This is a brief input that I gave at a forum in Parramatta a few years ago. It remains a challenging issue especially as organisations, including faith-based not for profits, are trying to do more with fewer paid staff in the wake of the GFC. ChurchTeachingOnWorkLifeBalance
If Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Sunday didn’t get a mention at your church this weekend, try using some of the liturgy material from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council in your personal prayer throughout NAIDOC Week.
The end of the financial year is upon us, focusing our minds on concepts like ‘balancing’, ‘reconciling’, ‘statements’ and ‘outcomes’. How differently these same words resonate in the context of efforts to foster the social mission of the church! Yet they are, or should be, of a piece. The budgets and balance sheets of any church organisation are in fact mission documents. Our strategic plans might articulate espoused priorities but our budgets show where we really intend to place our resources. Our actuals tell us what we actually value. How did we use our assets this year? Which areas did… Read More »Show Me the Money! an end of financial year reflection …
Look out for this new book coming soon from Orbis. David Freeman and I have contributed a chapter on Australia. Details at page 28 of the catalogue file: OrbisCatalogF10
The option for the poor enjoys a significant place in Catholic Social Teaching. This paper traces the development of Church teaching in relation to the option for the poor showing how reflection on experience in dialogue with the primary sources of the tradition helped to overcome early anxieties and some extreme interpretations. It is the third in a series of articles including: What is the Option for the Poor? and The Option for the Poor in Scripture. TheOptionForThePoorInChurchTeaching.
Refugee Week kicked off yesterday. For information and local activities, visit the Refugee Council of Australia or the Jesuit Refugee Service. Check out Pope Benedict’s Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees which focuses on minors and my paper People On the Move & CST.
In this media release, Bishop Christopher Saunders, Chair of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, questions the broadening of the application of compulsory income management. His arguments highlight the impact of these measures on the dignity of welfare recipients, and point to the need to apply the principle of subsidiarity. ACSJC Media Release 15 June 2010
Sometimes when I present introductory talks on Catholic Social Teaching and name some key principles, I encounter a kind of cynical “yeah, yeah, know all that, bleeding obvious’ sort of response. The principle of the dignity of the human person is not novel, and it isn’t rocket science, it’s just deeply challenging in practice. What does it really mean to say that each and every person is made in the image and likeness of God and has an inalienable and transcendent dignity, and that all persons are equal in dignity and rights? Yesterday I was struck by two examples. In… Read More »Human Dignity – Is It so Obvious?