1913: Founding of Canberra as Australia's captial
2021-03-12 00:00 - 23:59 (Australia/Sydney)

2013: Election of Pope Francis
2021-03-13 08:00 - 17:00

Harmony Week
2021-03-15 08:00 - 2021-03-21 17:00
Australia celebrates Harmony Week in the days leading up to the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is a time to celebrate cultural diversity and share the message that everyone belongs.

Find out about Harmony Week events near you here. It is a great time to reflect on chapters 6 and 7 of Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship).

“The image of a polyhedron can represent a society where differences coexist, complementing, enriching and reciprocally illuminating one another, even amid disagreements and reservations. Each of us can learn something from others.” Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, n 215.

St Patrick
2021-03-17 00:00 - 23:59

2019: Death of Deacon Boniface Perdjert
2021-03-18 00:00 - 23:59
Deacn Boniface, a respected Elder and the first Aboriginal permanent deacon, passed away in 2019. As the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council’s tribute page for Deacon Boniface says:

His words and actions spoke loudly to the members of the Wadeye Community – of which he was a deeply loved and respected Elder – but also to the Catholic Hierarchy with whom he shared his wisdom on many official occasions. http://www.natsicc.org.au/a-tribute-to-deacon-boniface.html

On the first anniversary of Deacon Boniface’s death we share for your reflection these words that he wrote in the later 1970s:

God did not begin to take an interest in people with the incarnation of his Son, nor with Abraham. My people existed here in Australia thousands of years before Abraham. In all that time God was with my people. He worked through their culture. He was saving us despite human weakness. He was preparing us for the day when he would see the features of Aboriginals in the image of his Son. So i must recognize, I must use the things of God that are in my culture. I mus use them in his service. If I do not do this, my faith and my service are shallow. They are pretending. They belong to someone else, not me. God has asked us t love him with wjhole mind, heart and soul. So i must give myself to God as an Aboriginal. This is what God wants or he would not have made me what I am. http://www.natsicc.org.au/a-tribute-to-deacon-boniface.html

National Close the Gap Day
2021-03-18 08:00 - 17:00

1866: Beginning of Sisters of St Joseph at Penola, SA
2021-03-19 00:00 - 23:59

2003: Invasion of Iraq by USA and Allies
2021-03-19 00:00 - 23:59

International Day of Happiness
2021-03-20 00:00 - 23:59

National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence
2021-03-20 00:00 - 23:59
This national day is observed in Australia. Find resources to help you to mark this day here.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
2021-03-21 00:00 - 23:59

International Day of Forests
2021-03-21 00:00 - 23:59

World Down Syndrome Day
2021-03-21 00:00 - 23:59

World Poetry Day
2021-03-21 00:00 - 23:59

Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination
2021-03-21 08:00 - 2021-03-22 17:00

World Water Day
2021-03-22 00:00 - 23:59
“The earth’s biodiversity, the functioning of the various biomes and of the atmosphere, the cycles of water and climate remind us of how versatile and fundamental this precious creature of God is.” Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, Acqua Fons Vitae, p 13.

World Water Day has been celebrated since 1993. Now a core focus of the day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030. The theme of World Water Day in 2021 is valuing water.

In Aqua Fons Vitae, the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development point out that as well as an economic value, water has a religious value, socio-cultural and aesthetic value, and even an institutional value and a value for peace. You can access a collection of Church statements, tools and initiatives related Aqua fons vitae here.

For Reflection

How do you value water?

Which of the proposals in Aqua Fons Vitae are the most important for your community?

World Meteorological Day
2021-03-23 00:00 - 23:59

2005: Abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)
2021-03-23 00:00 - 23:59

St Oscar Romero
2021-03-24 00:00 - 23:59

International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims
2021-03-24 00:00 - 23:59

International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing UN Staff Members
2021-03-25 00:00 - 23:59

1877: Death of Caroline Chisholm
2021-03-25 00:00 - 23:59

1967: Populorum Progressio (On the Progress of Peoples) encyclical issued by St Paul VI
2021-03-26 00:00 - 23:59

1975: Biological Weapons Convention
2021-03-26 00:00 - 23:59

Earth Hour
2021-03-28 20:30 - 21:30

1941: Death of William Cooper
2021-03-29 00:00 - 23:59
William Cooper was an inspirational Aboriginal leader in New South Wales and Victoria in the early part of the 20th century and a founding secretary of the Australian Aborigines’ League. The league was created to lobby state and federal governments on behalf of Aboriginal people. The powerful symbolic gesture of a Day of Mourning on 26 January, along with a petition to the British monarch calling for Aboriginal representation in federal parliament, inspired generations of activists working for justice for Indigenous Australians. National Museum of Australia

1897: Death of Jandamarra
2021-04-01 00:00 - 23:59
Jandamarra was an Aboriginal resistance leader of the Bunuba people in Western Australia. Find our more about his story here.

World Autism Awareness Day
2021-04-02 00:00 - 23:59

St Isidore, patron saint of the internet
2021-04-04 00:00 - 23:59
In 1997 Pope John Paul II declared Isidore of Seville the patron saint of the internet. Isidore was a scholar with encyclopedic knowledge. In his writings he sought to collect, systematize and synthesize all existing knowledge.

Speaking at a General Audience on 18 June 2008, Pope Benedict XVI, highlighted how Isidore combined contemplation and action. He went on to quote Isidore:

Therefore let the servant of God, imitating Christ, dedicate himself to contemplation without denying himself active life. Behaving otherwise would not be right. Indeed, just as we must love God in contemplation, so we must love our neighbour with action. It is therefore impossible to live without the presence of both the one and the other form of life, nor can we live without experiencing both the one and the other. http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080618.html

Prayer Seeking the Intercession of St Isidore

Almighty and eternal Godwho has created us in thine imageand bade us to seek after all that is good, true and beautiful,especially in the divine person of Thy only-begotten Son,Our Lord Jesus Christ,grant we beseech Thee that through the intercession of St Isidore, bishop and doctor,during our journeys through the internetwe will direct our hand and eyesonly to that which is pleasing to Theeand treat with charity and patience all those soulswhom we encounter.Father, we ask you this, through Christ Our Lord.Amen

International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
2021-04-04 00:00 - 23:59
The United Nations established this day in 2005 through this resolution.

The annual message for the day, together with other resources, are available here.
