A leading Catholic Archbishop in Australia has expressed his alarm at legal moves to sanction a fellow prelate for distributing a booklet defending traditional marriage.

Following confirmation by Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Commission that it is examining a case brought by a transgender activist against Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart, Lifesite News reports that Sydney’s Archbishop Anthony Fisher felt compelled to speak out against the case and the apparent breach of religious freedom it represents.

“Australia is party to treaties guaranteeing freedoms of religion and of speech, and regularly exhorts other nations to observe these,” Archbishop Fisher said. “It is therefore astonishing and truly alarming that people might be proceeded against for stating traditional Christian beliefs on marriage.”

The roots of the Hobart case lie in a claim by Martine Delaney, who wishes to be recognised as a female, that the diocese’s booklet, ‘Don’t Mess With Marriage’ file:///C:/Users/User%201/Downloads/DMM-booklet%20office%20print%20A4%20v2.pdf  “offends and humiliates” those in same-sex partnerships on the grounds that it defends Catholic teaching on marriage as that between one man and one woman. Delaney has called on Archbishop Porteous to apologise and for the Australian Bishops’ Conference to initiate LGBT awareness programmes in all its schools nationwide.

The Anti-Discrimination Commission is working towards conciliation in the case but has said it will proceed to a full hearing if this is not sufficient for the parties involved.

In response, Archbishop Fisher has insisted that nothing in the marriage booklet can be construed as offensive to any group.

“Fair-minded readers…would see it was a very carefully worded and indeed compassionate statement, not designed to provoke or hurt anyone,” he said. “The concerted campaign that has followed its publication suggests that some people simply cannot tolerate Christian beliefs being held by anyone, spoken by anyone, influencing anyone.”