Australian Catholic University (ACU) speaker and former union boss Joe de Bruyn has refused to apologise over his comments regarding same-sex marriage and abortion which led to a mass walkout during the university’s graduation ceremony.
On Monday, hundreds of ACU graduates and employees from the faculties of education and arts and law and commerce walked out of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre after the 75-year-old took to the mic after receiving an honourary doctorate.
In his address, the former union boss made a bunch of controversial statements regarding topics such as abortion and gay marriage.
Per 9News, de Bruyn said things like “over 80,000 unborn children are killed by abortion in Australia each year. Worldwide, the estimated number is 42 million per annum” and claimed that “abortion is the single biggest killer of human beings in the world, greater by far than the toll of human life in World War II. It is a tragedy that must be ended”.
He then implied that marriage was an institution between a man and woman, saying: “Marriage between a man and a woman was instituted by God at the origin of humanity in the Garden of Eden as the book of Genesis in the Bible tells us”.
Footage of the ACU walkout soon went viral on TikTok, with many attendees expressing their shock and anger with de Bruyn’s speech.
Following the incident, de Bruyn has refused to apologise and said “I don’t believe anyone should have been offended by my comments.”
“I thought very carefully for months beforehand as to what I was going to say,” he told 9News before adding that the claims in his speech were “well-known teachings of the Catholic church”.
“I don’t regret telling people the facts about what the Catholic Church teaches and the facts about what I did in my public life,” he continued.
Australia Catholic University responds to Joe de Bruyn’s speech
In response to the outrage, ACU has said de Bruyn’s address was shared in a “personal capacity”.
“While his views may not be shared by many of our staff and students, as a university we encourage the respectful exchange of ideas that represent the wide spectrum of our diverse community,” an ACU spokesperson said, per the publication.
“The university understands that many of our staff, graduates and their families disagreed with the content of Mr de Bruyn’s speech and we regret that this occurred.
“As a university, we’re committed to open, respectful dialogue. We always encourage people to present their views and beliefs while also being respectful to those who hold a contrary view.”
Prior to de Bruyn’s speech, ACU officials were reportedly concerned about what he would mention in his address, especially with his stance on same-sex marriage, abortion, IVF and gay rights.
Maybe if there was a worry, just don’t pass the bloke a mic? I don’t think you need to have gone to uni to make that decision.
Image source: TikTok and 9News / Jacky Ghossein
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