05 August 2021
 Launch of Social Justice Statement 2021-22: Cry of the Earth and Cry of the Poor. Join us for the national launch of the Social Justice Statement 2021-22: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor. This is the only statement where all the Bishops of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) release a joint reflection on a particular topic annually. This year it focuses on why it is so important that we as a community respond to the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor. |
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24 July 2021
 Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) has written to the Government highlighting where its refugee and asylum seeker policies do not uphold Australia’s international human rights obligations, contrary to the Government’s insistence otherwise. The United Nations Human Rights Council has reached the same conclusions in its recent Universal Periodic Review (UPR) |
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14 July 2021
 For refugees, getting a full-time job and finding a place to live is incredibly difficult. That was certainly the case for Moj, a young man from Afghanistan whose entire family was killed in the war. Suffering from PTSD, he was unable to find work until an ABC documentary shared his story with the world. This report produced by Laura Kewley. |
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11 July 2021
 At 6 years old, Ruby Bridges went to school in the protection of U.S. Marshals due to threats from white families who didn't want a Black child attending school with their children.her attending a formerly all white elementary school. Ostracized by teachers & peers, Ruby soon realized she was the target of their hate simply for being born Black. Today, she speaks on the experience & the continued fight against anti-Black racism in America. |
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11 July 2021
 The Royal Dutch court has held that Royal Dutch Shell is liable for its contributions to climate change. The court found that its ongoing fossil fuel operations undermined basic guaranteed human rights and authorised the company by slashing its global carbon omissions by 45% by 2030. |
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07 July 2021
 The global climate crisis will require us to transform the way we act, says His Holiness Pope Francis. Delivering a visionary TED Talk from Vatican City, the spiritual leader proposes three courses of action to address the world's growing environmental problems and economic inequalities, illustrating how all of us can work together, across faiths and societies, to protect the Earth and promote the dignity of everyone. 'The future is built today,' he says. 'And it is not built in isolation, but rather in community and in harmony.' (English voiceover by Bruno Giussani. Watch this talk in Italian at go.ted.com/papafrancesco and Spanish at go.ted.com/papafrancisco) |
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30 June 2021
 As part of the exhibition we need thousands of people to come down and plant hands into the lawn of The Calyx. The design will involve 10,000 hands in the colours of charred and burnt banksia pods as part of the 'Healing Country' theme. Head to the Calyx lawn from 29 June to get involved. |
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28 June 2021
 29 June 2020, marks the 20th anniversary since the official launch of the Earth Charter. Therefore, Earth Charter International, in collaboration with various partner organizations, organized a series of webinars under the theme “Earth Charter 2020 Turning Conscience into Action for a Thriving Earth”. The event offered a space for presenters and participants to consider the relevance of the Earth Charter to current times, for instance, as an ethical compass for building the “new normal”.This is the recording of Webinar 1: Turning Conscience into Action for Global Collaboration Sunday, 28 June 2020 |
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27 June 2021
 We are stealing from the generations to come. The thief comes to steal and destroy. We are the thieves from the generations to come. The rich are getting richer. While the poor are becoming ever more poor. |
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27 June 2021
 Wiradjuri man Duncan Smith is an inspiration to many, but most especially his children. Meet the Wiradjuri Echoes and see them perform by the Murrumbidgee River. This film was produced for the Canberra Museum & Gallery. |
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27 June 2021
 This story's right, this story's true. I would not tell lies to you. Like the promises they did not keep. And how they fenced us in like sheep.Said to us come take our hand. Sent us off to mission land.Taught us to read, to write and pray. Then they took the children away,Took the children away,The children away.Snatched from their mother's breastSaid this is for the bestTook them away. |
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27 June 2021
 Displaced by war, persecution and natural disaster, tens of millions of refugees have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety. Are we doing enough to protect the most vulnerable among them: children? |
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24 June 2021
 Be inspired and moved hearing Bishop Vincent, Idrissa, Kane and Len share their first steps on their journey as migrants and refugees. |
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23 June 2021
