| Centre for Peace Ecology and JusticePeace Ecology Justice
Action for Growing a Culture of Peace |
 |
Anne Lanyon
Introduction
In the introduction to the 2009 Social Justice Sunday Statement “And you will be my witnesses” which was launched last Wednesday, Bishop Christopher Saunders said the challenge for young people was to “persevere in our calling, to remember that as Christians we are a new creation, part of a holy world in which God is not eclipsed or deemed irrelevant by a secularist ideology.”
“We are called to persevere in witnessing to the magnificence of God’s love for us, to act justly in his name and to be agents of hope and peace.”
He said that although the statement was about youth, “it is for all of us”.
“What will you leave to the next generation? … What legacy will you leave to young people yet to come? What difference will you make?” he said, echoing the Pope’s words during last year’s event.
The statement addresses several issues, including the plight of Indigenous youth, those excluded from employment, the issue of mental health and the prevention of abuse; concerns for the environment, global justice and development.
“We seek to enhance the reign of God in our land through forging reconciliation, acting for justice and making peace.
“We are bound into the struggle for justice – to see, to judge and to act – and challenged to go forth in the peace of the Holy Spirit, to love and serve the Lord,” the statement said. Social Justice Sunday Statement 2009 (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference)
October has many opportunities for young people and teachers to pray, learn more and engage in at an appropriate level. See below for more details.
PS. {Please pray for us as we begin Phase Two of the Columban Youth Theatre of the Oppressed Immersion Program. 8 students and 2 teachers from St Peter’s Catholic College Tuggerah, accompanied by myself, leave this Saturday 26th September for the Philippines.
This follows on the wonderful program we carried out last year as part of World Youth Day. We will be immersed in life in the squatter areas of the parish of Malate in Manila, in the programs of the Preda Foundation in Olongapo, and in CELL, the Centre for Ecozoic Living and Learning in Silang).
Peace and Blessings, Anne Lanyon
Coming Events
September Biodiversity Month www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/month.html
Season of Creation children’s resources www.seasonofcreation.com/childrens/
September 21st : International Day of (Prayer) for Peace – Focus on Nuclear Disarmament
www.oikoumene.org/en/news/events/ev/se/article/1634/international-day-of-pray.html www.worldpeace.org/peaceday.html.
http://internationaldayofpeace.org/
This year, the United Nations will use this day to ask Governments and citizens of the world to focus on the important issues of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
September 27th Social Justice Sunday.
Prayer for Social Justice (ACSJC 2009 Social Justice Diary)
God of yesterday, today and tomorrow,
We call to mind your presence within us and around us.
Teach us to live our lives free from assumptions by others about what is best for us, and free from assumptions about what is best for others.
Help us to recognize and respect the values, cultures and traditions of all people, so that we can co-exist in peace and love and celebrate our diversity.
We pray in the name of Jesus, your Son. Amen.
October 1st Pre Parliament of World Religions Interfaith Youth Event: Social Networking –
Beyond Facebook (Seeking Social Cohesion – Sharing our Wisdom) For more information contact the NSW Ecumenical Council: (02) 9299 2215 kmoroney@ncca.org.au
October 2nd International Day of Non-Violence Prayer Service from International JPIC at http://jpicformation.wikispaces.com/EN_2October
October 4th Feast of St Francis of Assisi
October 11th Water Week
October 13th Exclusive Film Night “The End of Poverty” – Jubilee Australia 6:15pm
Dendy Cinema, Opera Quays, Sydney (see below)
October 16th World Food Day
October 17th International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
October 18th Mission Sunday
October 24th Disarmament Week
Human Trafficking
ACRATH (Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans) networks with many agencies in its campaign against human trafficking. Every year The Body Shop Australia runs a national campaign to raise awareness and funds for a cause that aligns with its core values. The focus of this year’s campaign is ‘Stop the Sex Trafficking of Children & Young People’.
The campaign has three main goals: to raise money for Child Wise, Australia’s only child protection charity working internationally to prevent child abuse; to ascertain pubic knowledge on the issues of human trafficking and sex trafficking; to start conversations about the issue and encourage people to find out how they can help stop sex trafficking of children and young people.
This week The Body Shop will be selling ‘Soft Hands, Kind heart’ hand cream for $13.95, donating 100% of the profit to Child Wise from each hand cream.
