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Australian Catholic Bishop's Conference Social Justice Statement 2011
The 2009 statement titled "Building Bridges, Not Walls: Prisons and the justice system" has now been released ready for
Social Justice Sunday on 25th September.
Bishop Christopher Saunders, Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, says, "The majority of Australian prisoners come from the most disadvantaged sections of
the community: Indigenous people, the underprivileged and those suffering from mental illness. Although rates of crime have overall remained steady, and in some cases have fallen,
Australia's rate of imprisonment has increased dramatically. Between 1984 and 2008, the rate almost doubled.
"We must ask if the justice system is truly delivering justice to our community.
"Although there will always be a need for prisons to deal with serious offences, there are alternative measures that are more effective in delivering justice and keeping many
people out of jail", Bishop Saunders says.
In the Statement, the Catholic Bishops call for more productive alternatives to fear campaigns about law and order, for an approach that addresses the social factors that
contribute to crime, ensuring the dignity of those in prison, and providing more support for people returning to society.
The Statement urges all citizens to consider how we as a society can make a real difference for those in prison and seeking bridges to a new life.
The statement can be downloaded in pdf or Word format from the The Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (ACSJC) site at
www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au as well as other useful information such as the "Community ans schools resource"
which is an excellent guide to further study and discussion of the Statement.
The National Council of Churches in Australia has also produced a companion document entitled "I Was in Prison and You Visited Me". This is available for download from their
website at www.ncca.org.au is well worth reading.
A Pastoral Letter for the Feast of St Joseph the Worker 1 May 2011
Bishop Christopher Saunders is the Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council. Read his latest pastoral
letter for the Feast of St Joseph the Worker
Indigenous employment: the most basic form of social justice
Same Sex Marriage Issues
On 9th Feb John Bowskill and Mike Duggan attended a talk/question session on abortion, euthanasia and same-sex
marriage at St William's parish in Groveley by Ray Campbell. More than 70 people attended with about 30% of
those from other parishes - a great turnout. The session was organized jointly by the St William's parish Social
Justice group and Adult Faith Education group.
Ray Campbell is a director of the Queensland Bioethics Centre and John Paul II Centre for Family and Life. He
spoke very well and the question session went on for quite a while.
Ray covered the political situation on the issues of abortion and euthanasia (mostly a State issue) and outlined the
current situation and where the lobby groups and politicians are heading. Euthanasia is also something of a
federal issue because of ACT/NT. There are numerous lobby groups working change our laws to permit abortion
on demand and more liberal euthanasia.
Ray covered same-sex marriage in detail and it certainly is a complicated issue which Ray explained was not a
religious issue nor an argument about equality but fundamentally about the nature of marriage and the role of the
State. The danger is that we are heading down a path which will redefine the institution of marriage for all of us
with many consequences.
We were urged to get active in our communities and political arenas to try and influence what it is that you want
and don't want. A guide was provided to show people how they could get active on these issues.
Here are some links to useful sites and information on the subject of same sex marriage:
Pope Benedict XVI issued the encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) on 29 June 2009.
ACSJC has issued a Discussion Guide on this encyclical (which is a lot shorter and easier to read!)
Click here to view the article.
or
Download the Document - PDF
You can also read the full encyclical
here
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