The ACBC Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace has signed a letter to Trade Minister Dan Tehan warning him against ignoring the need to waive COVID-19 vaccine monopolies. Intellectual property laws are stifling the global production of vaccines causing huge supply issues for countries and in turn vaccine rates of 7% in some African countries. The Office joins calls for the immediate waiver of these laws at the next World Trade Organisation meeting.
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council has created a new online cultural competency course which provides a foundational knowledge for any Catholic worker, volunteer, Clergy or religious. To be used with engagement with local Traditional Custodians, this cultural competency course is available online and is the first of its kind to be created from a Catholic perspective. All are encouraged to participate.
Over 21 November – 24 November, NATSICC held its first ever online retreat through zoom. Over 120 people participated across the 4 days which included talks from Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green on Caring for Creation, Aunty Dulcie Isaro on Aboriginal culture and spirituality as well as online yarning circles and prayers. The talks and two beautiful prayer reflections are now available online for all the view.
Jesuit Refugee Service – Australia and the University of Western Sydney have released their report on the experience of homelessness and exclusion from housing experienced by people seeking asylum. The report found that the policies of the Federal government forced people seeking asylum into continual financial stress that detrimentally affected people’s ability to have housing, one person even staying in a small room in a car park in exchange for work.
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference invites you to participate in A Day of Pray for Myanmar on 28 November. After decades of violence and trauma, the people of Myanmar they have now been under military rule for most of 2021. An initiative of Pax Christi, the day of prayer will see members of all faiths pray for peace and hope. A liturgy resource has been created and an ecumenical event has been planned for 7.30pm AEDT.
The International Day of People with Disability is on 3 December. The theme for the day is ‘Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world’. Over 4.4 million people in Australia live with a disability and this United Nations observed day aims to increase awareness, understand and acceptance of people with disability and celebrate their achievements.
The Australian Catholic Anti-Slavery Network (ACAN) have released their compendium report from 45 different Catholic agencies called the ACAN Modern Slavery Statements. Over 400 million people are in slavery like conditions, and ACAN has been created to eradicate modern slavery from the supply chains of Australian Catholic agencies, in line with the Pope’s and Federal governments commitment to end modern slavery by 2030.
Today, the World Day of Prayer for the Poor, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announces the launch of the next phase of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. The ACBC Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace has played a key role in its development as a member of the Parishes and Dioceses working group.
In a media statement on 14 October 2021, Bishop Long welcomed the end of the Australian offshore detention program in Papua New Guinea. However durable solutions are needed for those refugees and asylum seekers who do not wish to settle there, and the program continues in Nauru.
Bishop Vincent Long, Chair of the Australian Bishops Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service has written on the Nuclear Submarine deal by the Federal Government with the United States. “The Australian Government’s decision to buy nuclear-powered submarines has brought to the surface once again big questions around how governments should spend money, particularly during a pandemic.”