News from around the Catholic world for the week ending 8 November.
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• International experts gather in the Vatican to address the issue of human trafficking
• The world’s bishops to survey their dioceses ahead of next year’s extraordinary synod
• Catholic organisations protest the Government’s branding of asylum seekers
• Two new priests for the Hobart Archdiocese
• Mission school for young people to kick of 2014
TRANSCRIPT
BOBBIE: An International Conference held in the Vatican this week has put a spotlight back on the issue of human trafficking as the modern day slavery.
The two-day event was requested by Pope Francis and called together the world’s leading experts to share their findings on the issues of sex-trafficking, forced labour and organ harvesting. Each delegate was invited to present from a particular perspective and propose ways to combat the problem on a global scale.
Among those in attendance was human rights lawyer and UN Adviser Dr Anne Gallagher who has received several awards for her anti-trafficking work. Vatican Radio’s Susy Hodges spoke to Dr Gallagher about her hopes for the conference.
DR GALLAGHER: My great hope, and I’m also hoping that I’m not being truly too ambitious, is that this is the chance for some real moral leadership on an issue that unfortunately to date has lacked that kind of leadership. So, Pope Francis has come out very clearly and said that what’s happening around human trafficking, the exploitation of human beings for private profit is wrong and is in fact a shame on all of us, and these are the kinds of things that I think we all know but really have not been said so clearly before.
BOBBIE: Human trafficking is today a worldwide industry estimated at $30 billion. There are close to 27 million trafficked people in the world, a vast majority of whom are women and children.
Details on this story are available via Vatican Radio.
The Vatican has asked the world’s bishops to survey their dioceses on marriage and family issues in the lead up to next year’s Extraordinary Synod.
The request came with this week’s release of preparatory documents for the Extraordinary Synod, which is to be themed around the pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelisation. Pope Francis has asked for bishops to collect input from as many people as possible as they consider the challenges that are to be addressed at the Synod.
The Diocese of Parramatta’s Bishop Anthony Fisher has been among the first to respond by launching an online survey on Diocese’s website. The survey addresses issues including the Church’s teaching on marriage and family, pastoral care of those in difficult marital situations, same sex unions, education, openness to children and the relationship between the family and the person.
Bishop Fisher invited his diocese to consider their answers to the questionnaire prayerfully and purposefully.
“It is important that we respond to these questions after a suitable time in prayer so that our responses may be guided by the Holy Spirit and will properly inform me, the Holy See, the Synod and, ultimately, His Holiness,” Bishop Fisher said.
The Vatican has requested that submissions be collated by January ahead of the October Extraordinary Synod.
Details and a copy of the preparatory documents are available via the Diocese of Parramatta website.
Several Australian organisations, including Catholic dioceses and agencies, have voiced their objection to the Federal Government’s terminology concerning asylum seekers this week.
In a joint letter addressed to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, 138 organisations have called on the Government to stop using the term “illegal maritime arrivals” to refer to asylum seekers who arrive by boat.
“It is deeply disturbing that people of good conscience should be required, for political purposes, to use such dehumanising language,” the letter read.
“We ask you, for the sake of highly vulnerable people and for the good of our nation, to take the better path.”
‘Illegal maritime arrivals’ was introduced as official terminology to refer to boat arrivals by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship last month, and it has been reported that immigration staff and contractors have been required to adopt it.
Over 30 Catholic dioceses, religious orders and charitable organisations signed the letter, including the Archdioceses of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison clarified last month that the term “illegal maritime arrivals” refers to the illegal mode of arrival, rather than the claim for asylum – which is protected under international law.
The letter is available to download via the Refugee Council of Australia website.
The Archdiocese of Hobart has this week announced the appointment of two Sydney-based priests to parishes in Tasmania.
Frs Jaison Joseph Kuzhiyil and Fr Martin Aye Ngwe have accepted the invitation to fill the administrator positions in Central Tasmania Parish and West Tamar Parish respectively. The parishes have been left vacant due to a shortage of priests in the Hobart Archdiocese and the departure of the Marist and Franciscan Orders.
Archbishop Julian Porteous has been working to address Tasmania’s priest shortage since his appointment to the Archdiocese earlier this year. Following the announcement of his appointment in July Archbishop said his focus for the Archdiocese would be on vocations, the new evangelisation and youth ministry.
Details on that story via the Archdiocese of Hobart website.
In other news, Australia’s Immaculata Community are inviting 15-35 year olds to kick off the New Year with two weeks of prayer, formation and fun at their annual Immaculata Mission School.
The School, which is now in its 7th year, will be held at the Sacred Heart Retreat Centre in Croydon, Victoria from 1-13 January.
Last year’s mission school attracted more than 80 young people and featured a range of speakers including Professor Drake McCalister from Franciscan University of Steubenville. The school is run by the Immaculata Community, which incorporates both the Sisters of the Immaculata and the lay community.
We caught up with the Community’s founder Mother Mary Therese at last year’s mission school to talk about how the school came to be.
MOTHER MARY THERESE: The reason we have the mission school is really… our theme is to know God, to love God and to make Him known. Our aim is to get young people that really aren’t catechised, don’t know much about the faith. We go into parishes and it’s often, you know, they get to 16, 17 or they go to university and then they leave; so we want to get them before that so that, number one, they can learn about the faith because they can’t love what they don’t know.
And also we really want them to know that they are loved and what a gift they are, so that they will really know the purpose of life, the meaning of life, and to know how necessary they are in bringing renewal in the parish… sometimes they don’t even know they’re wanted, so we want them to know that they are wanted and they are loved.
BOBBIE: You can hear the full interview and details for the upcoming Immaculata Mission School via the Cradio website.
Music Credit: Waking Up Instrumental – Dexter Britain
