As part of the “Season of Creation” and in ongoing response to the Papal Encyclical “Laudato Si’ “, the Archdiocese of Brisbane Justice and Peace Commission and Evangelisation Brisbane co-host a panel discussion: ”Cultivating a Sense of Place: Contemplating Ecology in a Time of Loss”.
Panelists include:
Professor Douglas Christie (Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles )
Anne George
Clare Locke
Peter Arndt
News from the Catholic Justice & Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Brisbane which has been mandated by successive Archbishops to promote understanding of Catholic social teaching in the areas of justice, peace and the environment since 1985.
COP 26 Approaches
The formal meetings of world leaders at the COP 26 in Glasgow are days away. Our world is faced with immense challenges because of dangerous climate change. The scientific evidence is overwhelming. Swift and decisive action is needed.
Many of you have already been working to impress on our leaders the need for urgent action. What is certain is that our work will not end when COP 26 in Glasgow ends. We will need to continue our advocacy well beyond this year. As Christians, we will also need to direct attention to the way we live and to the spirituality which shapes our outlook.
Nothing about Us without Us!!!
In their recent Social Justice Statement, Australia’s Bishops have stressed the importance of listening to the voices of First Nations people about caring for the earth. It is essential that our work for justice, peace and care for creation prioritises the concerns and advice of First Nations people in Australia and of Pacific peoples. They are already facing the harmful consequences of climate change and they have the least responsibility for it. In humility and respect, we should acknowledge their leadership in the struggle for climate justice. Unless we are committed to this way of acting, we have not heard the core message of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’. The Holy Father calls for a commitment to integral ecology. We need to hear the cries of the earth and the cries of those who are poor. In this current crisis, those who are the most vulnerable and have the least power must be at the heart of action to address it!
First Nations elders in Brisbane have been saying to us, loudly and clearly, “Nothing about us without us!” They are leading action to address the climate crisis and the social problems they face in Australia. The peoples of the Pacific are also seeking to shape the regional and global response to the climate crisis. They are living with the impacts of climate change right now. We need to listen to them and support their leadership in the struggle for justice.
In this spirit, I am sending messages on behalf of the Commission to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders and leaders and to church leaders in the Pacific offering our continued support for their priorities and their leadership during and after COP 26.
Supporting First Nations Leadership in Australia
The Commission encourages you to offer your support to campaigns led by First Nations people including:
Common Grace is running a number of actions on climate change as well as important issues like First Nations deaths in custody:
Our Islands, Our Home Torres Strait Islanders are campaigning for climate action to save their island homes from rising seas. Support the #TorresStrait8 who have taken action against the Australian Government at the UN for its failure to take action on climate change:
Get Up First Nations Team is taking action to support traditional owners who don’t want fracking on their country. They are also taking action to provide food security in remote communities, to address the on-going shame of First Nations deaths in custody, and to protect sacred sites from being damaged by the activities of mining companies
The Wangan & Jagalingou Traditional Owners Council has waged a David and Goliath struggle against the Adani company so they can protect sacred sites on their country in central Queensland. Queensland Police recently declared that they would not remove Wangan & Jagalingou people from their country as they had a right to perform traditional ceremonies on their country under the Human Rights Act. I had the privilege of spending 2 weeks last year on country as part of the solidarity contingent in their Standing Our Ground campaign. Wangan and Jagalingou people are on country now, performing ceremonies. They invite us to come and join them in solidarity as they continue to defend their right to be on their country and protect their sacred sites. . You can offer your support in a variety of ways including going up to country as part of the solidarity contingent.
Supporting Pacific Leadership
In the days leading up to COP 26, the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) has issued a call for climate action. It is the result of 2 years of consultation across the Pacific. Please share this statement in your community, in your networks and with your MP. It may be found here.
Listening to the Call of Church Leaders
Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew recently issued a joint declaration offering us guidance in our response to the climate crisis. They called for 3 responses:
· Prayer for world leaders in the lead up to COP 26;
· Meaningful sacrifices by individuals for the sake of the planet;
· Actions by leaders which focus on people-centred profits and which lead us to a just and sustainable future.
As you reflect on their challenge, ask yourself how you will respond. You can read more here.
Calling for Action from Our Political Leaders
Please join the Commission which is sending messages to all Federal MPs in the Archdiocese. We are calling on them to support strong, urgent and decisive climate action which responds to the calls of First Nations people and of the peoples of the Pacific. E-mail them, ring their offices and even make an appointment to meet them to tell them what they should support. You can find contact details for all Federal MPs here.
