Australia To Consider Recognizing Jerusalem As Capital, Pope As Catholic

“We anticipate some blowback from hard-liners on the pope thing.”

Canberra, October 18 – Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced this week his administration will weigh the relocation of its Tel Aviv embassy to Israel’s declared capital, following the lead of the United States earlier this year, acknowledging the political reality of the city’s status despite Arab and Palestinian objections. Morrison also told reporters he will similarly take under advisement a proposal to declare the head of the Roman Catholic Church a Catholic.

A spokesman for the premier elaborated on the plans at a press conference on Thursday. “American President Donald Trump spearheaded what is likely to become a trend,” acknowledged Morrison adviser Arbor Urscat. “Australia must reexamine the question of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, having ignored reality for decades. At the same time we will tackle a separate but analogous issue, one that, while less obvious than Jerusalem being Israel’s capital, nevertheless demands redress, and that is that Australia has never officially recognized the Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of Christ, the Holy Father, as a member of the Roman Catholic Church. We intend to consider such a declaration, as well, even though it may seem controversial.”

Urscat addressed several concerns raised by journalists at the conference. “We anticipate some blowback from hard-liners on the pope thing,” he stated. “It’s not a popular position in certain parts of the world. But it’s never constructive or helpful to live in denial, which is what not recognizing His Holiness as a Catholic is, essentially. So we’re going to give due consideration to such a formal statement of recognition. And the Jerusalem thing, well, that’s a no-brainer by comparison. It’s been the de facto Jewish capital since ancient times.”

Previous administrations have refrained from such positions, citing security, diplomatic, and other concerns. Morrison, however, appears to be dropping the pretenses that often characterize diplomacy, pretenses that Trump has abandoned or disregarded, with little apparent negative consequences, observed Herald Sun commentator Ameen Wellduh. “Some groups will no doubt be upset, but they look to be on the wrong side of history,” he noted. “People calling themselves ‘Traditional Catholics’ object to who knows how many things about the legitimacy of Rome’s position, but they’re blind to reality – and willfully so. Also when it comes to Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State, well, yeah, it’s been kind of moronic to withhold that recognition so long. The people who are going to be angry will be angry for all sorts of other pretexts anyway.”

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