John Fleming (priest)

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The Reverend
John Fleming
Born (1943-06-12) 12 June 1943[1]
Port Lincoln, South Australia, Australia[1]
Nationality Australian
Education University of Adelaide, Australian College of Theology, Griffith University
Occupation Catholic priest
Years active 1995 - present
Home town Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Religion Christian
Denomination Catholic, previously Anglican
Spouse(s) Alison
Children 3
Parents The Reverend T. R. Fleming[1]

John Irving Fleming is an Australian priest and bioethicist. He was the founding president of Campion College.[2]

Career

John Fleming was a high profile Anglo-Catholic priest in the Anglican Church of Australia's Adelaide diocese. He was ordained in 1970. He became a Roman Catholic in 1987. Although married with three children, he was given a papal dispensation permitting his ordination in the Catholic Church in 1995.

During his career he has been:

  • As an Anglican priest:
    • Early 1970s: university chaplain and rector of St Paul's Church, Adelaide and dean and vice-master of St Mark’s College in the University of Adelaide
    • 1977-1978: assistant curate at St. Nicholas Church, Chiswick in West London
    • 1978-1987: rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Plympton
  • As a Catholic lay person:
    • 1987-1995: founding director of Southern Cross Bioethics Institute
  • As a Catholic priest:
    • 1995-2004: director of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute
    • From 2001: faculty member of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family
    • 2004-2009: founding president of Campion College
    • Adjunct Professor of Bioethics at the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute until its closure in 2012

He has served on a number of bioethics boards:

  • a foundation member of UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee (1992-1996). He was Corresponding Member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life (from 1996)
  • 1998-2004, he was a member of the SA Council on Reproductive Technology
  • Member of the Gene Technology Ethics Committee (from 2002) set up under the Gene Technology Act 2000 (Commonwealth of Australia)

Media

He was a weekly columnist of The Advertiser in Adelaide, presented radio programs for more than 33 years, including a top-rating Adelaide talkback program on 5AA. In 2005 while the president of Campion College in Sydney, Fleming hosted a short-lived talkback radio program on 2UE.[3]

Community

He was an elected delegate to the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention associated with Australians for Constitutional Monarchy.[4] In 2003, he was appointed by the Howard Government to the Council of the National Museum of Australia with his term ending in 2009.[5]

Education

Fleming has a B.A. from the University of Adelaide, a Licentiate in Theology from the Australian College of Theology and a Ph.D. in philosophy and bioethics from Griffith University.[2] His Ph.D. thesis was titled "Human rights and natural law : an analysis of the consensus gentium and its implications for bioethics".[6]

Personal

Fleming is the son of an Anglican priest. He is married to Alison and they have three children.

Allegations of abuse

Subsequent to his appointment to Campion College, media reports were published alleging sexual impropriety, whilst Fleming was an Anglican priest, with a number of people. It was stated that the allegations were known to the Archbishop of Adelaide at the time of his Catholic ordination in 1995 and thus also at the time of his appointment to Campion College in 2004.[7]

The Catholic Diocese of Adelaide reinstated him in 2011 and he initiated a defamation case against the Sunday Mail in regard to a number of stories published on the complaints and investigations.[8][9] In December 2012 the investigations into these allegations had not been finalised[10] and in June 2013 the defamation case was still to be heard.[11]

Publications

  • Fleming, John Irving; Christian Television Association (1977), Father John's response : answers to questions, Christian Television Association, retrieved 25 December 2012 
  • Overduin, Daniel Ch (Daniel Christiaan); Fleming, John Irving, 1943- (1982), Life in a test-tube : medical and ethical issues facing society today, Lutheran Publishing House, ISBN 978-0-85910-203-2 
  • Fleming, John Irving; Fundacion Banco Bilbao Vizcaya; Catedra Interuniversitaria Fundacion BBVA-Diputacion Foral de Bizkaia de Derecho y Genoma Humano (1996), Ethics and the Human Genome Diversity Project, Fundacion Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (BBV Foundation), retrieved 25 December 2012 
  • Krohn, Anna M; Fleming, John Irving, 1943-; Southern Cross Bioethics Institute (1994), Genetics & ethics, Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, ISBN 978-0-646-19012-9 
  • Fleming, John Irving; Pike, Gregory K. (Gregory Kym); Ewing, Selena; Southern Cross Bioethics Institute (2002), Human embryos : a limitless scientific resource? : what the Research Involving Embryos and Prohibition of Human Cloning Bill 2002 really allows (1st ed ed.), Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, ISBN 978-0-9581526-0-0 
  • Fleming, John Irving; Ewing, Selena; Southern Cross Bioethics Institute (2005), Give women choice : Australia speaks on abortion, Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, ISBN 978-0-9581526-1-7 
  • Fleming, John Irving, 1943-; Tonti-Filippini, Nicholas (2007), Common ground? : seeking an Australian consensus on abortion and sex education, St Pauls Publications, ISBN 978-1-921032-64-6 
  • Fleming, John Irving (2010), Convinced by the truth : embracing the fullness of Catholic faith, Connor Court Publishing, ISBN 978-1-921421-11-2 
  • Fleming, John Irving (2010), Dignitas Personae Explained: The Church's teaching on reproductive and related technologies, Connor Court Publishing, ISBN 978-1-921421-51-8 

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Family Notices.". The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) (Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia). 19 June 1943. p. 2. Retrieved 25 December 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Press Release: Campion College Australia Names Its First President, Campion College, New South Wales
  3. ↑ Marilyn Rodrigues, (30 October 2005), It’s good to be a priest, says talk-back host: A conversation with Fr John Fleming, bioethicist and Campion College president, The Catholic Weekly, Sydney
  4. ↑ Appendix 1: Delegates to the 1998 Constitutional Convention in John Warhurst, (29 June 1999), From Constitutional Convention to Republic Referendum: A Guide to the Processes, the Issues and the Participants, Research Paper 25 1998-99, Australian Parliamentary Library, Canberra
  5. ↑ National Museum of Australia, Annual Report 2009-10 Appendix 1: Council and committees of the National Museum of Australia
  6. ↑ Fleming, John Irving; Griffith University. Division of Humanities. Thesis (Ph.D.), 1992 (1992), Human rights and natural law : an analysis of the consensus gentium and its implications for bioethics, Division of Humanities, Griffith University, retrieved 25 December 2012 
  7. ↑ Nigel Hunt (30 August 2008). "Father John Fleming involved in sexual misconduct claims". The Advertiser (in en-au) (Adelaide, South Australia). Retrieved 25 December 2012. 
  8. ↑ Nigel Hunt (15 May 2011). "Priest move 'disrespectful'". Sunday Mail (SA) (in en-au) (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia). 
  9. ↑ Fleming v Advertiser-News Weekend Publishing Company Pty Ltd and Advertiser Newspapers Pty Ltd [2012] SASC 58, Supreme Court (SA, Australia)
  10. ↑ Nigel Hunt (16 November 2012). "Handling of sex claims against Father John Fleming set to head to national royal commission". The Advertiser (in en-au) (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia). 
  11. ↑ Fleming v Advertiser-News Weekend Publishing Co Pty Ltd & Anor [2013] SASC 92, Supreme Court (SA, Australia)
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