets
of the Abrahamic Religions began their days
protesting the cultural hegemony of the
societies they found themselves in. However,
it is important to point out that hegemony has
tendency to replace hegemony. Systems
ultimately replace other systems, which is
perhaps fuelled by our human impulse to
attach ourselves to a sort of one-dimensional
thinking. It seems we possess a propensity to
be excessively loyal to one particular idea or
belief system. We have a love of crude
simplicity, a need to know what’s right and
what’s wrong; and this addiction to the ‘black
and white’ births dogma, which essentially
leads to tyranny. An example of this was seen
in Constantine’s Rome, where a minority
culture (Christianity) largely rooted in the
belief of egalitarianism began to oppress those
who were culturally and ideologically different
to them.
Christian
Hegemony
In Constantine’s Rome, after he succeeded
from Emperor Diocletian (who infamously
slaughtered Christians on a grand scale)
Constantine decided to adopt Christianity as
his new faith, although, he was not officially
baptised until he was “on his deathbed in
337” xvii. Although “a committed Christian
from 312, Constantine trod warily in
imposing the new official religion on the
empire” xviii. In the beginning “there was no
attempt to limit or forbid the worship of
old gods” xix. However, this soon changed.
Christianity, the once despised minority under
Emperor Diocletian, had become the dominant
religion, but only in the sense that the very top
of Roman society (the Emperor) had adopted
the faith. Most of Rome’s citizens remained
identified with their ancestral beliefs.
However, “soon after 324, pagan sacrifice
was forbidden” xx and the treasures of pagan
temples were confiscated. “Gladiatorial
contests were forbidden, and Constantine
passed severe laws against sexual
immorality and prohibited ritual
prostitution” xxi.
The once loathed belief system, the fringe-
dwelling culture known as Christianity, had
now become an institution that regulated the
existence of other belief systems. This was
imposed from the top down, from the minority
upon majority. A Christian oligarchy existed
in Constantine’s Rome, which clearly
illustrates, that from dissent important changes
in our societal structure can and do occur.
Within a generation, Christianity rose from the
oppressed to the oppressor. With this in mind,
it is important to state that there is a lesson
here for Peter Kennedy and his community of
‘St Mary’s in Exile’. A lesson that would be
wise to keep at the front of one’s mind. New
structures and systems enforced via autocratic
rule and dogma should not replace the
autocratic rule and dogma Peter Kennedy and
his community managed to shed when sent
into exile by the ‘Holy See’. If new rigid
structures are imposed upon those excluded by
the Catholic Church by ‘St Mary’s in Exile’,
Kennedy has failed those who look to him for
guidance.
8
 baby, that, that child’s value is innate. There
is no need for an infant to accumulate or
Who am I? obtain anything in order for it to become more
valuable. No need for a system or an
In identifying with the customs, traditions and institution to rate, measure, qualify, justify or
laws that pervade our everyday life, we permit give meaning to the child’s life. The child
structures and organised bodies to give does not need to be stamped, branded or ticked
meaning to our lives. In doing so we limit off as important or valuable. The child’s life
ourselves to an assemblage of ideas, confining in of itself is meaning enough. If we
ourselves to a mere construction. Peter understand this, why do spend our days
Kennedy and ‘St Mary’s in Exile’ illustrate looking to external sources to give meaning to
what can be achieved when codes, protocols our lives? Why do we feel the need to justify
and value systems cease to define what one is. our existence through our identification with
In emptying themselves of the conceptual and customs, traditions and established ways of
structural shackles of the Roman Catholic being? It seems we spend our days dominated
Church, ‘St Mary’s in Exile’ allowed by structures and institutions that claim to
themselves the space to bloom into their faith contain the answer to this experience we call
and spirituality, as opposed to it being doled- life. Will we continue to shackle ourselves to
out to them. Perhaps we can learn a lesson a mere construction, or will we take leaf out of
from this. Imagine at that moment of death, the book of ‘St Mary’s in Exile’ and learn that
when one looks back onto a life, only to realise an institution has no right to define nor justify
that they were fooled into subscribing to a what we are?
mere construction, an assemblage of ideas
meant to govern one’s behaviour. We began
our days free of judgment, with no clue of
etiquette or social convention. But before too
long, we began to be channelled through
systems and a placed into categories. We were
give names, and as result we began to identify
with a series of symbols. Our lives were
reduced to labels and structures, relegated to
codes, protocols and established ways of
being. The ever-fresh world we were born
into became a series of stale names, structures
and concepts. From them emerged systems
and institutions, which stripped the life we
knew of fullness and vibrancy. Eventually,
through conditioning we began to believe that
institutions and systems themselves equated to
life, and so we began to look to them to give
meaning to our lives. We allowed ourselves to
be limited to and governed by a series
structures. We became mechanized and
systematized, convinced to believe our value
was something to strive for, something that
had to be sought and distributed out to us.
One knows when they look at a new born

