THE Catholic Church is ramping up its involvement in the SSM debate, using parish bulletins to urge followers to vote No.

THE Catholic Church is ramping up its involvement in the same-sex marriage debate, distributing information for inclusion in bulletins and leaflets urging parishioners to vote No.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher sent hundreds of flyers to city churches and published articles available on many church websites encouraging worshippers to volunteer and donate to the Coalition for Marriage.

“Vote No in the Postal Plebiscite on Marriage,” reads an entry in this weekend’s bulletin at St Anthony of Padua Parish Clovelly. “A change in the marriage law has consequences for freedom of religion, including the ability of individuals to live out their faith in everyday life, for Priests to preach and Catholic schools to teach about marriage, and for faith-based charities to continue to take a pro-marriage stance.”

Others — including the Holy Family Parish Maroubra and Waverley Catholic Church — use almost identical wording, directing readers to the Coalition for Marriage website.

“As survey forms begin arriving in letterboxes across Australia, it is important that we are fully equipped with information about the consequences of changing the definition of marriage and the impacts this will have on individuals, families, education and churches,” it reads. “The Coalition for Marriage has released a comprehensive guide to some of the key consequences and questions around this important conversation.”

A spokesman for St Francis of Assisi Paddington and St Joseph Edgecliff said the parish had received “hundreds” of flyers from the Archdiocese and around half had been picked up from the church.

And it doesn’t just stop at churches. On Friday, the ABC reported that Reverend Anthony Fisher and Dr Dan White, executive director of Sydney Catholic Schools, had sent a two-page letter to principals that read: “We will be voting NO and encourage you to do the same.”

NSW police had to be called after two rival groups violently clashed at a University of Sydney same-sex marriage protest supported by Catholic Society students on Thursday. Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart has also campaigned against same-sex marriage, writing in an open letter last month: “The Catholic Church ... teaches that marriage is a natural institution established by God to be a permanent union between one man and one woman, intended towards the formation of a family in which children are born and nurtured.”

He said staff needed to uphold church teachings or could face serious consequences, which many interpreted as meaning they could be sacked. But he later sent a letter clarifying that hiring and firing was to be dealt with at a local level.

Father Kevin Burke, from Our Lady Help of Christians in Eltham, told news.com.au the Archdiocese of Melbourne had not been “insistent” that parishes do anything — and he had even refused one parishioner who wanted to hand out campaign materials.

“I’ll put it on the table,” he said. “With our credibility being what it is, perhaps we should just shut up. It’s too politicised.

“I say, read different things ... I’m trying not to be directive but getting people looking at different points of view.”

He said the two NSW bishops said to have “broken ranks” with the Church on the issue were “taking the broader view, perhaps we need to go quietly on this”.

Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright said a “common good” argument could be made “for gay couples to have a place in the recognised structures” and Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long said in a pastoral letter that the postal survey was “an opportunity for us to listen to what the Spirit is saying through the signs of the times”.

But the Diocese of Parramatta later posted a select quote from the bishop’s letter on its Facebook page that read: “The Church will continue to hold that marriage is a natural institution established by God to be a permanent union between one man and one woman, directed both to mutual companionship and to the formation of a family.”

The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney is one of four lead members of the Coalition for Marriage, along with the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and Australian Christian Lobby — but not everyone in the Church is preaching from the same hymn sheet.

The rectors of Melbourne’s Xavier College and Sydney’s Saint Ignatius’ College, whose alumni include Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and former prime minister Tony Abbott respectively, wrote to parents and staff questioning the traditional view