Office For Justice, Ecology and Peace

International Day for Abolition of Slavery
2021-12-02 00:00 - 23:59 (Australia/Sydney)
Slavery is not something from the past. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) more than 40 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery. ‘Modern slavery’ is an umbrella term referring to practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking. These practices place people in situations of exploitation that they cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power.

The Australian Government has enacted laws aimed at stamping out modern slavery, including by eliminating it from the supply chains of Australian businesses and organisations.

Action

Is your organisation required to submit a Modern Slavery Statement? Check out the guidance for entities that are required to submit such statements here.

Did you know that the Archdiocese of Sydney has an Anti-Slavery Taskforce? It provides education, guidance and advice to help Church entities to ensure that they are not unwittingly involved in modern slavery and to meet their legal reporting obligations.

Find out more about the United Nations’ celebration of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.

International Day of People with Disabilities
2021-12-03 00:00 - 23:59
The International Day of People with Disability was introduced by the United Nations in 1992 and has been supported by the Australian Government since 1996. This day aims to increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability, and to celebrate their achievements and contributions. There are 4.4 million Australians with disability. The 2021 theme for IDPWD is Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities: toward an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post-COVID-19 world.

The ACBC Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace has created resources for the day, including prayers, prayers services, information and stories as well as images that can be used for presentations or social media. These resources are available in full here.

Pope Francis highlighted three points in his 2020 message for IDPWD: promoting a culture of life that constantly affirms the dignity of people with disabilities; inclusion that seeks to speak no longer about ‘them’, but rather about ‘us’; and opening active participation to people with disability to support all to belong and to contribute in their communities:

In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples. All the baptised, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelisation. Evangelii Gaudium, 120.

People with disability are part of the Body of Christ. Their voices in any conversations and decisions regarding their lives must be centred and heard: disability advocate Carly Findlay names this as “nothing about us without us.” Justin Glyn SJ links this to the life of the Trinity in communion:

The life of the Kingdom of God, now and in the age to come, is a life of interdependence of all in God. Like God in Trinity, human life is relational. Our gifts supplement the weakness and limitations of others. Impairment – which in the final analysis is the lot of the whole of humanity – reminds us that, for all the beauty of our variegated bodies, we are an interdependent community called into new life in and through a God who has made us for love of God and others whose very essence is relationship. ‘Us’ Not ‘Them’, Catholic Social Justice Series, 2019.

Going Deeper

United Nations international and national resources: https://www.idpwd.com.au

2. Pope Francis’ Message for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 2020:

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2020/documents/papa-francesco_20201203_messaggio-disabilita.html

3. ‘Us’ not ‘Them’: Disability and Catholic Theology and Social Teaching by Justin Glyn SJ:

‘Us’ not ‘Them’: Disability and Catholic Theology and Social Teaching: Catholic Social Justice Series No 83

4. First Peoples Disability Network, Australia: http://fpdn.org.au

5. Growing Inclusion in Schools with Kurt Fearnley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0Ln7efGBDQ

6. Growing Up Disabled in Australia, edited by Carly Findlay:

Growing Up Disabled in Australia

7. Growing Up Disabled in Australia: Carly Findlay and Justin Glyn SJ: https://jesuit.org.au/growing-up-disabled/

8. Growing Up Disabled in Australia: Podcast with Carly Findlay

https://www.artshub.com.au/news/news/carly-findlay-on-centring-disability-in-our-latest-podcast-261927-2369996/

9. Inclusion Australia, the national voice for Australians with intellectual disability: https://www.inclusionaustralia.org.au

10. Speaking Insights Autism Advocacy, Daniel Giles OAM: https://www.speakinginsights.com.au

World Soil Day (WSD)
2021-12-05 00:00 - 23:59
Did you know?*It can take up to 1,000 years to produce just 2-3cm of soil.*Over 33% of the Earth’s soils are already degraded and 90% could become degraded by 2050.*Soil erosion can lead up to a 50% loss in crop yields.

World Soil Day (WSD) is held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.

