I feel very honoured to have been invited to chair the 3rd annual Joe Grech Memorial Colloquium on Ethics & Migration in Melbourne on 22 August. Bishop Joe was a great friend of people on the move, especially those who are forcibly displaced. Details are available from the Australian Catholic Migrant & Refugee Office.
Join the Augustinian family 5-7 July 2013, in Sydney Australia for a symposium: One Mind, One Heart, Without Barriers. I’ll be facilitating with Libby Rogerson. More details in the brochure. Symposium Brochure
There was lots of enthusiastic participation at this workshop! Here are the presentations and handouts that we used: Contemplating Our World Pope Francis & Ignatian Spirituality Pope Francis on Mission Mission Reflection Handout The Call to Justice in Scripture Catholic Social Teaching & It’s Key Principles Key Principles Handout The Pastoral Spiral – an Ignatian Approach Tools for Analysis Tools for Theological Reflection An Examination of Consciousness
Join me at the Catholic Institute of Sydney for a course on the morality of migration. We will use Catholic Social Teaching as a framework for response. The course will be offered in intensive mode over three weekends. MS594IssuesinMissiology
In a world marked by on-going gender discrimination, today we hold up the dignity, rights and achievements of women. In Australia we have largely achieved formal equality before the law, so it is tempting to think the struggle for equality has been won. However the structures, processes and institutions of our society continue to under value women and girls and treat us less favourably than men and boys. Everyone is demeaned by this. As part of the preparation for the meeting on trafficking that I attended in Kuala Lumpur I had to answer a number of questions about the situation of… Read More »Happy International Women’s Day!
Although I’m a long-standing fan of the Papal World Day of Prayer for Peace Messages – and quite possibly the only person in Australia who reads them on New Year’s Day – I must admit that this year’s Message troubles me. It’s not what it says; it’s what it doesn’t say. The theme of this year’s Message is that religious freedom is the path to peace. I guess I would not say the path, but certainly I agree that it is an essential dimension of the path to peace. But that is not what troubles me. The Message asserts that… Read More »Religious Freedom & Benedict’s World Day of Peace Message
I’m not the only one who gets annoyed at the way in which so many traditional celebrations are now crassly commercialised, or at the general coca colonialisation of Australian culture. Not that I am a traditionalist, wanting to freeze frame life “back in the day”. Cultures are dynamic, living things, and in fact I work for social transformation. I acknowledge that feeling miffed at the paganisation of Christian feasts is somewhat ironic – the way in which ‘Christmas’ is treated in popular culture could be seen as fair return for the Christian appropriation of the pagan spring festival at Easter. Yet… Read More »Remembering the dead – or why I hate Halloween
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.
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.