In 2015, Pope Francis wrote “an urgent letter” to “everyone on the planet” to express his concern for the devastation that humans are causing to our Earth and its climate, and to ask all people to change the way we treat the Earth, each other and the poor. How are you and your parish responding to the Pope’s urgent request?  

 

Our July edition of Catholic Parishes Serving the Community newsletter aims to highlight news and events of interest to Catholic parishes and social services agencies. It highlights the ways in which our parishes are assisting, or can further assist the pressing needs of refugees and people seeking asylum, and the ways in which parishes can assist people impacted by domestic and family violence. View the full newsletter, here.

Jesuit Social Services’ Men’s Project has been established to provide leadership on the reduction of violence and other harmful behaviours prevalent among boys and men, and to build new approaches to improve their wellbeing and keep families and communities safe.

The Diocese of Broken Bay has a comprehensive set of resources to assist the Catholic community in gaining a deeper understanding of domestic and family violence, and how to best respond. The resources which come under the title, Catholic Response to Family Violence, include a booklet, fast facts, Catholic social teaching on domestic violence, a prayer, and relevant support programs and response information. Each of these resources can be accessed on this page.

A screening of the uplifting film The Staging Post will be held on Sunday 12 August at St Michael's Parish, High Street, Ashburton, at 2pm. The documentary follows two Afghan Hazara refugees, Muzafar and Khadim. Stuck in Indonesia after Australia ‘stopped the boats’, and facing many years in limbo, they built a community and started a school which inspired a refugee revolution. People of all ages will enjoy it but it provides a wonderful opportunity for parents to take Year 5 to 12 students and talk about the issues facing refugees.

 

In our July update, we welcome newly elected Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, and give thanks for the many years of service of current Archbishop, Denis Hart. We also extend an invitation to the Catholic social services community to join us for a breakfast briefing on 1 August to discuss our contribution to the Australian Church's plenary council in 2020. There are a number of upcoming events organised by our member organisations, as well as our latest news and event. Find out more, here, and please share this information.

At the recent Hearing Healing Hope conference, a workshop to garner the thoughts of delegates from around the country was held on one of Australia’s most vexing issues: how should we support asylum seekers? Parishioners and representatives from Catholic service agencies from Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory attended the workshop. Presentations were given by Sr Brigid Arthur csb (Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project) and Tracey Cabrie (Centre Manager - Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub).

As part of the Hearing Healing Hope three-day conference in Melbourne last week, one of the most significant challenges Catholic Social Services Victoria wanted to explore was concerned with parishes. Parishes play an important role in being at the coal face of providing services and support to the wider community; they are often the living sign of the Gospel at work. Dr Bob Dixon, who has recently retired from his position as Director of the Pastoral Research Office of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, hosted the workshop ‘Love thy neighbour: The challenge for parishes’, which looked at the ways parishes contribute to Catholic social action.