A Climate Story from the Solomon Islands
A journalist friend in the Solomon Islands, Jeremy Gwao, has been investigating the impact of climate change on people living on Wagina Island in the Solomon Islands. They make a living by growing kelp, but things are changing as the climate changes. Jeremy’s article underlines the urgent need for decisive climate action. It’s well worth a read:
Media Statement
Monday 4 October 2021
BRISBANE’S CATHOLIC JUSTICE & PEACE COMMISSION ANNOUNCES 40 DAY
PRAYER CAMPAIGN
40 days of prayer lead up to next phase of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform
The Catholic Justice & Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Brisbane announces its co-leadership of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development’s 40-day campaign of prayers based on the Laudato Si’ Goals, for communities joining the Laudato Si’ Action Platform.
The prayer campaign supports the seven sectors joining the Laudato Si’ Action Platform with a dedicated day of prayer for each, connecting each sector with a Laudato Si’ Goal.
14 November will begin the next phase in the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. On that date, Laudato Si’ Planning Guides and all related materials will be published, and members of the universal Church will be invited to make a firm commitment to creating their own Laudato Si’ Plans.
While the next phase in the platform had been planned for 4 October, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development sees a need to continue building on the dynamic conversations taking place with the Catholic Justice & Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Brisbane and nearly 200 additional partners.
The Catholic Justice & Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Brisbane has been an integrally important co-leader of efforts to build the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. Serving as a member of the Parishes and Dioceses working group, the Commission has assisted in shaping both the model and the content of the platform.
Extending the date from 4 October to 14 November helps ensure that the Laudato Si’ Action Platform will truly serve the needs of Catholic parishes, schools, families and other institutions
All Catholic parishes, schools, families and households and other institutions are warmly invited to review the existing resources on the Laudato Si’ Action Platform website and to discern their commitment to creating a Laudato Si’ Plan.
For further information or comments, please contact Peter Arndt, Executive Officer of the Commission, on +61 409
265 476
Documents for Download
CJPC Media Release 4th October 2021
New Refugee Agreement between PNG and Australia
On October 6, the Australian and PNG Governments came to an agreement that would result in the end of Australia using PNG as an offshore immigration processing centre. Read the full text of the Joint media release between the Hon Karen Andrews MP and the Hon. Westly Nukundj MP – Finalisation of the Regional Resettlement Arrangement here.
While the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG and Solomon Islands welcomes the end of offshore processing in PNG, it expresses serious concerns about the continuing impact of Australia’s shifting of its responsibility to Pacific neighbours and the on-going hardship placed on the refugees in both PNG and Nauru.
Please read the comments from the Church in PNG and e-mail the Minister for Home Affairs, Karen Andrews, who announce the new arrangement. Urge her to stop shifting responsibility to support and resettle the refugees to our Pacific neighbours. Encourage her to bring all the refugees back to Australia so that we can take direct responsibility for the refugees: Karen.andrews.mp@aph.gov.au
Please continue to send a similar message to the Minister for Immigration, Alex Hawke, who was recently promoted to Cabinet. His e-mail address is: Alex.hawke.mp@aph.gov.au
Please continue to pray for our Pacific neighbours and for the refugees. In October, please especially pray the Rosary.
Indigenous Catholic priest in West Papua issued a statement calling for a United Nations mission.
10 December 2008
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission has called for both the Federal and Queensland Governments to take action on the rights of Indigenous Australians.
In particular, it has called on the Federal Government to become a signatory to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and for the Queensland Government to act on the concerns of Indigenous people about the use of money from its “Stolen Wages” reparations Scheme and the Aboriginal Welfare Fund.
The Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was of the highest priority to the Commission.
“On International Human Rights Day, the Commission wants to express its solidarity with Indigenous people who are still waiting for justice,” Mr Arndt said.
“After speaking with our Indigenous advisors, we urge the Federal Government to act quickly to become a signatory to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” he said.
“The Prime Minister promised to do this at last year’s election, but the Government has not done so yet,” he said.
“The Government was given an opportunity to show its support for the Declaration in the Senate in September, but did not do so,” he said.
“Our Indigenous advisors have also told us that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are very upset with the Queensland Government’s unwillingness to listen to them on the Stolen Wages issue,” he said.
“The great majority of Indigenous people consulted by the Government wanted it to use unclaimed funds in its reparations scheme to pay more money to Indigenous workers who had wages taken away from them and never given back,” he said.
“They do not want any of the money from the reparations scheme or the Aboriginal Welfare Fund being used to establish an education fund, but the Government has ignored them,” he said.
“Aboriginal workers have a right to be paid their wages in full,” he said.
“Every Indigenous child also has a right to get a decent education funded by the Government and not just a select few who get a scholarship funded out of Indigenous workers’ wages,” he said.
“The Government should not be taking money from funds put aside to pay Indigenous people what they are owed in wages and using it for other purposes,” he said.
“There is a lot of anger and hurt within Indigenous communities over this issue and the Government must listen,” he said.
For further information, please contact Peter Arndt on (07) 3336 9173 or 0409 265 476.
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission has urged the Queensland Government to act quickly to proclaim a mandatory code of practice for outworkers in the clothing industry.
The Queensland Government legislated in 2005 to enable it to proclaim such a code and recently sought comment on a proposed code which it has developed.
The Commission has made a submission to the Government supporting the introduction of the code and urging the Government to proclaim it as soon as possible.
The Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that the Commission had shown an interest for the last decade in better protection for clothing outworkers.
“One of the first things I did when I became the Commission’s Executive Officer in 2001 was to represent it at the official launch and signing of a voluntary Queensland code of practice for outworkers,” Mr Arndt said.
“The Commission also did a lot of work to ensure that special protections for outworkers were included in the former Coalition Government’s WorkChoices legislation in 2005 and its independent contractors legislation in 2006,” he said.
“Many of the people we are seeking protection for are vulnerable women who get paid very low rates for making garments at home,” he said.
“They often have unrealistic demands placed on them in terms of delivery times for orders,” he said.
“The proposed code means that there will be greater transparency in the complex production chain in the clothing industry,” he said.
“This transparency will help in tracking down unscrupulous contractors who are not paying outworkers adequately,” he said.
“The Commission’s submission argued that the code would also help in protecting these workers’ entitlements to health and safety protection,” he said.
“Outworkers suffer three times the rate of manual handling injuries as factory-based clothing workers,” he said.
“We think this is linked to their poor pay rates and unrealistic delivery times,” he said.
“The Commission’s submission stressed that outworkers had rights in relation to their working conditions and pay,” he said.
“These rights are essential to protect their human dignity which is a principle at the heart of the Church’s social teaching,” he said.
“We want Queensland to join New South Wales which has had a mandatory code in force since 2005 and South Australia which introduced a code last October,” he said.
“These workers should not be exploited and a mandatory code will help to stop this,” he said.
“It will also help ethical contractors who are looking after their workers because unscrupulous contractors won’t be able to undercut them by paying their workers below-award pay rates,” he said.
”This code is another step in efforts to provide vulnerable women with fair and just conditions,” 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 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.
Australian Catholic Bishops Social Justice Statement 2008
Friday 17 October 2008
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission called on Catholics to pressure political leaders to take action to end poverty in Australia and around the world.
The Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, was speaking after leading Archdiocesan staff in pledging a commitment to action on world poverty in the grounds of the Cathedral of St Stephen on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Friday 17 October.
Similar gatherings, involving tens of millions of people, were held in parishes, schools, workplaces and communities around the world between 17 and 19 October to remind world leaders of their commitment to end world poverty and hunger.
“We gathered on the same day as the Prime Minister sat down with the leaders of Australian business to discuss responses to the current global financial crisis,” he said.
“We gathered to say that almost a billion people around the world are hungry and malnourished and that this is as important a crisis which demands urgent and substantial action,” he said.
“We must keep reminding our leaders that they made important promises at the United Nations in 2000 and that they must keep them for the sake of our suffering sisters and brothers,” he said.
Mr Arndt said that Catholics should also be asking our leaders to take concerted and sustained action to address the poverty which over two million Australians face,” he said.
“The Social Justice Sunday Statement of Australia’s Bishops indicates that poverty in Australia is a critical issue which needs sustained action and Catholics should be tirelessly advocating this,” Mr Arndt said.
Mr Arndt is a member of the Queensland Facilitating Committee for Anti-Poverty Week which coincides with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The Committee helped community groups and agencies around the State to organize events and activities to raise awareness about poverty.
Anti-Poverty Week was launched by the Speaker of the Queensland Parliament, Mike Reynolds, at the Parliamentary Annexe earlier in the week (on Monday 13 October).
