For Reflection "...nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2: 4). Anzac Day has come to be considered one of the most sacred days in the year for many Australians, honouring the sacrifice of those who gave their lives so that others could live in peace… Read More »ANZAC Day
Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv is the first Vietnamese born bishop to lead a diocese outside of Vietnam and the first Vietnamese born bishop in Australia. He was born in 1961 in Dong Nai in Vietnam. Since the fall of Saigon in 1975, his family has been dispersed. In 1984, Vincent Long became… Read More »2016: Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen appointed Bishop of Parramatta
250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have endorsed the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart after an exhaustive and comprehensive two-year consultation process around Australia that was designed and led by Aboriginal people. Targeted structural change is called for through the Statement by establishing an ongoing First Nations Voice to Parliament, and a Makarrata Commission ‘to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history’. In 1967, Aboriginal people were counted as citizens of their own nation. Today, they seek to be fully heard, to walk with others, and to build a better future for all Australians.
Sorry Day has been observed since 1998, one year after the Bringing Them Home report was presented in the Australian Federal Parliament. This report detailed the impact of the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. Sorry Day offers an opportunity to reflect on the hardship faced when children were… Read More »National Sorry Day
This year marks the 29th anniversary of the Mabo Decision where six out of seven High Court judges agreed that the Meriam people held traditional ownership of the lands of Mer in the Torres Strait. Eddie Koiki Mabo successfully argued that his family’s ancestral land was not owned by the Crown. This landmark decision in the High Court of Australia overturned ‘terra nullius’, an understanding that Australia was empty land belonging to no one before British occupation.