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Eradicating Human Trafficking |
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Friday, 19 September 2008 |
 Pauline Coll sgs, National Chair, Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH), presented an informative session in Canberra on Wednesday evening. Pauline, together with Jennifer Burn, Senior Lecturer in Law, UTS and Mary Mooney csb are currently in Canberra to lobby Members of Parliament regarding the plight of women and men being trafficked in Australia. Their two main aims of the week-long Canberra trip are to lobby for changes to the visa regulations applied to people who are trafficked and to ensure adequate services are provided once a person has been recognized as trafficked.
During Pauline’s talk she challenged all of us to be involved in eradicating human trafficking. She suggested we can do this by:
- Educating yourself – learn more about the issue
- Educate others – talk to your friends about it
- Become and Anti-Trafficking lobbyist – write a letter
or sign a petition
- Shop Fair Trade – purchase your gifts, tea, coffee
and chocolate from Fair Trade outlets
- Look at the following websites
for more information and suggested actions:
- http://www.catholicreligiousaustralia.org/41
- www.antislavery.org.au
- www.goodshepherd.com.au/justice/trafficking.html
- www.thetradingcircle.com.au
- www.fta.org.au
- www.fairwear.org.au
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Young Catholic Women’s Interfaith Fellowship |
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Friday, 12 September 2008 |
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In recent months we have advertised the Young Catholic Women’s Interfaith Fellowship through many Catholic networks. Ten fellowships are available to young Catholic women aged mid-20s to mid-30s who are interested in ecumenical or interfaith relations and who have completed a first degree or equivalent.
Previous recipients of the fellowship have commented that this experience has changed their lives in a significant way. Women from a variety of places throughout Australia and varied occupations have welcomed the opportunity to engage in a program that allows them to use new skills in their parishes, communities and workplaces.
Applications close on the 19 September.
Please contact Ruth Durick osu on 0262019864 or
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for more information about the program.
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Friday, 12 September 2008 |
On Monday the General Forum was held in Canberra at the Australian Catholic Bishops
Conference Secretariat. The General Forum is made up of heads of
agencies, directors of offices and executive secretaries connected with the
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
It is an opportunity to hear of the work of the agencies and commissions
in the hope of overcoming the silo-effect that can so easily occur in large
organizations. It also provides a chance
to discuss issues affecting all offices.
Richard Leonard
SJ celebrated mass at St Patrick’s, Braddon for members of the General Forum and gave a wonderful homily
for the The Birthday of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. Richard has kindly
allowed us to include his homily in this week’s newsletter. For those of you who are familiar with the
passion and animation with which Richard speaks, you will have to use your
imagination on this occasion.
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Women Scholars at Oct Synod on the Word of God |
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Friday, 12 September 2008 |
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The Vatican has been praised by the American Catholic Lobby group, FutureChurch, for choosing women biblical scholars and women specialists to serve as experts at the October Synod on the Word of God.
FutureChurch seeks to raise awareness about the invisibility of women's biblical leadership and experience in Church preaching and scripture proclamation.
In an article by Ruth Fox OSB , the role of women in the bible and the lectionary is discussed.
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Mary: Friend, Companion and Mother of the Poor |
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Tuesday, 09 September 2008 |
The Birthday of Our Lady enables us to reflect on what a powerful ally we have in Mary, the mother of the Lord. Some people think that devotion to Mary has had its day, others think she is given far too much attention, so let’s look again at what Mary has to us, now.
Let me tell you a story.
On the 15th August 1975 the entire parish council of a village outside the capital of Chile was arrested by the military police. For months the villagers tried to find out where the men had gone and why they had been taken away. Abduction, torture and illegal imprisonment were daily realities for Chilean people under General Pinochet.
Word arrived in November that the corpses of the parish councilors could be found in Santiago’s morgue. My cousin, Catherine, an Australian nun working in that parish, took the mothers of the eight men to the morgue. Catherine later wrote to me, “there were over 300 corpses piled high on each other and the mother’s had to roll someone else’s son over in an attempt to find their own.”
As the mothers searched they began to weep loudly realizing how evil we can be toward one another. As they wept they prayed the rosary. As one mother, and then another, found her son, they called out more desperately, “Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.”
Catherine’s letter continued, “For years I rejected devotion to Mary because I felt oppressed by the way generations of men in the Church presented her – blue veils, white skin, always smiling, a perpetual virgin and yet also a mother, an ideal I could never achieve, but one to which I was told I should aspire. In the experience of the village mothers, however, the distortions of who Mary was for a poor and suffering world faded away. Far from feeling distant from their devotion, I found myself praying with them, knowing that Mary was with us in our shock, anger and grief. One of the women told me, on the way home, that Mary knows what it’s like to bring a child into the world and claim his dead body in her arms.” ... ...
