1971: Synod of Bishops' Statement "Justice in the World"
2021-11-30 00:00 - 23:59 (Australia/Sydney)
The Post Synodal Statement of the 1971 Synod of Bishops contains some of the most quoted words in the body of modern Catholic Social Teaching:

“Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.” Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World, Introduction,1971.

Action

Remember or research what the world was like in 1971. What were the most important messages of Justice in the World at that time, and what does it say to us today?

Read this introduction to Justice in the World. Identify and reflect on what struck you or surprised you.

1961: First raising of the Morning Star flag, West Papua
2021-12-01 00:00 - 23:59
On this day in 1961 the West Papuan national flag, the Morning Star was first raised.

The flag was raised by West Papuan legislators who had been promised independence by then-colonial ruler, the Netherlands.

Although the Netherlands’ commitment did not come to fruition, the flag prepared for an independent West Papua continues to be a symbol of the desire for self-determination and independence for the West Papuan people.

2021 marks the 60th anniversary of the first flag raising.

In 1962 Indonesia invaded West Papua, an act later recognised by the United Nations General Assembly in 1969. Since then, the raising of the Morning Star flag has been treated as a criminal offense. It is a symbol of the ongoing struggle for West Papuan independence.

On this day each year marches, prayer services and flag raising ceremonies are held to commemorate the first raising of the West Papuan national flag, the Bintang Kejora or Morning Star.

This year there are concerns over violence in the area.

Peter Anrdt, Executive Officer of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Brisbane spoke to ABC Radio National News in early November.

Listen to his interview

Action

Find out more about the history of West Papua here.

Visit the website of the Pacific Conference of Churches to find out about their latest actions in solidarity with the people of West Papua.

And visit the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) which has a wealth of resources on human rights in West Papua: https://www.humanrightspapua.org/

Find out more at West Papua Flag Day

1976: Appointment of Sir Douglas Nicholls as Governor of South Australia, first Aboriginal person to hold vice-regal office
2021-12-01 00:00 - 23:59
“A trailblazer who won hearts around the nation, the achievements of Sir Douglas Nicholls KCVO OBE JP are many and varied, taking in the fields of sport, politics and social justice. He broke new ground — as the first Indigenous Australian to receive a knighthood in 1972, and the first to be appointed to vice-regal office, when he became Governor of South Australia in 1976.” Aboriginal Victoria, Sir Douglas Nicholls KCVO OBE JP: A Trailblazer Who Won Hearts Around the Nation

2000: 350,000 people walk for reconciliation in Melbourne and Perth
2021-12-02 00:00 - 23:59
The Melbourne walk, starting at Flinders Street Station and finishing at King’s Domain gardens, drew as many as 300,000 people.

The bridge walk and similar events across Australia were enormously important in showing that public sentiment was moving towards support for more concrete steps in the reconciliation process. Though the event was organised by Aboriginal people those taking part were from all sections of the Australian community.

Importantly, the walks were not a protest but a peaceful demonstration that reflected a shift in the public mood and a growing awareness of the importance of reconciliation and a need for a national apology.

Walk for reconciliation, National Museum Australia

For reflection

Did you, or someone you know, participate in a walk for reconciliation? How did you / they feel that day? And how do you / they feel about action for reconciliation now?

Tewnty years later, how might we take up and support the Uluru Statement from the Heart?

2000: Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Final Report presented
2021-12-04 00:00 - 23:59
At the end of the year 2000, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation handed its final report to the national Parliament at a ceremonial event at Parliament House in Canberra. This letter contained in the full report provides an overview of the decade-long work of the Council and a way forward for the nation to achieve reconciliation.

Read the full report at the Australian Legal Information Institute.

Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus)
2021-12-06 00:00 - 23:59
Children all over the world know him and love him. In Germany, he’s Kriss Kringle. In France, he’s Pere Noel. British children call him Father Christmas. Of course, you know him as Santa Claus.

He’s got another name – it’s an ancient one that goes back hundreds of years. It’s one of the very first names people called him: St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra which is in the country we now call Turkey. Nicholas was loved for one reason. He loved. He loved God and God’s people so much that he would do anything for them.

St. Nicholas showed his gratitude for God’s gifts by giving to others. What gifts can your family share with those in need?

Source: Loyola Press.

1965: Vatican II Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes ('Joys and Hopes')
2021-12-07 00:00 - 23:59
Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, December 7, 1965

The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Gaudium et Spes, 1.

The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 7 December 1965. Read an introduction to Gaudium et Spes here.