 As we enter July here in Australia we enter one of the coldest months of the year. One of the saddest memories I have of volunteering for St Vincent De Paul Night Patrol is arriving at Central Station park on a -1 degree July Night many years ago. The wind was blowing, and it was freezing. At 11.30 pm we were to pack up and go home to a warm bed and shower. But one of the last visitors was a couple with a stroller. They had a young child pushing her along. Maybe 2 years old. After a hot milo and some fruit which we had left, they decided to spend the night in the park in freezing conditions. A family of 3. My heart when out to them. |
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18 June 2021
 In June 2016, days ahead of the first anniversary of Laudato Si', the Global Catholic Climate Movement made its first joint divestment announcement, consisting of four religious orders in the Pacific, one of the parts of the world most threatened by rising sea levels tied to global warming. Among them were the Marist Sisters in Australia. |
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18 June 2021
 Listen to the important stories of these members of our community. CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes as experienced a 20% rise in demand for our services - particularly for homelessness and emergency accomodation. Please help support the most vulnerable in our community. |
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18 June 2021
 Affordable housing and over crowding in our community is at an all time high. Especially in Aboriginal communities we have family members living on top of each other. Couch surfing. What that relates to is that our men turn to other issues that effect them. We need to say enough enough is enough. We need to call men to be warriors in our community. There needs to be changes in mens attitudes. Men need to speak up more and return back to their roots. |
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13 June 2021
 We continue to hear sad stories from the Myanmar refugees in Thailand. MMC funds a hostel program for young refugees and an education and health program in Ranong. Some of these programs have been disrupted due to the uncertain and violent times in their country. The refugees from Myanmar attending our program in Ranong Thailand are directly across the border from Myanmar and these young people are deeply concerned for their families and relatives back in Myanmar. |
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13 June 2021
 This week world leaders, pushing for more coordinated and strenuous action on climate change, no doubt hoping to capitalise on the lesson of coronavirus while it's still fresh - that doing too little, too late has dire consequences. So far, most nations - including Australia - have acted with insufficient urgency, meaning that the task ahead is now both mitigation and adaptation. |
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13 June 2021
 The time has come. A fact's a fact. It belongs to them. Let's give it back. How can we dance. When our earth is turning. How do we sleep. While our beds are burning |
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12 June 2021
 Victoria and South Aust have passed this bill with options within it. For providers to conscientiously object but Queensland look to Pass the bill with no Options for Providers to object…this is very concerning.For all Christian based health and aged care facilities. |
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05 June 2021
 Breaking Boundaries tells the story of the most important scientific discovery of our time - that humanity has pushed Earth beyond the boundaries that have kept Earth stable for 10,000 years, since the dawn of civilization. The 75-minute film takes the audience on a journey of discovery of planetary thresholds we must not exceed, not just for the stability of our planet, but for the future of humanity. It offers up the solutions we can and must put in place now if we are to protect Earth’s life support systems. |
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16 May 2021
 Australian Religious Response to Climate Change or ARCC is a member-based organisation of people from around Australia who are committed to taking action on climate change. Our members represent a variety of religious traditions. We believe that as people dedicated to the common good, inspired by our beliefs and energized by our spirituality, people of all faiths can and should be at the forefront of creating a safe climate. While celebrating the uniqueness of our different traditions, we stand together in working for an ecologically and socially sustainable future. |
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10 May 2021
 A shelter for street boys located in the heart of Bankerohan, Davao City, Philippines. The center is administered by the Society of Mary-Marist Fathers & Brothers. |
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17 April 2021
 More than 200 people were killed or injured in Yemen in March, the deadliest so far this year. The world’s biggest humanitarian crisis has exacerbated with a second wave of Covid-19 infections. The UN is urging for a ceasefire and eventual end to the war |
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15 April 2021
 In this unique feature documentary, titled David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, the celebrated naturalist reflects upon both the defining moments of his lifetime and the devastating changes he has seen. Coming to Netflix October 4 2020, the film addresses some of the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, providing a snapshot of global nature loss in a single lifetime. With it comes a powerful message of hope for future generations as Attenborough reveals the solutions to help save our planet from disaster. |