Richard Leonard SJ
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Council for Australian Catholic Women |
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Friday, 05 September 2008 |
On Friday the Council for Australian Catholic Women
held their meeting. During the meeting
the council discussed the following issues:
- Celebrations
for the 10th anniversary of Woman
and Man One in Christ Jesus
which occurs next year.
- Critical
reflection of World Youth Day especially in relation to inclusive
practices,
language and the dignity of all human beings.
- A
proposal to visit the Diocese of Darwin in 2009.
The CACW welcomed Natalie L’Huillier and Jo Armour OP
to their first meeting as new council members.
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Friday, 05 September 2008 |
 A highlight of my week was the opportunity to gather
with about 45 women in the Ursuline Community of Ashbury. This evening was a gathering to remember
women throughout the world who are enslaved: those women who are trafficked, who
work in factories for unjust wages; for women who are exploited in any way and
for all women who are longing for more than life is offering at the moment.
For the past 6 years women having been gathering at The Piazza to pray, to reflect and to
learn from the wisdom of each other.
Leone Pallisier OSU and her community have provided these opportunities
for women to come together to explore issues and scripture while sharing a
meal.
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Friday, 22 August 2008 |
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Yesterday the OPW teleforum program
commenced with Sr Margaret Cameron OP delivering an inspiring talk on an experience of empowering lay leadership
in parishes. Within Margaret’s
address she spoke of the need for all the baptized to take up their rightful
place in the Church to promote the reign of God. She suggested a key to the success of lay
leadership was sound formation. Margaret
made a point of saying “leadership was for everyone”. All gifts that people offer are
significant to the mission of the Church.
Engagement of the people where they took on the ownership and leadership
of the community was crucial to greater participation.
The conversation that followed Margaret’s
talk was most enlightening where participants had the opportunity to share
their own experiences of success in promoting lay leadership.
Thank you to Margaret for preparing such an
electric talk and for the contribution all participants made to the
teleforum. The next teleforum will be
held on 16 October with Trish Madigan OP providing an insight into what’s
happening in Interfaith Relations.
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CAPS Conference: Ageing and Spirituality |
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Thursday, 21 August 2008 |
 This week the CAPS (Centre for Ageing and Pastoral Studies, St Mark’s Theological College) 4th National Conference was held in Canberra. Titled, Ageing and Spirituality – A diversity of faiths and cultures this conference brought together healthcare professionals, pastoral caregivers, authors, mangers of aged care facilities and people interested in the quality care and spirituality of the aged in our community.
Elizabeth MacKinley, director of the Centre for Ageing and Pastoral Studies, opened the conference with a paper titled Friends and Neighbours: Pastoral Care and Ageing in Christian Perspectives. Elizabeth stated that,
The basis for pastoral care is not so much a specific faith or religion, but an attitude to life and thus to other people. This attitude is exemplified in the life and work of Jesus. The basis for pastoral care is love. Being a neighbour to others, who may be strangers is a way of reaching out in love to care for others. Neighbours may become friends.
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Friday, 08 August 2008 |
 Recently the Adelaide Council for Australian Catholic Women held a gathering for women at the Sophia Centre in Adelaide. As you walk into this circular building you immediately experience an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility. Functionality is blended successfully with beauty. Interesting and eye-catching artwork is displayed on the white cement walls. As you pull the blinds open your eyes are drawn to a gorgeous herb garden. The list of “what’s happening” indicates that this is a well used and welcome centre on the Adelaide landscape.
The gathering of women from a variety of places throughout the Archdiocese of Adelaide provided an opportunity to inform those gathered what’s been happening in the Office for the Participation of Women. It also allowed the participants to consider what the priorities are for promoting the participation of women in the Archdiocese.
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Micah Challenge Australia |
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Tuesday, 05 August 2008 |
Part of a global movement of Christian agencies, churches, groups and individuals inspiring and equipping Christians to speak out against poverty and injustice. The Micah Challenge has many programs to raise awareness of poverty including:
Lucky to be alive – how poverty robs women and children of health and life which focuses on Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.
Goal 4 – reduce child mortality by 2/3
Goal 5 – reduce by 2/3 the number of women dying in childbirth
For more on the Micah Challenge go to http://www.micahchallenge.org.au/
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