Brigidines across the Congregation stand in solidarity with our Australian Sisters, on Australia’s Social Justice Sunday 2023.
The Catholic Church in Australia has a long tradition of commemorating Social Justice Sunday.
In 2023 this commemoration falls on August 27.
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) issues an annual Social Justice Statement in time for Social Justice Sunday each year.
The 2023 Statement: “Listen, Learn, Love: A New Engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples” acknowledges that, in 2023,
all Australians are invited to justly recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians through enshrining a Voice to Parliament in the Constitution.
Both the Bishops and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) speak in this year’s statement – recognising the upcoming referendum as an ‘opportunity for the Church to begin a new engagement with the First Peoples of our land.’ (Source: the Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace )
Listen to Bishop Vincent Long’s Address given at the 2023-24 Social Justice Statement Launch :
or read his Address Here
Consider the full Statement here: 2023-24 Social Justice Statement – Listen Learn Love
or listen to Archbishop Timothy Costello SDB (President of ACBC) and John Lochowiak (Chair, NATSICC) who introduce the Statement via video:
In the statement’s conclusion, the Bishops and NATSICC encourage members of the Church to seek new engagement:
“ We, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council, invite members of the Church to walk with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in this year of great possibility.
We hope for an end to the pain, the hurt and the injustice that has burdened the First Peoples of this land for far too long.
Let us commit ourselves to fostering a civilisation of love in Australia. Let’s come together in friendship and love to show all that love can not only change individual lives, but that it can change society for the better.”
NATSICC’s One Journey Together website offers many resources and is created to encourage Catholics in Australia to engage in reflection and dialogue: One Journey Together
Catholic Social Teaching: One Journey Together – Catholic Social Teachings for the journey
Social Justice Sunday Prayer Card: Social Justice Sunday Prayer Card – 2023
One Journey Together snippets: At the heart
“… Love of nature can only be authentic in solidarity with indigenous peoples who do not distinguish themselves from the plants, animals, rivers and mountains which inspire their languages practices, and spirit.
So loving one must include the other.
(Fatima Measham, Invitation & Call 2022)