Promoting the Dignity of Peoples
July 8, 2020Dignity and Shame.
There’s nothing very dignified about crucifixion. The indescribable pain would probably blot out the public ignominy of dying slowly as a naked criminal. Who would willingly put themselves in this place of shame? [1] Jesus did. Not to save us from an imaginary divine anger but to show us the end result of what we humans do to each other.
Who would willingly put themselves in the place of shame today? Mary MacKillop did in her day. She was with the poor, those oppressed by the powerful, the object of calumny, manipulation and intrigue. She recognised people’s fundamental rights and worked with them, championing their dignity, and in the process, claiming her own. “Of the Cross” has its own unique dignity, an inversion of the usual, a quelling of human violence from the inside.
The plight of the oppressed today must be drawn into our Christian soul, two responses could be: immediate aid to the suffering, and challenges to those wielding power.
Serious social ills which erode the dignity of people exist today and are no less confronting than those in earlier times. Australian society tolerates and even gains from the production and exclusion of non-persons. Those in power boast of the feat of “stopping the boats”. This triumph is accomplished partly by the deterrent of detaining a number of people who came to Australia by boat after a certain arbitrarily chosen date – 19 July 2013. Not one of those people has been charged with any crime against international or domestic law, yet some now detained under this regime have been there for seven years. They are innocent people who happened to approach Australia at the wrong time. The great majority are recognised as genuine refugees and have that status under international law, yet their only option for release is to return to the place of danger from which they escaped. Australia has even refused New Zealand’s offer to accept 150 of them per year. Those who claim the mantle of Mary MacKillop must ask: what would she think and do about this?
So many other assaults on human dignity exist in Australia. These affect, for example, the First Peoples, people on temporary protection visas, those suffering human trafficking, homelessness, child abuse, domestic violence, climate change, the recent fires, joblessness and Coronavirus. Many other threats to human dignity challenge our Australian response, among which the oppressed people of West Papua remain a singular weight on our collective conscience. As in Mary MacKillop’s time, glib answers to human problems can be made which generally amount to blaming those in distress––they should work harder, get a job, go back to where they came from, keep their mouths shut, she shouldn’t have married him, they’re bludgers, they must have done something wrong, etc., etc.
In Jesus’ case it was considered better for one to die than for the whole nation to face threat (John 11:50). This is the quintessential description of a scapegoat – the substitute sacrificed for the benefit of the dominant group. The very sacrifice of Jesus unveiled the mechanism of scapegoating––the blame and destruction of one for the comfort of many. Without formulating this reality, and in the context of different social and theological structures, Mary MacKillop and so many others recognised the likely candidates for scapegoating, stood beside them, and shared their place of shame. That’s our call too.
Susan Connelly rsj
Footnotes:
[1] James Alison coined the phrase “place of shame”. Visit http://jamesalison.com/
Julian Tenison Woods: A Life – Chapters 12th to 14th
July 7, 2020
Chapters 12th, 13th and 14th
Among the residents of Portland who became intimate friends of Father Woods was the MacKillop family. Mr MacKillop was the eldest brother of Mrs Alex Cameron of Penola Station, and Mrs MacKillop the sister of Mr D McDonald also of Penola…[1]
The Catholic School in Portland required a teacher and Miss MacKillop wrote to Father Woods on the subject. In reply, 30 August 1863 he said: ‘I think if you can take it for a time, so much the better. You might, until the school here is vacant…’[2]
NAIDOC Week 2020
July 6, 2020
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia every July with many events to acknowledge Indigenous history, culture, and achievements.
However, due to COVID-19, NAIDOC week was postponed for 2020. Or did it come earlier?
This year’s theme for NAIDOC week is Always Was, Always Will Be. It recognises that First Nations people occupied and cared for the Australian continent for over 65,000 years. They were the first explorers, farmers, botanists, scientists, diplomats etc. This is something Bruce Pascoes’ award winning book ‘Dark Emu,’ has honoured and affirmed. In a TED talk he says, “I wrote the book to convince Australians that Aboriginal people were farming on their own land.“
Over many years, reading, listening to others and occasionally meeting an indigenous person contributed to raising my awareness of indigenous peoples. However, seven years ago, I moved to Warmun – a remote Aboriginal Community in the Kimberley. As stations in the surrounding areas were claimed by white settlers, the traditional owners were moved off their land to live together in Warmun. For me, to be part of this community, moved my awareness of Indigenous culture to another level…. a place where I saw firsthand and began to understand the deep spiritual and cultural connection to country. Country encompasses an interdependent relationship between an individual and their ancestral lands. When people talk about country it is spoken of as a mother, i.e. we speak to country, we worry about country, and we long for country.
‘This is my country and that’s why we stay out here’
During the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic, people were encouraged to return to their homes. It was no surprise that Indigenous people returned to their homelands to wait out Coronavirus. Shirley Purdie, an elder of the Warmun Community said:
Shirley was born at Mabel Downs or Gibun in her language. There are two houses, but most prefer to drag their mattresses outside and sleep under the stars.
To understand more, view Shirley’s remarkable story
“The benefits of being on country are tangible – spiritually, culturally and physically!”
Shirley’s daughter, Madeleine, posted on facebook …
Sowing the Seeds
July 1, 2020Elaine Wainwright* gives an ecological reading of the parable of the sower, Matthew 13:1-22.
We have celebrated the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si’, influential within the Catholic community and in the global religious and scientific communities. It marked the growing consciousness within the human community that we share our common home, Earth, with all its other inhabitants and life-forms. This consciousness is deepening.
