In this reflection for the April 2015 CatholicCare Sydney staff newsletter, Sandie Cornish ponders the effect of William Morris’ criteria for retaining household objects. “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” William Morris, designer, poet, novelist and activist.
Here is my reflection for the June staff newsletter of CatholicCare Sydney. I wrote it at the end of a tough week for Australian women.
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
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.
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?
The Swiss Guard are armed and willing to use force if necessary, but, as far as I know, they have never used cluster munitions. So why was the Holy See so eager to be one of the first states parties to ratify the Convention to Ban Cluster Munitions which will enter into force on 1 August 2010? Catholic Social Teaching holds the use of lethal force to be always regrettable but, in certain limited circumstances, to be acceptable. Even when the strict conditions for a just war (jus ad bellum) are met – and they rarely are – there are… Read More »Vatican Beats the Drum on Cluster Munitions