9
 Imperial Rome (London: Thames & Hudson,
Notes: 1995), 217.
xviii
Ibid. 216.
xix
i
Oxford Dictionary: The Australian Reference Ibid.
xx
Dictionary, s.v. ‘institution’ Ibid.
xxi
ii
Roy Bourgeois, ‘A New Model of Being Church’ Ibid.
in Martin Flanagan & Michele Gierck (eds.), Peter
Kennedy: The Man Who Threatened Rome
(Australia: one day hill Publishers, 2009), 140.
iii
John Shelby Spong, ‘A Manifesto’ in Martin
Flanagan & Michele Gierck (eds.), Peter Kennedy:
Tha Man Who Threatened Rome (Australia: one
day hill Publishers, 2009), 136.
iv
Helen Rose Ebaugh, ‘The Revitalization
Movement in the Catholic Church: The
Institutional Dilemma of Power’, Sociological
Analysis, 52/1 (1991), 10.
v
Ibid.
vi
Cornelius Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome,
tr. Alfred J. Church & William J. Brodribb
(Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 2005),
216-217.
vii
Neil Ormerod, ‘Mary, Mary Quite Contrary – FR
Kennedy, St Mary’s and Vatican II’ in Martin
Flanagan & Michele Gierck (eds.), Peter Kennedy:
Tha Man Who Threatened Rome (Australia: one
day hill Publishers, 2009), 129.
viii
Ebaugh, ‘The Revitalization Movement in the
Catholic Church’, 2.
ix
‘The Emerging Laymen’, National Catholic
Reporter, ‘Cry Pax! A Column Without Rules’, 10
Feb. 1965, para. 5,
<https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=ncr19
650210-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------->
accessed 03 Oct. 2018.
x
Gerard Bromley, ‘Obedience to Conscience or to
the Hierarchical Church’, St Mary’s Matters, /1
(Autumn 2009), 19.
<https://stmaryssouthbrisbane.com/st-marys-
matters> accessed 13 Sept, 2018.
xi
Ibid. 20.
xii
Ebaugh, ‘The Revitalization Movement in the
Catholic Church’, 3.
xiii
Roy Bourgeois, ‘A New Model of Being
Church’ in Martin Flanagan & Michele Gierck
(eds.), Peter Kennedy: The Man Who Threatened
Rome, 141.
xiv
Mark 7: 5-8
xv
Mark 3: 1-6
xvi
Lesley Hazleton, The First Muslim: The Story of
Muhammad (London: Atlantic Books, 2013), 102.
xvii
Chris Scarre, Chronicle of the Roman Emperors:
The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of

10
 Scarre, Chris, Chronicle of the Roman
Emperors: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the
Rulers of Imperial Rome (London: Thames &
Bibliography: Hudson, 1995).
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Tacitus, Cornelius, The Annals of Imperial
Bourgeois, Roy, ‘A New Model of Being
Rome, tr. Alfred J. Church & William J.
Church’ in Martin Flanagan & Michele Gierck
Brodribb (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com
(eds.), Peter Kennedy: The Man Who
Publishing, 2005).
Threatened Rome (Australia: one day hill
Publishers, 2009).

Bromley, Gerard, ‘Obedience to Conscience or Images:

to the Hierarchical Church’, St Mary’s
Matters, /1 (Autumn 2009), 19-21.
<https://stmaryssouthbrisbane.com/st-marys-
matters> accessed 13 Sept, 2018.
‘The Emerging Laymen’, National Catholic
Reporter, ‘Cry Pax! A Column Without
Rules’, 10 Feb. 1965, para. 5,
<https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=n
cr19650210-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN----
---> accessed 03 Oct. 2018.
Figure 1: Velazquez, Diego Rodriguez De
Silva Y, The crucified Christ [image], (1632)
<https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-
collection/art-work/the-crucified-
christ/72cbb57e-f622-4531-9b25-
27ff0a9559d7>, accessed 22 Oct, 2018.
Figure 2: St Mary’s Congregation [image],
Date unknown
<https://stmaryssouthbrisbane.com/our-
spirituality>, accessed 11 Oct, 2018.

Ormerod, Neil, ‘Mary, Mary Quite Contrary –

FR Kennedy, St Mary’s and Vatican II’ in
Martin Flanagan & Michele Gierck (eds.),
Peter Kennedy: The Man Who Threatened
Rome (Australia: one day hill Publishers,
2009).
Spong, Shelby, John, ‘A Manifesto’ in Martin
Flanagan & Michele Gierck (eds.), Peter
Kennedy: The Man Who Threatened Rome
(Australia: one day hill Publishers, 2009).
Figure 3: Official logo of St Mary’s in Exile
[image] < https://stmaryssouthbrisbane.com/>,
accessed 11 Oct, 2018.
Figure 4: Second Vatican Council [image],
(1962-1968) <https://onepeterfive.com/the-
points-of-rupture-of-the-second-vatican-
council-with-the-tradition-of-the-church-a-
synopsis/>, accessed 12 Oct, 2018.

Secondary Sources:

Ebaugh, Rose, Helen, ‘The Revitalization

Movement in the Catholic Church: The
Institutional Dilemma of Power’, Sociological
Analysis, 52/1 (1991), 1-12.

Hazleton, Lesley, The First Muslim: The Story

of Muhammad (London: Atlantic Books,
2013).

11
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