Gosford Anglican Church in NSW is among those offering sanctuary for asylum seekers. Credit:Facebook So far only one church in Melbourne – St John's Uniting Church in Essendon – has expressed interest in invoking the ancient Christian tradition. The movement is being led by the Anglican Dean of Brisbane, Dr Peter Catt, who has declared St John's Anglican Cathedral a place of sanctuary.



Dr Catt said if any asylum seekers sought sanctuary in his church he would do his best to keep the authorities out. He said he fully accepts that he and other clergy could be charged with obstruction and potentially face possible jail time.



However, Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier said churches in Melbourne would not do the same. "We applaud the motives of those Christian churches who intend to test the ancient common law notion of sanctuary, but our churches are not equipped to provide temporary accommodation," Archbishop Freier said. "A better answer would be for [the Prime Minister] to exercise compassion and moral principle and allow the asylum seekers to remain in Australia as the processes unfold."

Some of the babies facing deportation. Credit:Human Rights Law Centre Archbishop Freier said the Anglican church in Melbourne – and nationally – would continue to support asylum seekers and refugees with services, advocacy and spiritual help. The High Court ruling related specifically to the detention of a pregnant Bangladeshi asylum seeker brought to Australia from Nauru for medical treatment. The court found her detention was lawful. St John's Uniting Church in Essendon is offering sanctuary to asylum seekers. The judgment has implications for the men, women and children seeking asylum, who are also in Australia for treatment. The government is investigating allegations that one of the children, a five-year-old boy, was sexually assaulted on Nauru.

They could be issued with notices at any time and ordered to leave Australia within 72 hours. Dean of Brisbane Dr Peter Catt, at St John's Anglican Cathedral. Credit:Glenn Hunt Among those asylum seekers are five families living in "community detention" in Melbourne, Lucy Honan, of the Refugee Action Collective, said. Another five families in Brisbane, one in Sydney and one in Adelaide face deportation after the ruling. Most of the asylum seekers are Iranians, Sri Lankans, Syrians and Afghans. Although the government has not made any decision, deportations are expected to start occurring within days.

The legality of sanctuary, which has its roots in the Old Testament, has never been tested under Australian law. Dr Catt acknowledged there might not be a legal basis for the concept of sanctuary, but said he was determined to protect the most vulnerable from harm. "This is a hugely significant action for any Australian church to take," Dr Catt said. Deporting asylum seekers, he said, "fundamentally goes against our faith, so our church community is compelled to act, despite the possibility of individual penalty against us". Nevertheless, the ancient principle was, he said, "enshrined in English common law".

"Where a state is causing grievous harm, churches can provide sanctuary and immunity from arrest by authorities," Dr Catt said. Reverend Mark Dunn, of St John's Uniting Church in Essendon, said he was prepared to offer sanctuary to asylum seekers, although his church's executive council had not yet made a formal decision. "Our consideration will be carefully weighed up in the light of the convictions around our faith and what is the right and proper and just thing to do and weighing that carefully against what does the law say – and is the law an ass," Reverend Dunn said. He said at least half a dozen of his parishioners were asylum seekers living in community detention "in that uncertain space where they have no clarity around what the future look likes". Reverend Dunn, who for five years was a visiting chaplin to the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre, said he would "quickly and urgently" call a meeting with the executive council to make a formal decision.

He said he would very carefully consider putting himself between asylum seekers and the law. "I'm a law-abiding citizen. It's not something I would take lightly," he said. "It's certainly something I believe passionately about and sometimes what the law says and what is the right thing to do doesn't line up and I'm increasingly coming to the view that this is one of those occasions."