Peter Arndt, Director of the Office reflects on Advent and particularly on seeing God with us each day. The hustle and bustle of this time of year can stop us seeing and hearing God in our day-to-day lives. He urges us to keep Christ in our celebrations of Christmas by remembering and including people excluded from society and our brother and sisters in the environment in our celebrations. Peter farewells Patrice Moriarty who is moving on from her support of the Office.
Pope Francis released a message on the International Day for People with Disability. In it he spoke of people with disability’s role in teaching the rest of the church about their own experience, on building a welcoming, warm and inclusionary church as well as gift of their strength and faith to the church. He said, “with regard to the disabled – there can be no us and them, but a single us, with Jesus Christ at the centre, where each person brings his or her own gifts and limitations.”
Damien Gardiner has been appointed as the new Disability Projects officer of the ACBC. Mr Gardiner’s role will be to carry forward efforts to promote the full participation of people with a disability in the life of the Church. Bishop Tim Norton SVD, the Bishop Delegate for Disabilities Issues welcomed him, “Through his professional experience and through his personal faith commitment and practice, Damien is a wonderful addition to the Bishops Conference.”
One in three disability sector workers report wanting to leave their job in the next twelve months and Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA) report the sector is demoralised and at breaking point. Ms Monique Earsmon, Executive Director of CSSA is bringing the issue to the fore, “Disability workers are undervalued and this is having a devastating impact on the people they care for.”
Biru has overcome many difficulties in his life. As a person living with a disability and part of a minority in rural India, keeping cattle to support his wife and four children was a challenge. So he taught himself to repair bicycles and through participating in an entrepreneurship and livelihoods training program, supported by Caritas has been able to set up his own business and be financially dependent.
The International Day of People with Disability is on 3 December. The theme for the day is ‘Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world’. Over 4.4 million people in Australia live with a disability and this United Nations observed day aims to increase awareness, understand and acceptance of people with disability and celebrate their achievements.
Title: ‘Us’ not ‘Them’: Disability and Catholic Theology and Social Teaching Author: Justin Glyn SJ ISBN: 978-0-6483727-0-7 Paperback, 14 x 20.5 cm, 26 pages Published by the Office for Social Justice, June 2019. In Catholic Social Justice Series No 83, Justin Glyn SJ shares his… Read More »‘Us’ not ‘Them’: Disability and Catholic Theology and Social Teaching: Catholic Social Justice Series No 83