For Reflection The Rwandan Genocide in 1994 saw over 800,000 Rwandans, mainly from the Tutsi minority, massacred by the Hutu ethnic majority in three months. Over two million Hutu’s later fled the country, fearing revenge attacks. Fr Marcel Uwineza SJ, a survivor of the genocide, calls these horrific events in his home country an “intimate… Read More »International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda
For Reflection "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) Christ came to bring life in body, mind, and spirit to all people in their daily lives. Since 1950, every April 7 the World Health Organisation highlights a specific health area of concern. In 2021, the focus of the WHO… Read More »World Health Day
The encyclical Pacem in Terris is known in English as Peace on Earth. It was published in 1963 in the wake of the Cuban missile crisis. You can read an introduction to the encyclical and find a link to the full text here. Pacem in Terris focuses on issues of peace in a nuclear age. It… Read More »1963: Pacem in Terris published by Pope John XXIII
For Reflection “... and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”John 8: 32 The 1991 Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Royal Commission Final Report was a painful and key step in the process of radical truth telling in regard to the treatment of Aboriginal people in Australia, especially when in police… Read More »1991: Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Royal Commission Final Report signed
Mother Earth is a common expression for the planet earth in a number of countries and regions, which reflects the interdependence that exists among human beings, other living species and the planet we all inhabit. Resolution establishing Mother Earth Day adopted by the General Assembly on 22 April 2009 The United Nations designated this day… Read More »International Mother Earth Day
Did you know that this date was chosen by the United Nations because it was on this date in 1616 that Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare and Inc Garcilaso de la Vega died? Read the UNESCO resolution proclaiming the day here. Access resources for celebrating the day here.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) began to celebrate this day in 2003 however the trade union movement internationally has marked this day as the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers since 1996. This celebration is an integral part of the Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health of the ILO. As part of the 2020… Read More »World Day for Health and Safety at Work
St Peter Chanel was a Marist priest and the first martyr of the South Pacific. Read more about his life here. Prayer to St Peter Chanel You left your homelandto proclaim Jesus, Saviour of the world,to the peoples of Oceania. Guided by the Spirit of God,who is the strength of the gentle,you bore witness to… Read More »1841: Death of St Peter Chanel in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu)