What are Catholics to think about the proposed referendum on the Voice to Parliament? I suggest ten steps for Catholics inspired by our Catholic social teaching when approaching the forthcoming referendum, writes Fr Frank Brennan SJ in The Catholic Weekly.
During the first year of his pontificate, Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium said:
“An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better that we found it.
“We love this magnificent planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its tragedies and struggles, its hopes and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters.”
The playing of a didgeridoo featured at the Opening Mass of the Plenary’ Council’s Second Assembly in North Sydney last year. . PHOTO: Giovanni Portelli/Catholic Weekly.
Pope Francis then quoted with approval his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, who wrote in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est that “the just ordering of society and of the state is a central responsibility of politics,” and that the Church “cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice”.
Pope Francis added this observation: “All Christians, their pastors included, are called to show concern for the building of a better world. This is essential, for the Church’s social thought is primarily positive: it offers proposals, it works for change and in this sense it constantly points to the hope born of the loving heart of Jesus Christ.”
Our recent Australian Plenary Council endorsed the Uluru Statement from the Heart and encouraged, “engagement with processes for implementing the statement, including local, regional, and national truth-telling efforts.”
I suggest ten steps for Catholics inspired by our Catholic social teaching when approaching the forthcoming referendum. I couch these suggestions in terms appropriate for those of us who are not Indigenous.
We are all invited into constructive dialogue. We must strive to listen to community leaders who know what is good for their communities just as those of us who are not Indigenous know what is good for ourselves and our loved ones.
Click through to The Catholic Weekly to read Fr Brennan’s 10 steps.