Walk with Aboriginal and Torress Strait Islander peoples towards a better nation - Photo:canva.com
St Columbans Mission Society supports Archbishop Mark Coleridge's public endorsement of the Uluru Statement From the Heart as reported in CathNews, a service of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (see below). This is an historic commitment by the Catholic Church to back indigenous leaders demanding a constitutional voice.
"Only a heart of stone could allow the indigenous peoples to become aliens, exiles, and refugees in their own land," Archbishop Coleridge said during Mass for First Nations leaders and parish representatives at the Santa Teresa Spirituality Centre in Orminston, east of Brisbane.
Following Mass, Archbishop Coleridge formerly endorsed the Uluru Statement From the Heart, a landmark document signed by 250 indigenous leaders in 2017 and invited all Australians "to walk with Aboriginal and Torress Strait Islander peoples" towards a better nation.
This public endorsement from Archbishop Coleridge comes only days before the Catholic Church's Plenary Council, which runs from October 3-10. One of the key themes for the Plenary Council is 'renewing the Church's solidarity with First Australians'.
Columban Fr Kevin O'Neill is a member of the Peace, Ecology and Justice office at the Columban Mission Center, Essendon.
Related links
Brisbane Archbishop backs Uluru Statement and
an indigenous voice in the Constitution