“The Bishops told us that much of poverty in Australia is structural which means it is caused by the way society and our economic system are organized,” he said.
“The Bishops urge us to be advocates for change which makes it possible for our fellow Australians to throw off the shackles of poverty and live dignified lives,” he said.
“I encourage Catholics who have not yet read this year’s Social Justice Sunday Statement to get a copy or read it on the internet and use it as a basis for action,” 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 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.
Friday 1 August 2008
The Bali bombing memorial on the site of Paddy's Pub.
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission has appealed for the lives of the Bali Bombers who may soon be executed.
The Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that this action was consistent with the Commission’s commitment to the Church’s Teaching on the death penalty.
Mr Arndt said that this appeal should in no way be seen as minimising the seriousness of the violence perpetrated by the bombers or the enormous personal pain and loss their actions have caused.
“We condemn the actions of the bombers as a gross violation of the dignity and rights of the victims of the bombing of nightclubs in Bali in 2002,” Mr Arndt said.
“Those who have lost family members and who live with injury and disability because of the bombings are entitled to on-going Government and community compassion and support in their efforts to deal with their loss and suffering,” he said.
“Those responsible for this crime deserve the most serious penalty, but this should fall short of the death penalty,” he said.
“The Commission has campaigned for the universal abolition of the death penalty around the world over the course of this year and we must take this action as a matter of principle,” he said.
“Capital punishment should not be used as revenge or retribution or as a deterrent,” he said.
“We must be consistent in our defence of human life, even in the case of people who are responsible for the most appalling actions,” he said.
“Both the Old and New Testaments guide us in this conviction,” he said.
“God ensured that Cain was punished severely for killing Abel, but God also protected him from any attempt to kill him in retribution,” he said.
“In John’s Gospel, Jesus stopped the execution of the woman caught in adultery by demanding that those who were without sin cast the first stone,” he said.
“We will write to the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia and ask him to convey our appeal for the lives of the Bali Bombers to the Indonesian Government,” he said.
“We also ask Catholics to continue to send messages to their local MP, Senators, the Prime Minister and Government Ministers asking them to work for universal abolition of the death penalty,” he said.
“We also ask that Catholics continue to pray for the victims of crime and acts of terror, for those on death row and for their families,” he said.
The Commission’s petition asking for Government action on the issue will be lodged in the Senate at the end of August and further public action will accompany that event.
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission has welcomed the Federal Government’s Budget announcement that temporary protection visas for refugees would be abolished.
In welcoming the decision, the Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that many Catholics in the Brisbane Archdiocese needed to be thanked for their efforts to promote the human rights of asylum seekers in recent years.
“Since 2002, the Commission has asked local Catholics to sign petitions and to write letters of support for a number of asylum seekers who were seeking Australia’s protection,” Mr Arndt said.
“Many Brisbane Catholics responded with great compassion for people like Zahra Alawi and Kibre Kebede and their efforts helped to gain protection for them,” he said.
“It is due to their efforts, in part, that Zahra and her family became Australian citizens last year and that Kibre will become a citizen this Thursday,” he said.
“Because of the compassion and generous hearts of many people, they no longer have to live in fear that they will be returned where they were persecuted,” he said.
“The abolition of temporary protection visas means that, once an asylum seeker is recognized as a refugee, they do not have to worry that they could be sent back to violence and persecution after their visa expires,” he said.
“They can get on with their lives, secure in the knowledge that they can continue to live in a country where they will be safe,” he said.
“Catholics should know that their efforts have helped to bring about this decision which gives some dignity back to people who seek our country’s help and protection,” he said.
“This work is very much part of our mission in the world,” he said.
Mr Arndt said that the Commission encouraged Catholics to continue to maintain an interest in the welfare of asylum seekers and refugees.
“We encourage everyone to get involved in activities during Refugee Week from June 16 to 22,” he said.
“We also hope that those who wrote letters of support for people like Zahra and Kibre will come to a special celebration at the end of August at which some of the refugees we have helped will be present,” he said.
“We are working with the Centre for Multicultural Pastoral Care to organize an event to say thank you to Catholics who helped us over the past few years,” he said.
“We also want them to have an opportunity to find out what is happening now for the refugees they helped,” he said.
“We also hope that we will have a chance in July for American Jesuit, Fr Mark McGregor, to present a film he produced on Latin American minors who sought asylum in the USA,” he said.
More details of these events will be announced in the next month.
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.
Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of Brisbane 