In the same-sex marriage vote, the bishops have soft-pedalled on sin | David Marr

Church leaders don't want gay people to have sex, let alone get married. So why aren't they saying so?

Where is George Pell when the no case needs him? The vote is tanking. Ahead lies a last-ditch battle in Canberra to safeguard the power of the churches. So much is at stake but the warrior cardinal is out of the picture.

It's a pity. His presence might have made this a more honest contest. Pell has never flinched from voicing what he calls "the hard things of Christ" and near the head of the list for hardliners like him is contempt for homosexuality.