The journey to reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is not easy, but the Catholic Church remains hopeful of healing. That is the message from Chair of the Bishops Commission for Relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Bishop Charles Gauci, as Australians mark National Reconciliation Week.

We Divine Word Missionaries share that hope for healing, and in fact, it is the bedrock of all that we do in our ministry with First Nations peoples in Australia.

National Reconciliation Week in Australia is observed in the last week in May, beginning this year on ‘Sorry Day’ (Sunday 26) and continuing through to the 3rd of June. The dates for NRW remain the same each year, yet they are not random: they commemorate two significant milestones on the reconciliation journey: the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

NRW in 2019 also coincides with the second anniversary of the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’ – a statement issued by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders at their gathering in Central Australia in May, 2017.

Diversity is an undeniable fact about humanity. Diversity exists in gender, age, culture, religion, social and economic class, and a host of other things that make one person’s life different from that of another. Looking at how there are so many differences that exist among individuals and cultures in the world, one might conclude that there cannot be any unifying factor that connects everyone.

Although it might seem that way, in fact, all people no matter what age or ethnicity do share at least this thing in common—everyone is endowed with a conscience.

As I write this reflection, we are in the early days of the new year. So I would not be far off to assume that many of us are in the middle of carrying out our new year resolutions—that is, if we chose to make them. The occasion of a brand new year has always been a popular and suitable opportunity to make some changes in our lives for the better—perhaps putting more effort and commitment into work, relationships, or personal projects than what was seen from us in the past. 

As a priest who listens to confession on a weekly basis, I am keen around this time of year to incorporate the notion of new year resolutions into the little advice that I give to those who come to me in the sacrament of reconciliation.

Reconciliation Week is observed in the last week in May. This year, it runs from Sunday May 27 through to the June 3, also coinciding with the first anniversary of the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart,’ issued by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders at their gathering in Central Australia in 2017.

The voiced essence of the Uluru Statement was the seeking of constitutional reforms to empower the First Peoples to take their rightful place in their own land: not tokenistic gestures of recognition, but true voices enshrined in the Constitution of Australia, with all peoples walking together into a better future.

During my holiday in the Philippines a few years ago, I visited some of the Holy Spirit Sisters at their convent in Manila.

This week is National Reconciliation Week and we in Australia are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum which gave Indigenous Australians the right to be counted as citizens in the Census. This year is also the 25th anniversary of the historic Mabo High Court Native Title decision.

Both of those events are rightfully celebrated as milestones in the life of our nation, but we’re all aware that much more needs to be done, both symbolically and on the ground in practical measures.