Please see www.acrath.org.au/; or www.thebodyshop.com.au for more information
Exclusive Advanced Screening of the Documentary Film ‘The End of Poverty?’
Jubilee Australia is pleased to invite you to this special event to mark Anti-Poverty Week and Global Week of Action Against Debt, October 11-17 2009, and to help raise funds for Jubilee Australia as we keep digging to the roots of global poverty.
Our current global economic system is not working for all people. This film will show why. “A sort of “An Inconvenient Truth” for global economics…a powerful description of how Western policies since colonialism have subjugated Third World countries.”
– Charles Masters, The Hollywood Reporter
Directed by Philippe Diaz, narrated by Martin Sheen, this extraordinary documentary will make you think again about poverty. After winning multiple awards at film festivals around the world, The End of Poverty? will be opening in US Theatres November.
Tuesday 13th October, 6:15pm
Dendy Cinema, Opera Quays, Sydney
The film will begin at 6:30pm sharp and will be followed by a short panel discussion, and drinks and canapes in the forecourt
Tickets $35 Standard, $25 Concession
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BUY TICKETS, click www.jubileeaustralia.org/theendofpoverty-event
About Jubilee Australia:
Jubilee Australia is an Australian based anti-poverty NGO working since 2001 to expose the root causes of poverty and injustice, particularly in the Asia Pacific. Through research, advocacy and public education, Jubilee exposes corrupt and unprofitable past development projects, especially those leading to illegitimate debts; monitors current Australian sponsored investments especially in the Asia Pacific region; and advocates for the Australian Government to build a fairer international economic system. Emerging out of the successful Jubilee 2000 Drop the Debt Coalition, today Jubilee Australia is part of a international movement, representing over 60 developed and developing country campaigns. Find out www.jubileeaustralia.org/theendofpoverty-event
Petition for an Award for Timor- Leste in Canberra Dear Friends,
The Mary MacKillop East Timor Mission has presented the Petition for an Award for Timor- Leste in Canberra to local member, David Bradbury, and it was tabled in Parliament at the Adjournment Speeches that evening. You can follow its progress on the Parliamentary website:
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/petitions/primeminister.htm
If you have more signatures, please send them in. We have some hundreds more than the 22,717 which were tabled and will keep collecting until we do the Nomination. The actual number of people signing up will be mentioned in the Nomination. Every signature is precious.
More news as time goes on.
Best wishes to all,
See our website for a photo.
Sister Susan Connelly RSJ
Mary MacKillop East Timor Mission
PO Box 299 St Marys NSW 1790
(20 Mamre Road)
Ph. 02 9623 2847
Fx. 02 9623 1573
Visit our website: http://www.mmiets.org.au
Meat Free Day Increased meat consumption around the world is leading to changes in agricultural practices and contributing to the causes of climate change. The Hindu Council of Australia, together with ARCC (Australian Religious Response to Climate Change) is launching a Meat Free Day initiative in early October. This is a good opportunity for Catholics to revive the practice of abstinence from meat one day a week (“fish on Friday”) and is something that schools could get involved in. For more information www.arrcc.org.au
Ministry for Peace
On today, the World Day of Peace 2009, join those calling for the establishment of a ministry of peace in our government.
“We recognize that the world is interconnected and that everything influences the whole. As a consequence, there is no “them and us.” There is only us, and the welfare of others, indeed of all life, is our own welfare.
Therefore, we must seek ways to consciously connect and build a culture of peace with nonviolence and cooperation as organising principles. Indeed, all our systems of foreign policy, education, politics, business, health, and social welfare can and must be united in seeking, teaching, and living peace.
Already, peacebuilding and conflict transformation technologies are being developed and put into practice around the world in a wide range of conflict situations within and between countries. The time has come to educate ourselves and help create the necessary infrastructure for peace in our culture.
A Ministry for Peace existing within the Australian Federal Government and indeed amongst all governments of the world.
The Ministry for Peace Australia is dedicated to making this shared vision a reality. To not only campaign for a Ministry for Peace in Australia but also to work with the government to ensure a workable structure and scope for such a ministry.” Source: Ministry for Peace www.ministryforpeace.org.au/
Sorry, Can’t open this one Anne.
Things are in order now.