The date of 5 December was chosen because it corresponds with the official birthday of the late H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand, who was one of the main proponents of this initiative.

International Volunteer Day
2021-12-05 00:00 - 23:59
“The diverse and dynamic role of volunteerism in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals merits strong support from Governments and other stakeholders. On this International Day, I thank volunteers for their efforts to leave no one behind.” – UN Secretary-General António Guterres

International Volunteer Day is a unique chance for volunteers and organizations to celebrate their efforts, to share their values, and to promote their work among their communities, non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, government authorities and the private sector.

International Civil Aviation Day
2021-12-07 00:00 - 23:59
The purpose of International Civil Aviation Day is to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of States, and of the unique role of the International Civil Aviation Organization in helping States to cooperate and realize a truly global rapid transit network at the service of all humanity.

International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide
2021-12-09 00:00 - 23:59
“Where we see people facing systematic discrimination or becoming targets of violence simply because of who they are, because of their identity, we must act – both to defend those at immediate risk and those who could be in jeopardy in the future. By promoting a culture of peace and non-violence that includes respect for diversity and non-discrimination, we can build societies that are resilient to the risk of genocide.” — Secretary-General António Guterres

The purpose of the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide is to raise awareness of the Genocide Convention and its role in combating and preventing the crime of genocide, as defined in the Convention, and to commemorate and honour its victims. In adopting the resolution, without a vote, the 193-member Assembly reiterated the responsibility of each individual State to protect its populations from genocide, which entails the prevention of such a crime, including incitement to it.

International Anti-Corruption Day
2021-12-09 00:00 - 23:59
“On this International Day, I urge people everywhere to continue to work on innovative solutions to win the battle against corruption and to ensure that precious resources serve the peoples of the world.” UN Secretary-General, António Guterres

Corruption is a serious crime that can undermine social and economic development in all societies. No country, region or community is immune. To mark International Anti-Corruption Day, we will leverage the recognition of the multi-year United Against Corruption theme and will continue to support the 2030 Agenda, which forms the backbone of the campaign. In addition, the campaign will also have a youth component.

Human Rights Day
2021-12-10 00:00 - 23:59
“It is clear that social divisions are being replicated online. More worryingly, as essential services continue to shift online, digital inclusion becomes mandatory for basic participation in society. It should therefore be considered a human right. This is especially important in the context of e-government, where the welfare of the most vulnerable is at stake.” Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Social Justice Sunday Statement 2020, p 8.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration affirms that all human beings have inalienable rights as human beings regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. It is available in more than 500 languages, and is one of the most translated documents in the world.

Catholic Social Teaching sees human rights as demands made by our human dignity. Our human rights do not come from the Declaration, but rather from the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of God and each one of us is of inestimable value. The Declaration, together with related human rights conventions, upholds rights that arise from our human dignity.

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.

International Mountain Day
2021-12-11 00:00 - 23:59
International Mountain Day has its roots in the document “Managing Fragile Ecosystems: Sustainable Mountain Development” (called Chapter 13), adopted in 1992 as part of the action plan Agenda 21 of the Conference on Environment and Development.

Mountains are home to 15% of the world´s population and a quarter of the world’s land animals and plants. They provide freshwater for everyday life to half of humanity. Unfortunately, mountains are under threat from climate change and overexploitation. As the global climate continues to warm, mountain people — some of the world’s poorest — face even greater struggles to survive. The rising temperatures also mean that mountain glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates, affecting freshwater supplies downstream for millions of people.

International Migrants Day
2021-12-18 00:00 - 23:59
“All migrants are entitled to equal protection of all their human rights. On this International Day, I urge leaders and people everywhere to bring the Global Compact to life, so that migration works for all.” – UN Secretary-General António Guterres

The observance of International Migrants Day this year focuses on the stories of social cohesion, which are as varied and unique as each of the 272 million migrants living new lives and building new communities in every corner of the globe. In December 2000, the General Assembly proclaimed 18th December International Migrants Day. On that day in 1990, the Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Today, more people than ever live in a country other than the one in which they were born. While many individuals migrate out of choice, many others migrate out of necessity. In 2019, the number of migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million, 51 million more than in 2010.

