Office For Justice, Ecology and Peace

2011: Fukushima Earthquake and Tsunami
2020-03-11 00:00 - 23:59 (Australia/Sydney)
On this day an earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima Prefecture in Japan killed 18,500 people. Damage to a nuclear power plant in this event caused widespread contamination and the displacement of thousands of people. Reflecting on these events, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan called for the abolition on nuclear power:

We, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, appeal to all people who share our common home called Earth that we join hands, rise together and act in solidarity to end nuclear power generation. For that purpose, we turn first to the Catholic Church throughout the world, seeking cooperation and solidarity. Then, building on that, we hope to develop a global solidarity that transcends religions, races and nations. Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan

International Women's Day
2020-03-08 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.

International Day of Unplugging
2020-03-06 00:00 - 23:59
In the USA, the Reboot Network initiated the National Day of Unplugging to encourage people to unplug, unwind, relax and do things other than using digital technology, electronics and social media for twenty four hours beginning at sundown on the first Friday in March. It builds on the Sabbath Manifesto which draws on and adapts the Jewish tradition of the Sabbath.

As Christians in Australia, we can also reflect on the meaning for today’s world of the commandment to keep the Lord’s day holy. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

God’s action is the model for human action. If God ‘rested and was refreshed’ on the seventh day, we too ought to ‘rest’ and should let others, especially the poor, ‘be refreshed’. The sabbath brings everyday work to a halt ad provides a respite. It is a day of protest against the servitude of work and the worship of money. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n 2172.

Do we need rest and respite from digital technologies? Might we at times fall into servitude or even worship of social media?

Find out more about the Sabbath Manifesto and the National Day of Unplugging here.

1970: International Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
2020-03-05 00:00 - 23:59

1979: Redemptor Hominis (Redeemer of Man) encyclical issued by St John Paul II
2020-03-04 00:00 - 23:59

World Wildlife Day
2020-03-03 00:00 - 23:59
Find out more on the official United Nations website for the day here.

1999: International Treaty to Ban Landmines enters into force.
2020-03-01 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.

Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day
2020-03-01 00:00 - 23:59
Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day is sometimes known as ‘Bikini’ Day because it marks the anniversary of the US ‘Bravo’ nuclear bomb detonation at Bikini Atoll in 1954.

The explosion gouged out a crater more than 200 feet deep and a mile across, melting huge quantities of coral which were sucked up into the atmosphere together with vast volumes of seawater. The resulting fallout caused widespread contamination in the Pacific. Te Wharepora Hou

Zero Discrimination Day
2020-03-01 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.

International Mother Language Day
2020-02-21 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.

World Day of Social Justice
2020-02-20 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.

2014: Murder of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Barati in offshore immigration detention on Manus Island
2020-02-17 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.

2015: Death of Faith Bandler AC
2020-02-13 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.

2008: Apology to the Stolen Generation by the Australian Government
2020-02-13 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.

1958: Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders established
2020-02-13 00:00 - 23:59

2005: Murder of Sr Dorothy Stang in Brazil
2020-02-12 00:00 - 23:59

1965: Freedom Ride in Australia Begins
2020-02-12 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

International Day of Women and Girls in Science
2020-02-11 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 Prayer for the Sick
2020-02-11 00:00 - 23:59
Prayer Card from Catholic Health AustraliaDownload

The World Day of Prayer for the Sick was initiated by St John Paul II in 1992. It coincides with the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Pope Francis’ messages for the World Day of the Sick can be found here.

Catholic trivia: did you know that Pope Benedict XVI announced his decision to resign as Pope on this day in 2013 citing his failing health as the reason?

1973: Woodward Royal Commission into Land Rights
2020-02-08 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.

St Josephine Bakhita
2020-02-08 00:00 - 23:59
St Josephine Bakhita was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery. Her feast day is now observed as the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking. The video below outlines her story.

Download Resources

The Diocese of Parramatta, which includes a significant Sudanese community, has prepared a range of resources for the celebration of the feast of St Josephine Bakhita. They include a poster, social media tile, bulletin notice, homily notes and prayers of the faithful. Catholics in the Diocese of Parramatta are encouraged on this day to pray for all those affected by the crimes of modern slavery and human trafficking, and the people that volunteer and work to eradicate this crime. Join them by downloading resources here.

The following prayer was prepared by Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans.

Prayer for All Who are Trafficked

We pray for all who are trafficked. We ask, Lord, that you strengthen the fragile-spiritedand broken-hearted.We pray earnestly that all who suffer the loss of freedomand the indignity of being used to serve the need and greed of otherswill be freed and find freedom in a home where they are respected.Let them experience a love that is tender and good. We pray for all who exploit others,that their evil deeds will be exposedand that their hearts will be changed.We pray for ourselves, who live in safety and peacewith more than we needand for all who work against trafficking in humans:give us the wisdom and courageto stand in solidarity with all who suffer lack of human dignity.Help all who work against human trafficking to find waysto ensure for all the freedom that is your gift to all of us.We make our prayer through Christ Our Lord.Amen. https://acrath.org.au/prayer-for-anti-trafficking-advocates/

1986 Meeting of St John Paul II with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Alice Springs
2019-11-29 00:00 - 23:59
‘You are part of Australia and Australia is part of you. And the Church herself in Australia will not be fully the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others.’ St John Paul II, Alice Springs, 1986.

Thirty years later, John Lochowiak, Chairperson of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council, reflected on the importance of St John Paul II’s visit.

‘As Saint John Paul II spoke, a wind storm picked up the red soil from the Earth and swirled it amongst our people. The dust seemed to intertwine with the words of love, hope and empathy. The message touched our souls and it touched our skin. Never before had we felt so welcome in the house of Jesus. The impact of this day on our lives cannot be measured. It provided the encouragement for the establishment of Aboriginal and Islander Catholic Ministries all over Australia and it lit the fire our hearts which still provides the warmth, energy and strength for us to continue. We now have over 120,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics in Australia and the support of our Australian Catholic Bishops on our journey of faith.’ John Lochowiak, NATSICC Chairperson, 2016
