Aussies churches 'aren't judged fairly' Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia Phillip Aspinall. Senior religious figures in Brisbane used Easter Sunday to raise deep problems facing Christianity in Australia, including any "poisonous lie" which characterises faith in Jesus as fundamentalist, outdated or "hocus pocus." But leaders of the city's Anglican and Roman Catholic congregations both admitted sin was manifest within the walls of each parish, with conflicts about gay marriage, ordination of women, and child abuse presenting real difficulties for the religion. Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Phillip Aspinall lamented during his Easter Sunday address how the church was often criticised for its failures or viewed as a caricature of itself. Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Phillip Aspinall leads the Easter Sunday procession at St John's Cathedral. Photo: Katherine Feeney Photo: Katherine Feeney While churches weren't perfect, Dr Aspinall told gatherers at St John's Cathedral in central Brisbane, there needed to be a more balanced view of the church, with a particular focus on the good it does in the community. ""Religion in general and churches in particular are sometimes seen as out of date, throwbacks to times when people were uneducated, naive, superstitious and gullible enough to fall for a bunch of hocus pocus,"" he told churchgoers. ""Either that or religions and churches are seen as hotbeds of intolerance, fundamentalism and extremism that are a big problem for society because they threaten our peace and security. Archbishop Mark Coleridge presides over Easter Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of St Stephen in Brisbane. ""Mostly these caricatures are far from the truth."" However, Dr Aspinall conceded the church did have its sins, as highlighted by the royal commission into child sexual abuse. He said the inquiry will bring "deep shame" to churches. His Roman Catholic counterpart, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, broadly agreed speaking after a mass which drew over 1600 people to the Cathedral of St Stephen at the heart of Brisbane's CBD. "There's a hell of a lot of stereotyping that goes on, but I wouldn't have thought 'hotbed of fundamentalism' is at the top of the list of stereotyping," he said. I think it can be a difficulty, for the churches in Australia, that we are stereotyped and forced into corners, but I think the only solution that is to resist the stereotyping and to do something that is fresh, and that breaks the stereotyping. But that did not extend to breaking with the traditional views of the Roman Catholic Church, Mr Coleridge said. Though he acknowledged the church's position on issues such as gay marriage and the ordination of women was at odds with some of the faith's broader values and contemporary society at large, the Roman Catholic leader encouraged people to "look beyond the mess." "Look beyond all of that to the figure of Jesus Christ," Mr Coleridge said. The church is always a mess, has been from day one, there was no golden age. But at the heart of the mess is a magnificence [Jesus Christ]. If you really do encounter him more and more deeply, then you can deal with the ... You can see all the flaws and imperfections, but you can see something deeper. Indeed, Dr Aspinall said it was a ""poisonous lie"" to suggest the church was perfect. "Of course we're not perfect," he said, making particular reference to church practices that condoned or ignored abuse which ""had to die." But healing and care and reconciliation is gradually happening.