International Human Solidarity Day
2021-12-20 00:00 - 23:59
International Human Solidarity Day is a day to celebrate our unity in diversity, a day to remind governments to respect their commitments to international agreements, a day to raise public awareness of the importance of solidarity, a day to encourage debate on the ways to promote solidarity for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals including poverty eradication, and a day of action to encourage new initiatives for poverty eradication.

Solidarity is identified in the Millennium Declaration as one of the fundamental values of international relations in the 21st Century, wherein those, who either suffer or benefit least deserve help from those who benefit most. Consequently, in the context of globalization and the challenge of growing inequality, strengthening of international solidarity is indispensable.

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.

2021: International Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons enters into force.
2022-01-22 08:00 - 17:00
In his encyclical, Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship), Pope Francis questions nuclear deterrence as a way of promoting peace noting “the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences that would follow from any use of nuclear weapons, with devastating, indiscriminate and uncontainable effects, over time and space” (n 262). He concludes that “the ultimate goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons” is both “a challenge and a moral and humanitarian imperative” (n 262).

The International Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an important response to this moral imperative. ICAN (the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) have produced a booklet explaining the Treaty. You can read the full text of the treaty here.

The Holy See is a strong backer of the Treaty and was amongst the first to sign and ratify the Treaty. Here in Australia, Bishop Terry Brady, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Delegate for Social Justice, has called on the Australian Government to sign the Treaty and work towards its ratification. Bishop Brady says that the use of nuclear weapons is immoral as they are inherently indiscriminate and their impact is uncontainable in time and space. Furthermore, their continued existence “poses an unacceptable risk of deliberate or accidental use, and it diverts resources from the things that positively foster peace”.

Action

You can join ICAN’s action to ask the Australian Government to sign the Treaty, to encourage our cities and towns to support the Treaty, and to ask superannuation funds to cut ties with companies that produce nuclear weapons.

Pray for an end to nuclear weapons. Printed copies of the prayer card can be purchased here.

World Leprosy Day
2022-01-30 00:00 - 23:59

World Interfaith Harmony Week
2022-02-01 08:00 - 2022-02-07 17:00

World Wetlands Day
2022-02-02 00:00 - 23:59
In 2022 World Wetlands Day marks the 51st anniversary of the Ramsar Convention. This year the theme is Value. Manage. Restore. LOVE wetlands. Get more information about World Wetlands Day and a range of resources on how the Convention protects wetlands here.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, is called the Ramsar Convention, after the Iranian city where the Convention was adopted in 1971. It is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. It came into force in 1975. Find out more about the Ramsar Convention here.

Coral reefs are among the wetland types covered by the Convention. In 2004, the Catholic Bishops of Queensland issued a pastoral letter ‘Let the Many Coastlands Be Glad!’ on the need to care for the Great Barrier Reef.

In safeguarding the integrity of the waters of the Pacific and the Great Barrier Reef, we are in a profound sense, honouring and sharing in the life of the risen Christ. As St Paul taught us, ‘So he who came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence’ (Ephesians 4.10). This is the very same ‘presence’ that today fills the universe and lovingly graces, impregnates, stimulates and sustains the sparkling bluegreen waters and gloriously coloured coral necklace of Queensland’s eastern coastline we call, ‘the Reef’. It should be understood, that to do wilful harm to the integrity of the Great Barrier Reef is to diminish the image of Christ which is radiated to us through our world. Queensland Catholic Bishops, Let the Many Coastlands be Glad, 2004.

For more information World Wetlands Day go here

WWD2022_Infographic_English_Print@homeDownload

International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation
2022-02-06 00:00 - 23:59
Female genital mutilation comprises all procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

It is an attack on the human dignity and physical integrity of women and girls. It undermines their well-being, and can threaten life itself.

