Dear friends,

Australia’s Catholic bishops have called on the nation to seek “a new engagement” with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in their annual Social Justice Statement launched this month.

As we approach the referendum on constitutional recognition of Australia’s First Nations peoples and the establishment of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the bishops’ statement encourages us to listen, really listen, to what our Indigenous brothers and sisters are saying.

The Social Justice Statement, Listen, Learn, Love: A New Engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, was launched in Western Sydney by Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, chair of the Bishops Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service.

While the Social Justice Statement is a teaching document of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, a large part of this year’s statement was written by members of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council. It is part of the message’s exhortation to “listen”.

“Listening is hard. Hearing about young people taking their lives, about so many people ending up in jail, of children still being taken away from their parents and grandparents and about the ongoing racism is tough,” Bishop Long said. “It must be so much more difficult for these people to tell us about their painful experiences. We are deeply grateful to those who shared their stories of pain with us.”

The theme for this year’s statement was chosen in May 2022, well before the Voice to Parliament referendum was mooted and before the timing of a vote was proposed. While the bishops don’t suggest how people should vote, Bishop Long says “whatever the outcome of this year’s referendum, we ask the Church in Australia to make efforts to lead the way for our fellow Australians” in pursuing reconciliation.

“Our attitudes and actions towards First Nations Peoples need to be grounded in justice, love and humility,” he said.

I am deeply grateful to the bishops for bringing this discussion to the fore. I agree with them wholeheartedly that we need to listen to our First Nations Peoples with deep respect and learn from them about what needs to be done to improve their situations. As Bishop Long said, we need to walk with them, day by day, and work with them to bring about change for the better – for their people and for all of us.

The Voice is just a part of the story, but it is a crucial first step in not only listening to what our Indigenous brothers and sisters have told us in their Uluru Statement from the Heart, but in responding to it, as individuals and as a nation.

Each of us must vote according to our own conscience on referendum day. On a personal level, I hope Australia doesn’t let this opportunity pass us by, as it will be long time before such a chance for genuine reconciliation comes our way again.

Let us take up the invitation from NATSICC and our bishops to “Listen, Learn, Love”. You can read the full text of the Social Justice Statement in the “Reflection” section of this edition of In the Word.

Yours in the Word,

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD,

Provincial.