This important document emphasised a theology of Christian mission, describing the church as “leaven in the world” (Gaudium et Spes, 40). The church was called to play an active part in shaping the wider world, offering the gift of Christ in dialogue with all people in a collaborative model. All Christians, by virtue of their baptism, were invited and empowered to proclaim the Gospel by their lives and their living. This call to holiness was not reserved only for some but open to all, with the strong formation of Christian conscience considered a primary consideration and need.

Gaudium et Spes calls Christians to an integrated life that sees the match of word and deed in their dealings in both public and private spheres. The document stands against a form of religion that creates any artificial split between worship and mission. It names the best way to fulfil the obligations of justice and love as people contributing to the common good; this leads to better living conditions for all people, especially those most in need (Gaudium et Spes 25, 30, 43, 75). The dignity and value of the human person is central (26, 27).

On the other hand, the right of having a share of earthly goods sufficient for oneself and one’s family belongs to everyone. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church held this opinion, teaching that all are obliged to come to the relief of the poor and to do so not merely out of their superfluous goods. If one is in extreme necessity, they have the right to procure for themselves what they need out of the riches of others. Since there are so many people prostrate with hunger in the world, this sacred council urges all, both individuals and governments, to remember the aphorism of the Fathers, “Feed the person dying of hunger, because if you have not fed them, you have killed them,” and really to share and employ their earthly goods, according to the ability of each, especially by supporting individuals or peoples with the aid by which they may be able to help and develop themselves. Gaudium et Spes, 69

Image: Jonathon Peterssen via Pexels.com

1992: Redfern Speech by Prime Minister Paul Keating
2021-12-10 00:00 - 23:59
“It begins, I think with that act of recognition. Recognition that it was we who did the dispossessing. We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases. The alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practised discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice.” – Former Prime Minister Paul Keating, Redfern Speech, 1992

On 10 December 1992, Prime Minister Paul Keating delivered a speech to the large crowd gathered in Redfern Park for the launch of the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. It was a historic moment for Australia. In his speech, Keating explicitly acknowledged the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. It was the first time a prime minister spoke about the dispossession, violence and prejudice perpetrated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Read Paul Keating’s Speech Transcript via ANTAR’s website.

1948: Adoption of United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
2021-12-10 00:00 - 23:59
Celebrate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by reading a simplified version [PDF ] or the illustrated booklet of the Declaration, or watching the Declaration in sign languages.

1831: Founding of Sisters of Mercy by Catherine McAuley
2021-12-12 00:00 - 23:59
Catherine McAuley was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1778. In 1824 she used her inheritance from an Irish couple she had served for twenty years to build a large House of Mercy where she and other lay women would shelter homeless women, reach out to the sick and dying and educate poor girls. The House on Baggot Street opened in 1827. To give these efforts greater stability, Catherine and her co-workers founded a new religious congregation. On 12 December 1831, she and two others professed their vows as the first Sisters of Mercy. Before her death on 11 November 1841, Catherine founded convents and works of mercy throughout Ireland and England.

Source: Mercy International Association

1993: Passage of Native Title Bill by the Australian Senate
2021-12-21 00:00 - 23:59
The Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA) is a law passed by the Australian Parliament that recognises the rights and interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in land and waters according to their traditional laws and customs. It established a process for claiming and recognising native title lands and waters in Australia. The NTA aims to balance Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples’ rights to land, and sets out how native title rights and interests fit within Australian law.

1901: Enactment of Immigration Restriction Act (White Australian Policy)
2021-12-23 00:00 - 23:59
At the end of the 19th century, Australian colonies had concerns about who was migrating to Australia. With a rise in the number of migrants from China and the Pacific, many colonies passed tough immigration legislation. The Immigration Restriction Act was one of the first Commonwealth laws passed after Federation. It was based on the existing laws of the colonies. The aim of the law was to limit non-white (particularly Asian) immigration to Australia, to help keep Australia ‘British’. The ‘White Australia Policy’ was not fully removed until 1972.

1996: Wik High Court decision
2021-12-23 00:00 - 23:59
In The Wik Peoples v The State of Queensland & Ors; The Thayorre People v The State of Queensland & Ors [1996] HCA 40 (‘Wik’), the High Court held that native title rights could coexist on land held by pastoral leaseholders. The High Court decided that:

– a pastoral lease does not necessarily confer rights of exclusive possession on the pastoralist– the rights and obligations of the pastoralist depend on the terms of the lease and the law under which it was granted; – the mere grant of a pastoral lease does not necessarily extinguish any remaining native title rights– if there is any inconsistency between the rights of the native title holders and the rights of the pastoralist, the rights of the native title holders must yield.

