i-witness: young people & justice

i-witness: young people & justice 11 Oct 2009

i-witness: young people & justice is an Archdiocesan Youth Festival which will celebrate this year’s Social Justice Sunday Statement, And You Will Be My Witnesses: Young People and Justice. The Catholic Justice & Peace Commission and the Archdiocesan Commission for Ministry with Young People have collaborated to develop a creative, festive, informative, hope-filled event, bringing together social justice groups, young people and those who work with young people from across the Archdiocese.

Please help us promote what promises to be an inspirational and uplifting event for all involved.

L’Arche Spirituality

L’Arche Brisbane will host a soup and bread night at which Eileen Glass will speak about the spirituality of L’Arche. It will be held at Justice Place, 5 Abingdon Street, Woolloongabba, on Thursday 13 August, 5.30 – 7.30 p.m. Please RSVP by 10 August to 3217 3011. L’Arche is an international movement of communities in which people with disability participate and live. To find out more about L’Arche, go to http://www.larche.org.au/

Social Justice Sunday 2009

Social Justice Sunday

Social Justice Sunday is 27 September. The Bishops’ Social Justice Sunday Statement is titled And You Will Be My Witnesses: Young People and Justice. It deals with a number of issues affecting young people including the disadvantage of young Indigenous people, unemployment, the difficulties faced by young people with mental health problems, issues for survivors of abuse, global poverty and the environment. It will be launched in mid-September. A summary and order forms are now available at http://www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au/

Papua Human Rights Visit

Julianus Septer Manufandu will be the guest of the Commission and Just Peace at a presentation on the human right situation in West Papua on Monday 24 August at 6 p.m. at Justice Place, 5 Abingdon Street, Woolloongabba. Mr Manufandu is currently Executive Secretary of the Papua NGOs Cooperation Association. He was formerly Director of YALHIMO which is a foundation focussing on forestry management, human rights abuses and the interests of indigenous people. Please RSVP to arndtp@bne.catholic.net.auor ring 3336 9173

Global church action for peace in Middle East

Wednesday, 28 May 2008
By ENI

Jerusalem (Judith Sudilovsky), 16 May 2008:
Church groups in about 100 countries will join together in demonstrating their concern for peace in the Middle East as part of a global week of action for Middle East peace led by the World Council of Churches, and supported by Roman Catholic groups.

“The action of international churches makes it more encouraging for local churches in their struggle for freedom and human dignity,” said Yusef Daher, executive secretary of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Centre. “It is also encourages us to do more locally.”

The week of “International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel 2008″ takes place from 4-10 June. It is the third year such an action week has taken place.

Pax Christi International, the Catholic peace organization, helped plan the week, and requested its 100 member organizations around the world to take part.

World Vision International as well as churches in Germany, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Hungary are taking part for the first time, the WCC said in a statement issued on 15 May, the day after the 60th anniversary of the declaration of Israeli independence.

Separately, the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, noted the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians over the past 60 years had been marked by deepening divisions, exclusion, hatred and brutal violence. This “can never secure a sustainable peace for either community”, he said.

In a letter to Israel’s President Shimon Peres made public on 16 May, Noko said peace could only be achieved through a dialogue that does not exclude any one. He said the official Israeli refusal to talk to Palestinian party Hamas, and Hamas’ refusal to recognise the State of Israel both lead to the “the same dead-end”.

Activities planned for the church peace action week include a multi-cultural peace service in Oslo with Arabic and Jewish music, a “human clock” counting off 60 years in Bethlehem, study sessions in Sri Lankan parishes, and children affected by violence in the Philippines writing to their Palestinian counterparts.

A common prayer for the week, sent out by the heads of churches in Jerusalem, asks that God “send us leaders ready to dedicate their lives to a just peace for their peoples”.

The prayer says, “In the land you made holy, free all of us from the sin of hatred and killing. Free the souls and hearts of Israelis and Palestinians from this sin.”

Daher said that in reciting the common prayer and other prayers for peace the local churches try to “keep a good balance” of praying for all three religions – Jews, Christians, and Muslims – and two peoples, Israelis and Palestinians. “We always pray for the benefit of all humans no matter their religion, but usually we ask more for the weakest,” he said.

For more about the initiative on the WCC website, click here.

To find out about Australian initiatives connected with the Week, click here.

To download the Jerusalem Prayer (pdf, 81 KB), click here.

The Apology: Resources

The Church & Justice

Whenever the truth has been suppressed by governments and their agencies or even by Christian communities, the wrongs done to the indigenous peoples need to be honestly acknowledged. The Synod supported the establishment of “Truth Commissions”, where these can help resolve historical injustices and bring about reconciliation within the wider community or the nation. The past cannot be undone, but honest recognition of past injustices can lead to measures and attitudes which will help to rectify the damaging effects for both the indigenous community and the wider society. The Church expresses deep regret and asks forgiveness where her children have been or still are party to these wrongs. Aware of the shameful injustices done to indigenous peoples in Oceania, the Synod Fathers apologized unreservedly for the part played in these by members of the Church, especially where children were forcibly separated from their families.     Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia in Oceania, 2001

Bringing Them Home

Today, the Parliament of Australia offers a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.  This edition of JusticE-mail is dedicated to information and resources on this historic occasion.   In part, the apology reads:   For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry, To the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.   To read the full text of today’s apology, click here.

First Step

The Commission has joined with other Church and community bodies to welcome this momentous step on the path to reconciliation but it also urged the Government to re-consider its decision to rule out compensation to members of the Stolen Generations.  To read the Commission’s media release on the matter, go to http://cjpcbrisbane.wordpress.com/

HREOC Resources

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has produced a range of resources for the community, schools, journalists and historians, supporting HREOC’s watershed Bringing them home report of 1997. The resources include Us Taken-Away Kids, a magazine launched in late 2007 commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Bringing them home report. The magazine represents artwork and stories from members of the ‘Stolen Generations’ throughout Australia, and serves as a testament to the resilience of Aboriginal people and their ability to triumph in the face of despair. There is also the recently – updated Bringing them home education module: Learning about the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and their families ; which has additional activities that complement the Us Taken-Away Kids magazine, and of course the Bringing them home report itself.  HREOC’s online resources also include: * the Bringing them home report Community Guide (1997); * Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the ’stolen children’ and the Inquiry; * personal stories from the report; * the Sorry FAQ by Reconciliation Australia; * content of apologies by state and territory Parliaments; and * ‘From Dispossession to Reconciliation’ by John Gardiner-Garden, Australian Parliamentary Library Research Paper series (1999). All resources can be located here.

Mythbusters

Online activists, Get Up, have organised a campaign to challenge the myths surrounding the forcible removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families.  They are asking for your help to challenge these myths and, as part of their campaign, they have produced a fact sheet to help you to challenge these myths. Go to http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/Mythbusters/

Taking Action

While it is important for us to mark this special day with rituals and celebrations, it is also vital that we continue to encourage governments to implement the recommendations of the Bringing Them Home Report.   To read the recommendations and many other resources on the issue and to find out what action you can take, go to the site of the National Sorry Day Committee http://www.nsdc.org.au/

Welcome

This blog promotes religious and community events that promote justice peace and ecologiacl awareness.