DECEMBER 2013    ISSUE 152

 

Welcome to the monthly news and information briefing from the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, the social justice and human rights agency of the Catholic Church in Australia. This email contains highlights only. The full Briefing is online.

 

FROM THE SECRETARIAT: Advent is a time to think of others

Throughout Advent we are reminded not be distracted by the cares of life or the extravagances of a commercialised 'Xmas', but to prepare for the coming of the Lord and the liberation he brings. It is also the season in which we take stock of our year. It is a time for us to consider not just our personal lives, but the lives of all people. Read more

 

ISSUES: Pope warns on dangers of self-focused interior life

The Holy Father has promulgated his Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World. He describes the great danger in today's consumer-focused world as the 'desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience'. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, he says, there is no longer room for others. Read more 

 

PUBLICATIONS: 2014 Social Justice Diary a great Christmas gift idea!

This includes the dates of significant events, anniversaries and special days which celebrate particular aspects of social justice. It provides a social justice program for the full year and information and ideas for prayer and reflection are included.Read more 

 

EVENTS: International Day of People with Disability (3 December)

We have an opportunity to rise above our own impediments, open our eyes, and see the value and strength within the members of our parish communities that live with a disability. Bishop Terence Brady, Delegate for Disability Issues, Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life, encourages us to recognise that 'each person in our parish community has a gift to share, a story to tell, and a distinctive and unique place in the Body of Christ.' Read more 

 

NEWS: Bishop Hurley says asylum debate shaped by ignorance

The Bishop of Darwin, Eugene Hurley, has said Australia's asylum debate has been largely shaped by ignorance. Bishop Hurley said in November that asylum-seekers are misunderstood, demonised and all too often labelled as queue-jumpers and terrorists. Read more

 

DIARY: Former PM Paul Keating's Redfern Speech

Tuesday 10 December marks the 21st anniversary of former prime minister Paul Keating's speech at Sydney's Redfern Oval to mark the beginning of the International Year of the World's Indigenous People. Although it was not given a lot of media attention at the time, it is now regarded as one of the greatest Australian speeches. Keating was the first Australian Prime Minister to publicly acknowledge to Indigenous Australians that European settlers were responsible for the difficulties Australian Aboriginal communities continued to face: 'We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice.' Read more

 

AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE COUNCIL

PO Box 7246, Alexandria NSW 2015.

Tel: (02) 8306 3499, Fax: (02) 8306 3498,

Email: admin@acsjc.org.au
Website: http://socialjustice.catholic.org.au.

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