1987: Pope John Paul II's encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis ('On Social Concerns')
2021-12-30 00:00 - 23:59
“Pope John Paul II’s 1987 social encyclical Sollicitudo rei Socialis marks the twentieth anniversary of Populorum Progressio. Sollicitudo rei Socialis is also known by the English title On Social Concerns. It was the first major Catholic Social Teaching document to mark the anniversary of a social encyclical other than Rerum Novarum.” Source: Social Spirituality

Read an introduction to Sollicitudo rei Socialis

Read full text of Sollicitudo Rei Socialis

1901 Foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia
2022-01-01 00:00 - 23:59

1977 First loans offered by Grameen Bank
2022-01-03 00:00 - 23:59
The Grameen Bank was founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. In 2006 he won a Nobel Peace Prize for this work.

The Grameen Bank, known as the ‘bank for the poor’, reversed conventional banking practice by removing the need for collateral. It created a banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity. Yunus reasons that credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the over all development of socio-economic conditions of the poor. Find out more here.

1994 Native Title Act
2022-01-05 00:00 - 23:59
1994: Commencement of the Native Title Act

1946 First UN General Assembly Opens
2022-01-10 00:00 - 23:59
Fifty one nations were represented at the opening of the first General Assembly of the United Nations in 1946. You can find out about the resolutions of this General Assembly here.

1959 Pope John XXIII announces intention to convoke the Second Vatican Council
2022-01-25 00:00 - 23:59

Australia Day / Survival Day
2022-01-26 00:00 - 23:59
2021 Australia Day Reflection from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council

“We find ourselves pondering whether Australia will ever be the same after COVID-19? It might be more useful to ask whether it should be the same after the pandemic. Australia can continue to learn from the challenges of the virus and embrace the gifts of First Nation’s Culture to make it a better place for all.

Whilst we should be talking about these things all year, Australia Day is often the trigger for discussions around moving the date, what our Country stands for or changing the National Anthem. For the record:

– Yes, we should change the date to May 27 (the day that Australia voted to grant citizenship to us Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and to remove us from under the Fauna and Flora Act in 1967),

– Australia should stand for equality, respect, and compassion for all and,

– Yes, the National Anthem should be representative of all.”

Read more of NATSICC’s 2021 Australia Day Reflection here. Drawing on wisdom from the experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities in dialogue with Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching, it offers four recommendations:

1. After suffering together through the pandemic, Australians should forge forwards with humble hearts and a unity of mind and armed with a renewed sense of equality and care for one another.

2. Continue to empower and acknowledge the dignity and worth of individuals, created equally in the image of God, through the extension of assistance schemes and the provision of a living wage.

3. All Australians should acknowledge, in our actions and in legislation, that Elders/Old People are valuable and contributing members of society and that we are responsible to care for and love them – just as they did for us.

4. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander gifts, skills, and knowledge to be utilised for the betterment of First Nations Peoples and Australia as a whole.

“As we enter 2021 with a sense of hope and ‘rebirth’ we ask that, for the first time in post-colonial history, Australians stand together to lift one another up. Stand alongside the Traditional Custodian. Stand alongside the migrant striving for a better life. Stand alongside the grandmother that has lived through so much. We are much stronger, and much better when we are together.” 2021 Australia Day Reflection, NATSICC.

In 2019 the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) first publicly joined calls for the date of Australia Day to be changed. They explained:

The 26th of January 1788 was not a day of celebration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nor was it for the passengers upon the first fleet – a mix of prisoners and military personnel. Perhaps it is time that we rethink the date upon which our nation comes together as one to recognise and acknowledge the gifts that God has provided in our great southern land. For the past year, those that sit upon the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council have asked their community, peers, friends and fellow Catholics if they celebrate Australia Day. The resounding response was no. That answer was not followed by hatred or vitriol, it was simply that they felt it was not meant for them nor was it mindful of the hurt experienced by Australia’s First People. For many, the opportunity to spend the day with family and friends is appreciated and our people understand and respect the pride that some Australians have for the day, however the foundation of unity and inclusiveness is just not there.Celebrating our nation on a day that harbors grief, invokes painful memories and ignores the true history of our society just doesn’t make sense. Given that the day has been celebrated on various dates and under different names in the past 100 years, what will be lost by moving the date? National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council, 2019.

For Reflection

Key points from NATSICC’s statement:

A majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics feel that Australia Day is not for them.NATSICC endorses the call to change the date of Australia Day and suggests 27 May as a starting point for conversation. A ‘True History’ educational program should accompany Australia Day to educate and promote understanding of the story of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Every Catholic School in Australia should teach this history. The next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are carrying lots of pain and anger because of things like Australia Day. Something must change!