Learn more about female genital mutilation here.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science
2022-02-11 00:00 - 23:59
In 2015 the General Assembly of the United Nations decided to establish an annual International Day to recognize the critical role women and girls play in science and technology. You can read about the decision in Resolution A/RES/70/212.

UNESCO and UN-Women are the two UN agencies responsible for the implementation of the Day’s celebration.

World Day of Social Justice
2022-02-20 00:00 - 23:59
On 26 November 2007, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared that, starting from 2008, 20 February will be celebrated annually as the World Day of Social Justice. It invited Member States to:

devote this special day to the promotion, at the national level, of concrete activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development and the twenty-fourth special session of the General Assembly. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 26 November 2007

Learn more here.

International Mother Language Day
2022-02-21 00:00 - 23:59
As the United Nations’ website explains:

Languages, with their complex implications for identity, communication, social integration, education and development, are of strategic importance for people and planet. Yet, due to globalization processes, they are increasingly under threat, or disappearing altogether. When languages fade, so does the world’s rich tapestry of cultural diversity. Opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression — valuable resources for ensuring a better future — are also lost. https://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/

This is a great day to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. The website of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies provides extensive information here.

Zero Discrimination Day
2022-03-01 00:00 - 23:59
Zero Discrimination Day is an opportunity to promote everyone’s right to live a dignified life free from discrimination regardless of their age, gender, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, skin color, height, weight, profession, education, and beliefs.

While many countries have laws against discrimination, it is remains a problem in reality around the world. Some countries even use discrimination as a way of governing.

1999: International Treaty to Ban Landmines enters into force.
2022-03-01 00:00 - 23:59
Find our more about the Treaty here.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) provides advocacy tools for campaigners, including multimedia resources, ICBL statements, partner resources, and the Landmine Monitor, to keep you up to date on the landmine issue.

World Wildlife Day
2022-03-03 00:00 - 23:59
Find out more on the official United Nations website for the day here.

1970: International Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
2022-03-05 00:00 - 23:59

International Women's Day
2022-03-08 00:00 - 23:59
Pope Francis is making small but significant steps towards greater inclusion of women in decision making and leadership roles in the Church. He has amended Canon Law so that women may be officially recognized as exercising the ministries of Lector and Acolyte. And he has appointed a woman as Under-Secretary to the Synod of Bishops – with the right to vote. This is a good day to pay attention to women’s contributions in our local Church too. Here is a list women theologians in Australia and New Zealand 160+ Australian and New Zealander Women in Theology You Should Know About

In 2020 we marked the twentieth anniversary of the Australian Bishops’ response to research on the participation of women in the Catholic Church in Australia. The research results were published as Woman and Man: One in Christ Jesus (Harper Collins, 1999) and the Bishops’ Social Justice Sunday Statement for 2000 was titled Woman and Man: the Bishops Respond. In 2019 the Office for Social Justice published a collection of essays marking these anniversaries. Titled Still Listening to the Spirit: Woman and Man Twenty Years Later, the book was a collaboration with the Office for the Participation of Women.

In their foreword to the collection, Archbishop Christopher Prowse and Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen acknowledge:

… twenty years down the track, women are still listening to the Spirit and seeking to engage the whole Church in a conversation about a more fulsome development of the participation of women in the Church, for the sake of us all, and for the sake of the Reign of God. There is unfinished business from the action commitments made by the bishops in 2000. There is also an opportunity to contribute to the communal discernment process of the Plenary Council 2020. This collection of essays enrages creatively with both of these elements of the present moment. Archbishop Christopher Prowse and Bishop Vincent Long, Foreword, Still Listening to the Spirit

Buy Still Listening to the Spirit: Woman and Man Twenty Years Later here. Download the discussion guide for the book here.

2003: Invasion of Iraq by USA and Allies
2022-03-19 00:00 - 23:59

International Day of Happiness
2022-03-20 00:00 - 23:59

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
2022-03-21 00:00 - 23:59

International Day of Forests
2022-03-21 00:00 - 23:59
