Tag Archives: Brisbane

Commission to Support Parish Responses to Statement on Violence

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Social Justice Sunday 2010

Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission will seek to help parishes to respond to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s 2010 Social Justice Sunday Statement, Violence in Australia: A Message of Peace.

The Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that the violence which is becoming so common in communities across the country needs to be challenged with Christ’s radical message of peace.

“The Bishops’ Statement encourages us as Christians to focus on the many forms of violence in contemporary Australia, to understand the causes and to take action in the spirit of Jesus’ teaching,” Mr Arndt said.

“The Bishops’ Statement presents us with a whole series of questions to help us to consider how we might become messengers of peace in our families, our communities, our nation and our world,” he said.

Mr Arndt is currently holding meetings in the deaneries of the Archdiocese to help Catholics to explore the issues and insights contained in the Statement and to provide information on what resources are available to promote and use the Statement.

The Justice and Peace Commission is also currently discussing possible collaboration with the Franciscan organisation, Pace e Bene, in order to offer Catholics concrete opportunities to develop skills for living nonviolently.

“We are aware of the many faces of violence in Australia from bullying in schools, violent video games, domestic violence and road rage to the so-called structural violence of poverty and racism,” Mr Arndt said.

“The Bishops ask us to do more than shake our heads at the growing presence of violence in our country and to take up the challenge to be active in making peace in our hearts, our homes, our communities and our nation,” he said.

For further information, please contact Peter Arndt on (07) 3336 9173 or 0409 265 476.
NB  This release is issued with the approval of the Commission or its Executive under the provision of its Mandate which enables it to speak in its own right when required.  The views expressed in it do not necessarily represent the views of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

2010 Social Justice Statement: Sample Editorial for Parish Use

2010 Social Justice Statement Summary

2010 Social Justice Sunday  Powerpoint Slide

2010 Social Justice Statement OHT

Commission Urges Fairness and Compassion for Asylum Seekers

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Wednesday 31 March 2010

 Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission has urged Catholics to be voices for fairness and compassion for asylum seekers in the current debate over the treatment of asylum seekers arriving by boat.

The Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that comments by politicians in both the Government and the Opposition and a recent front page article in the Sunday Mail have the effect of de-humanising asylum seekers and robbing them of their God-given dignity.

“We appeal to Catholics to defend the right of people to seek asylum in our country and to be treated as human beings and not as demons to be feared or as objects to be used for political or commercial benefit,” Mr Arndt said.

 “Both major parties are trying to show that they are tough with boat arrivals and they are causing a lot of suffering and unfairness for people seeking asylum,” he said.

 “All our politicians need to remember that Australia is a signatory to the international convention which recognises the right of people fleeing persecution and violence to seek asylum,” he said.

“We, as a  nation which says it respects and defends human rights, should not be trying to turn asylum seekers away or get other countries to hold them in unsatisfactory conditions,” he said.

“Whipping up fears that we are being over-run by asylum seekers is simply dishonest and leads to mis-treatment of people,” he said.

“We should remember that less than 25000 people have come by boat seeking asylum in Australia in more than 30 years,” he said.

“That is no flood and no reason to propose harsh and inhuman treatment of asylum seekers nor to create fear about boat arrivals,” he said.

 “We should also expect that the media should be responsible in covering the current asylum seeker debate,” he said.

 “The Sunday Mail’s recent front page story on asylum seekers being taken on a supervised shopping trip in Brisbane was regrettable,” he said.

 “The headline ‘They’re Here’ gives you the impression that the paper thinks we have something to fear,” he said.

 “People who seek asylum should have their claims for protection assessed and, if they prove to be legitimate, be recognised as refugees,” he said.

 “We should reject the attempts by fearmongers in politics and the media to foster resentment towards our fellow human beings,” he said.

 “As Christians, we see asylum seekers as our sisters and brothers,” he said.

 “It is our responsibility to defend their human dignity and to encourage our politicians and the community to treat them with compassion and fairness,” he said.

 For further information, please contact Peter Arndt on (07) 3336 9173 or 0409 265 476.
 NB  This release is issued with the approval of the Commission or its Executive under the provision of its Mandate which enables it to speak in its own right when required.  The views expressed in it do not necessarily represent the views of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

American Refugee Film Has Australian Parallels

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American Refugee Film Has Australian Parallels

Three Afghan Australians who came to this country as refugees saw parallels between their own experiences and the stories of young Mexicans who sought asylum in the USA.

Reza Jaffari, Shah Hussein Hassani and Hussein Ali Nadiri joined another fifty people who watched the screening of a documentary which tells the stories of young unaccompanied Mexicans seeking asylum in the USA and the work of Christian groups in America who support asylum seekers and refugees.

The award-winning film, Posada, was introduced by its producer, US Jesuit Fr Mark McGregor. He also led a discussion following the screening.

The screening was co-hosted by the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of Brisbane and the Archdiocesan Centre for Multicultural Pastoral Care.

Both the refugees and refugee supporters who attended agreed that the comparisons between the Australian and American situations were strong.

“Just like in the film, we were treated badly by the Government but were supported by people in the community,” Mr Hassani said.

Fr Mcgregor said that his film encouraged Christians to go beyond offering hospitality and encouraged them to walk in solidarity with those who seek asylum.

The Justice and Peace Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that this is what many Catholics had done here in Brisbane over the last seven years.

“Many Catholics have gone beyond offering food and clothing to asylum seekers and become advocates of compassionate and just treatment of those who come to our shores,” Mr Arndt said.

“We continue to be inspired by the courage of asylum seekers and the good people who walk in solidarity with them, whether it is in America or in our own land,” he said.

“We strongly encourage parishes and schools to get a copy of the film and to use it as a powerful tool to educate people about the meaning of Christian solidarity,” he added.

Copies of the DVD can be ordered on-line .

For further information, please contact Peter Arndt on (07) 3336 9173 or 0409 265 476.
NB This release is issued with the approval of the Commission or its Executive under the provision of its Charter which enables it to speak in its own right. The views expressed in it do not necessarily represent the views of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.