Nine of Australia’s most senior Christian and Muslim leaders have issued a statement accepting an apology by radio host Kyle Sandilands over comments he made about the Virgin Mary which sparked outrage.
Sandilands on Monday issued a lengthy on-air apology for a “joke” he made on his breakfast show on September 19, where he remarked that the Virgin Mary was probably impregnated “behind the camel shed”.
“And the mother lied obviously and told everyone, ‘Nah I got pregnant by a magical ghost’. Bulls**t,” Sandilands said during the segment, where he also labelled anyone who believed in the Bible story as “dumb”.
The comments were widely condemned by various religious organisations last week and resulted in protests outside the KIIS FM offices in Sydney, which called for the host’s sacking.
In his lengthy apology, which came in the first show back with co-host Jackie O after a week off-air due to a radio survey break, Sandilands said he “never intended to purposely upset anyone”.
“Am I going to quit? No. Am I going to get fired? No. Am I sorry? Absolutely I am sorry,” he said.
“Obviously, I have upset people and I am sorry for it. There’s nothing else I can do but to say, hey, I am sorry for that.”
In response, Catholic Maronite and Muslim religious leaders issued a joint statement accepting the apologies from Sandilands, Jackie O and KIIS management.
“Both the Christian and Muslim faith leaders accept the apology and extend a hand of friendship to Kyle Sandilands for the way he addressed the issue this morning and for his sincere apology,” the statement said.
“Based on the firm belief in divine love, mercy, and forgiveness, expressed both in the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran, we are confident that the faithful, who were hurt and who gathered peacefully and prayerfully outside the radio station, will likewise accept the tendered apologies and forgive, without any shadow of continuing resentment, in a spirit of peace and reconciliation.
The statement said followers would “seek to build peace and harmony in our multicultural society, based on mutual respect of beliefs and religious freedom”.
“We hope that this unfortunate incident will be a step towards a more considerate and respectful dialogue.”
Maronite Bishop in Australia Antoine Charbel Tarabay has signed the statement. He told SBS Arabic24: "This morning Sandilands apologised in a way that we find genuine and honest."
"Especially that he said, he didn’t plan what he said and didn’t realise the impact of his comments on the religious people’s feelings. And we accept this apology,” he added.
"The ethnic communities are more affected by such comments. We talk about living together and embrace the life in the Australian society, but then Sandilands comments came and it struck in this idea of peaceful co-existing between different communities.
“We turn the page today, but we wish to maintain the ideas of peacefully coexisting, which comes from respecting the religions and beliefs of others, as we respect the people who don’t have beliefs or religions."
Sheikh Malek Zeidan, a Sydney-based senior Lebanese cleric and a signatory to the statement, told SBS Arabic24: “Everyone makes a mistake; humans are built to make mistakes.”
“Insulting religion is a big mistake and a condemned act. We met as Muslim and Christian religious leaders and we strongly condemned this so it won’t be repeated again, from him or from anyone else who insult religious symbols,” he said.
“We have ethics and we are polite, so we forgive and forget who makes mistakes, maybe they will stop this and come back to their senses.”
Other signatories included Reverend Father Matthew Attia, Metropolitan Basilios Kodseie, Archbishop Amel Nona, Bishop Robert Rabbat, Sheikh Yahya Safi, Very Rev Fr Tadros Simon and Sheikh Youssef Nabha.