1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy Established in Canberra
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1939 Cumeragunja Mission Walk-off
2022-02-04 00:00 - 23:59
In 1939 the Aboriginal people walked off Cumeragunja Mission in New South Wales in protest at living conditions and restrictions.

Cape York Peninsula Heads of Agreement Signed
2022-02-05 00:00 - 23:59

1973: Woodward Royal Commission into Land Rights
2022-02-08 00:00 - 23:59
On this day in 1973 the Woodward Royal Commission into Land Rights in the Northern Territory was established. The Central Land Council situate this event in its historical context here.

1965: Freedom Ride in Australia Begins
2022-02-12 00:00 - 23:59
A group of Sydney University students organised a bus tour through western and coastal New South Wales towns in 1965. As the National Museum of Australia website explains:

Their purpose was threefold. The students planned to draw public attention to the poor state of Aboriginal health, education and housing. They hoped to point out and help to lessen the socially discriminatory barriers which existed between Aboriginal and white residents. And they also wished to encourage and support Aboriginal people themselves to resist discrimination. The students had formed into a body called Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA) in 1964 to plan this trip and ensure media coverage.

Charles Perkins, an Arrente man born in Alice Springs, who was a third year arts student at the university, was elected president of SAFA. The group included Ann Curthoys who would later write a history of these events, Jim Spigelman who would later become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and Darce Cassidy, an arts student who was also a part-time reporter for the ABC.

Source: https://indigenousrights.net.au/civil_rights/freedom_ride,_1965

2005: Murder of Sr Dorothy Stang in Brazil
2022-02-12 00:00 - 23:59

2008: Apology to the Stolen Generation by the Australian Government
2022-02-13 00:00 - 23:59
On this day Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to Indigenous Australians, and especially the Stolen Generation, for past government policies of removing First Nations children from their families. The National Museum of Australia explains here how the journey to a national apology began with the Bringing Them Home Report.

Watch the apology in the video below.

2015: Death of Faith Bandler AC
2022-02-13 00:00 - 23:59
Faith Bandler AC, activist for Indigenous and South Sea Islander rights, passed away on this day in 2005. An obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald highlighted her achievements:

Faith Bandler changed people’s hearts and minds in support of human rights and social justice. Her smile, no doubt, helped. The National Trust listed her as a national living treasure in 1997 and the Herald, in 2001, included her among the 100 most influential Australians of the 20th century. The Good Weekend, in 2011, included her in a list of 50 women considered the most influential in the world.

Her greatest achievement was her 10-year campaign for Aboriginal rights leading to the 1967 referendum which changed the Constitution and included Aborigines in the census. She worked for Aboriginal education and housing, was a founding member of the Women’s Electoral Lobby and the Australian Republican Movement, campaigned for the rights of South Sea Islanders and wrote six books, including Wacvie (1977), a biographical novel about her father.

Read the full text here.

1958: Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders established
2022-02-16 00:00 - 23:59

2014: Murder of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Barati in offshore immigration detention on Manus Island
2022-02-17 00:00 - 23:59
Today we remember twenty three year old asylum seeker Reza Barati who was killed in riots at the Regional Processing Centre (RPC) on Manus Island. A Senate Committee inquiry later found that the Australian Government had failed in its duty to protect him, and other asylum seekers, from harm. Here is an extract from the conclusions of the Committee.

8.5 In summary, the committee has found that the events of 16 to 18 February 2014 at the Manus Island RPC were eminently foreseeable, and may have been prevented if transferees had been given a clear pathway for the assessment of their asylum claims. Many of the problems at the centre had their origins in the events of July to October 2013, when the centre was transformed from a mixed facility into a single adult males facility and experienced a massive influx of new transferees, reaching more than double the initial intended capacity of the centre in the space of approximately 12 weeks. The inability of the centre’s infrastructure to cope with this influx, combined with the complete absence of any clear refugee status determination and resettlement framework to deal with these asylum seekers, created an environment where unrest and transferee protests were the inevitable result. 8.6 It is clear from evidence presented to the committee that the Australian Government failed in its duty to protect asylum seekers including Mr Barati from harm. Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs report

The Manus Island RPC was found to be unconstitutional by the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court in 2016 and was shut in 2017. A number of detainees were transferred to the Bomana Immigration Detention Centre.

In November 2019 a delegation of representatives from the Australian Catholic community traveled to Papua New Guinea to gain a deeper understanding of conditions for asylum seekers there. Read their statement here.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has made a complaint about the conditions of detention in Bomana to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

As SBS News report, Director of the jurisdiction, complementary and cooperation division of the ICC office of the prosecutor, Phakiso Mochochoko has found that the conditions of detention “appear to have constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” Read more here.
