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William YeomanThe West Australian Perth's Catholic Archbishop Timothy Costelloe believes that while it is not his role to interfere in politics or society, he can offer a valuable

perspective on issues that affect us all. "It can be very tricky," he said. "My role is to be a centre of unity for the Catholic people of Perth, to be a spiritual leader.

"But we don't separate religion from the rest of life, so the role of archbishop is caught up with the whole adventure of living our lives as human beings. "What I can offer

as a spokesperson for the Church is the gift of our faith and the perspective that brings to important social and cultural issues that challenge all of us, with respect for the pluralistic

society in which we live." The Melbourne-born son of "good average Catholics" and a former teacher, Archbishop Costelloe was installed as Perth's sixth Archbishop in

March 2012, succeeding Archbishop Barry Hickey. He admits his appointment came as a surprise. "My name was being bandied about, but so was every other assistant bishop's in the

country," he said. "So I didn't take it too seriously." He said it was probably a previous Perth connection that got him over the line. In 1996 he was appointed parish

priest of St Joachim's in Victoria Park, also lecturing in theology at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle. "I hadn't factored that in," he said. "Hence my

surprise." Since then, Archbishop Costelloe has proved adept at measured yet eloquent responses to everything from the corporal punishment of children and euthanasia to the MH17

tragedy. But he is also acutely aware that in some areas the Church needs to get its own house in order. After the release in December of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to

Child Sexual Abuse's two-year activity report, he supported its warning the vow of celibacy may have contributed to decades of child sex abuse by priests and clergy. "A concern

for young people is why I'm so determined to confront the issue of sexual abuse," he said. "It's such a terrible thing and it's part of my role to help all of us in

the Church confront this terrible reality and to do what we can, both to help and to heal the victims of this awful thing but also to make sure that we're putting into place everything

that we can to make sure that this isn't part of our future. "Unfortunately and tragically it's a part of our past. It mustn't be a part of our future." Indeed, the

future of the Catholic Church in the modern world is also something that occupies Archbishop Costelloe's thoughts much of the time. "We live in a beautiful city and a fantastic

country where there's so much to be positive and proud about," he said. "But it is a fact that society generally seems to be heading in a direction that presents more and more

challenges to the traditional Christian understanding of what life is about." He said the key was balance. "Pope Francis encourages us to be a little bit adventurous, saying

he'd rather we made some mistakes than we bunker down and retreat into ourselves or into our past," Archbishop Costelloe said. "How to be faithful and yet be able to

communicate the beauty and value of what we believe in a contemporary world - that's the challenge." GET THE LATEST NEWS FROM THEWEST.COM.AU IN YOUR INBOX. Sign up for our emails