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10 April 2021
 The spotlights illegal fishing fleets use are so powerful, they can be detected from space. The EU, the world's champion of sustainability, takes home almost a quarter of the yellowfin tuna court in our Indian Ocean, a species that has been overfished for years and is on the brink of collapse. Iran's fishing fleet illegally plunders the water of Yemen and Somalia, where millions of children are on the brink of starvation. And our own Australian trawlers fished out 90% of the population of orange roughy, a deep-sea perch, before we realised that this fish grows incredibly slowly and lives for up to 200 years |
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06 April 2021
 Father Luigi Savoldelli sm, writes: I would like to begin my article by focusing on the experience that I have been living with African confreres and the people of Cameroon for some years now; our experience is grounded in the encyclical 'Laudato Si'' by Pope Francis. The Agricultural project that we began as Marist Fathers of Cameroon, working with a group of poor, local, people has its origins in meditating on this encyclical, and finding a way to develop and express its meaning. |
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06 April 2021
 Floods & landslides in Indonesia & East Timor leave scores dead | DW News |
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05 April 2021
 I am wanting to let you know about the screening of a wonderful documentary, Rosemary's Way. You will find details of the screenings at Randwick, Shellharbour and Campbelltown in April and a TBA screening at Parramatta Riverside Theatre in May. |
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03 April 2021
 A 2021 documentary film about the environmental impact of fishing directed by and starring Ali Tabrizi, a British filmmaker. The film is produced by Kip Anderson, director of animal consumption documentaries Cowspiracy and What the Health. |
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25 March 2021
 Father Peter Nawt Lawt, a Diocesan Priest from Myanmar, left our Marist Fathers General House Community 2 weeks ago to return to his home Diocese in Myitkyina Myanmar. Amidst the political turmoil caused by the military coup he felt he needed to be with his People in this time of their need. He had been staying with us, completing his Licentiate in Canon Law, due to a connection with Fr John Larsen, who had spent some years in that part of Myanmar where father Peter comes from. |
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24 March 2021
 Early on March 24, 1944, a Nazi patrol surrounded the home of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma on the outskirts of the village of Markowa in southeast Poland. They discovered eight Jewish people who had found refuge with the couple and executed them. |
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02 March 2021
 Twenty-two-year-old Oliva lives in Tanzania with her farmer husband, two young sons and an adopted niece and nephew. She didn’t have the opportunity to go to school growing up - and was embarrassed that she couldn’t read, write or count. Around 25 percent of Tanzanian girls and women over 15 years cannot read or write, with many families unable to afford school fees or uniforms. |
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27 February 2021
 An amazing documentary that envisions how our world could be in 2040 if we took the environment seriously. Don't do this for yourself. Do this for our children and grandchildren. |
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17 February 2021
 Missionary priest in Africa nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. |
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17 February 2021
 Marists from all over the world and representing all branches of the Marist Family connected on Feb 11 with Fr Joshtrom Kureethadam for a webinar on Laudato Si's 7-year planning. Fr Joshtorm is Coordinator of the Sector of “Ecology and Creation” at the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. |
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13 February 2021
 An inspiration speech concerning Laudatio Si, the current environmental crises and the actions which need to be taken. This was delivered to the Marist Family of Brothers, Fathers, Sisters and Laity using Zoom in February 2021. This journey is be taken together. We as people are integrally connected to the world who is suffering. We need leaders to emerge. Together we must become more aware so that we might respond as a community both locally in connection to our brothers and sisters across the world. |
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12 February 2021
 Bill Gates is focusing on Climate Change. We need to go green. Gates with the overwhelming number of scientists who are warning of a climate disaster. The good news is that Gates believes it is possible to avoid a catastrophic rise in temperatures. The bad news...he says in the next 30 years we need scientific breakthroughs, technical innovations and global cooperation on a scale the world has never seen. |
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08 February 2021
 Pope Francis has declared the feast of St Josephine Bakhita on February 8 the International Day of Prayer, Reflection and Action against Human Trafficking. Join ACRATH and mark this day by sharing information, joining the world community in prayer and committing to do something in your own life to end slavery. |