One contribution to this shifting consciousness is through reading the biblical text being attentive to the human characters and to the other-than-human participants in the biblical drama. Such a reading, in its turn, re-reads us.
Matthew 13:1-9, the Parable of the Sower accompanied by an explanation Mt 13:18-23 is well known. Like many parables, it is grounded in the material. We read of sowers and seeds and types of soil. Reading ecologically invites us to allow this materiality to function in our making meaning of the text…
Continue reading the article below:
Tui Motu Issue 250, July 2020 (PDF)
Media Release: CRA
June 30, 2020100% of Religious Institutes named in Royal Commission Join National Redress Scheme
“The commitment of Catholic Religious Australia members to work compassionately with survivors of child sexual abuse has been ongoing for 20 years and continues to be demonstrated by religious institutes joining the National Redress Scheme (NRS),” said Br Peter Carroll FMS, President of Catholic Religious Australia (CRA)…
You’re invited to continue reading the Media Release and visit the CRA website below:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday
On 5 July 2020 we celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday.
The first Sunday of July has been mandated by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference as National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) Sunday. [1]
Celebrations are usually organised by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) which is the peak advisory body to the Australian Catholic Bishops on issues relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics. [2]
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced NATSICC to rethink the ways in how we empower Catholics to celebrate our special day. This year, NATSICC have modified our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday resources to work in a digital setting. NATSICC are also holding the first-ever live-streamed, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday Mass from the St Francis Xavier Cathedral in Adelaide from 10am EST. The livestream will be available from the NATSICC homepage. [3]
NATSICC have invited everyone around Australia and the World to join them on Sunday 5 July 2020, as we come ‘Together in the Spirit’ to celebrate the gifts of spirituality and culture.
Please find below website links and resources for ATSI Sunday:
ATSI Sunday Mass Livestream (5 July 2020 – 10am EST)
Image: ATSI Sunday – ‘Together in the Spirit’ logo obtained from www.natsicc.org.au/2020-atsi-sunday.html
Footnotes:
[1] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday obtained from www.transformationbydesign.com.au/projects/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-sunday
[2] About NATSICC obtained from www.natsicc.org.au/about-natsicc.html
[3] 2020 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday Resources obtained from www.natsicc.org.au/2020-atsi-sunday.html
A Day in the Life Series: Seafarers
June 26, 2020
Port Chaplaincy – Sydney Ports.
The Sydney waterfront portrays a rich tapestry of maritime life and industry. It is always a colourful, sometimes funny and often harsh but never a boring environment to minister within as Port Chaplain.
My role mainly involves that of presence within the port, and I regularly play the roles of advocacy and mediation.
Welcoming seafarers is a major part of my days. This involves the visitation of cargo ships and their multi-cultural, multi-faith seafarers onboard.
Samuel Johnson the famous English writer once likened being onboard ships to “…being in prison with the added “bonus” of the threat of drowning…”
Seafarers are usually driven into the maritime industry because of global poverty. Those landing a contract usually do so because they are the cheapest labour in the market.
They spend most of their lives isolated from family and loved ones. Their work is insecure as they rely on one contract at a time. The maritime industry can be cruel in terms of registering ships in tax havens such as Bermuda, Liberia etc. (AKA Flags of Convenience) where there is no regard for the seafarers’ human rights.
Along with all this exploitation seafarers live and work in constant danger due to bad weather, unseaworthy vessels and the threat of piracy and many other forms of abuse, with the fear of blacklisting if they complain.
Despite the best efforts globally to enact the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 and other laws intended to protect seafarers’ rights they remain out of sight and in international waters criss-crossing our seas.
The reality of course is that 98% of all commodities are brought to our shores by these people /seafarers. Most of what we wear, our white goods, computers, cars, farm machinery, food, medical supplies, fuel etc. Due to the demand for commodities the ships are obliged to move as quickly as possible which means that crews are denied the possibility of shore leave in any port.
This and many other conditions further exacerbate the isolation, loneliness which has detrimental effects on their wellbeing. The latest survey done by Yale university reveals that 20% of seafarers contemplate self-harm. We can well believe this now that we know that 4 seafarers have suicided in the last few weeks alone.
The chaplains’ role of course is to welcome the stranger as encouraged by the Gospel. For me this means welcoming seafarers, advocating, lobbying maritime authorities on their behalf and promoting their human dignity and rights. Working closely with the local and global maritime unions to respond to seafarers’ needs while in Australian waters and international waters is essential.
As port chaplain I also play a pastoral role with the other maritime stakeholders, wharfies, terminal managers, security, pilots etc. I endeavour to promote the concept of providing a ‘safe harbour’ for arriving crews by developing friendships with all other sectors involved in the port operations. This develops a sense of solidarity and collaboration and kindness within the waterfront.
In my opinion seafarers are resilient and courageous human beings who sacrifice much for their loved ones. They are regularly the first responders at sea to rescue those fleeing from war torn countries. They work at great personal cost to educate their children in the hope of escaping poverty.
Let us salute all seafarers.
Mary Leahy rsj
In Loving Memory of Sr Anita Gallagher
June 25, 2020Sr Anita Gallagher entered eternal life on 20 June 2020.
We celebrate and give thanks for the life of Sr Anita.
Please see below booklets and the live stream link for the Memorial Service of Sr Anita at St Joseph’s Chapel, South Perth at 4:00pm on Sunday 28 June 2020 for a Vigil, and 10:15am on Monday 29 June 2020 for a Funeral Mass (Eucharistic Celebration):
Eucharistic Celebration booklet (PDF)