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28 January 2021
 We do not break generations apart. That is what we learn in scripture. We carry the best of every generation with us. That is the difference between tradition and traditionalism. There was a liturgist at St John’s in Minnesota, Godfrey Dateman said one day “I don’t have a lot to teach you. But I will teach you the difference between tradition and traditionalism. Traditionalism is the stuff we pass on. Tradition is the passing on of the stuff”. |
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25 January 2021
 1989. Two lines of Kurdish refugees, children in the foreground and adults behind. Eyes forward or staring down the barrel of the camera, they stand squashed together, chests pressed into the backs of their line neighbour as though queueing for some inane activity. Only one young boy in a small blue parker breaks the continuity by looking directly into the camera and smiling. His smile is broad and genuine, as though he recognises the photographer – as one would smile at a friend or a beloved relative. He is calm. He shows no fear. He looks happy. |
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13 January 2021
 Pope Francis in the face of a grave crisis says we lack the culture to address the global environmental crisis. We need an new ecological conversion. But, solutions will not be emerged from just one way of transforming the reality. Christians are faced with a crisis both socially and ecologically. Christians need to reconsider the architecture of our lives. Christians need to redefine our notions of happiness to get beyond our notion of happiness. Art, writing and music are ways of building up a new culture of care for each other and the environment. |
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11 January 2021
 As part of a series highlighting the work of young people in addressing the climate crisis, writer Patricia Lane interviews Matt Humphrey, an Anglican priest, writer and educator who mixes faith with environmental stewardship |
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11 January 2021
 Since the 1950's, orangutan numbers have halved. Young orangutans are being snatched from the wild for the illegal pet trade, and their mothers often killed to fuel the illegal wildlife trade. |
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05 January 2021
 Strangers organise funeral for Arpad Kiss, 82, who died alone on the streets of DarwinThe 82-year-old man's funeral service was small and simple, attended by about a dozen people who were both strangers and the last people he encountered.Those who went said it was a strange but deeply moving experience: gathering to farewell someone they had never really met. |
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29 December 2020
 Belay Banaag is a centre for girls at risk in the south of the Philippines. Balay Banaag – “House of Hope” is a ‘safe place’ for girls at risk. This Marist Sisters Centre provides shelter, support, education and an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty for ‘at risk behaviours and abuse of girls’. These young girls come from families at risk and are very vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Often these girls cannot return home because they are at risk. Balay Banaag offers these girls a future with dignity, hope and independence. |
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29 December 2020
 This grandmother tree connects me to Country. I cried when I saw her burned. I remember brushing my teeth over the green enamel sink. I would gaze out the window at a prominent grandmother and ponder her age. This grandmother had soft pink skin, smooth and dimpled, and incredible curves that burled in places. She stood at least 25 metres tall. |
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26 December 2020
 I was exiled to that prison in August 2013. The comments underneath were full of hate towards refugees. Do the people writing this know that this place was a torture camp? Have those people ever asked themselves why refugees leave their families and flee their homelands? |
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24 December 2020
 On Wednesday, my own home church contacted me and, asked “Can you give up coming to church on Christmas day this year because the government had just halved the numbers of people who can attend church?” When I told my mum of eighty, she was quiet upset. All her life she has gone to church on Christmas day. |
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22 December 2020
 Up to 93,000 others were affected by the cyclone, the Disaster Office said — adding that those numbers may rise as communications are restored with affected areas. |
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22 December 2020
 Yesterday, 12 December, on the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, called on the leaders of the world's nations to declare states of 'climate emergency' in their countries to spur action to avoid 'catastrophic' global warming. |
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10 December 2020
 On 26 July 2013, I was with my classmates on my way home from my English language class. Suddenly, two bomb explosions occurred, one in the market and the other in the neighboring bazaar. I was just walking around the market (which was just 20 meters away from me) and going back to my village to the main town to catch a bus. The second blast almost hit me. Fortunately, I was behind a bus that saved me with just minor injuries, but I lost one of my most cherished classmates. |
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