The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference have released the 2013 Social Justice Statement, PAUL DOBBYN takes a look at the document.
AUSTRALIA’S Catholic Bishops have called on Australians to “confront the challenge of world poverty” in their 2013-14 statement on social justice.
The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference statement Lazarus at Our Gate: A critical moment in the fight against world poverty also called for a renewed commitment by the Federal Government to address global poverty.
The statement noted significant anniversaries in Church history including “the 50th anniversary of the great Encyclical of Pope John XXIII, Pacem in Terris (‘Peace on Earth’), which affirmed the dignity of every human person”.
Noting “around 20 per cent of the world’s poor live at Australia’s gate,” the document said: “We can judge the ethical and moral quality of a society by the way it treats its most vulnerable members.”
Other parts of the statement looked at disadvantages faced by the world’s indigenous peoples and of people with disabilities.
It also looked at what Australia could do to deal with world poverty, noting Australia had assumed some important responsibilities “as a nation elected onto the United Nations Security Council…and as host of the 2014 Group of Twenty economic summit in Brisbane”.
After the statement’s release, Australian Catholic Social Justice Council chairman Bishop Christopher Saunders said Australia “has a historic opportunity to be a force for peace and generosity in the global response to poverty”.
He criticised the new Abbott government’s proposal to cut $4.5billion from the foreign aid program, saying “our nation has a historic opportunity to be a force for peace and generosity in the global response to poverty”.
The statement was launched on September 13 in the St Mary MacKillop Chapel at the Melbourne campus of Australian Catholic University.
It was released ahead of Social Justice Sunday celebrated in Catholic churches around the nation on September 29.
Bishop Saunders, in a message opening the ACBC statement, said the statement drew its title and theme from Jesus’ parable of Lazarus, who sits unnoticed at the gate of the rich man.
“We need to acknowledge the undoubted successes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) campaign,” he said.
“For example, as the statement points out, the proportion of people in the world living in extreme poverty has been halved since 1990.
“That is only one of the great achievements brought about by work towards the MDGs and proves that development aid works.”
The Bishops in their opening comments said they had been “inspired by the compelling call of Jesus himself in his teachings and parables”.
“In our region, Australia is the rich man and Lazarus is at our gate,” they said.
“We are also conscious that, although enormous progress has been made in alleviating poverty throughout the world, there is still a great amount left to achieve.
“It is estimated that by 2015 almost one billion people will be living on an income of less than $1.25 a day.
“Over a quarter of a million women still die in childbirth annually.
“As many as eight million children die every year from malnutrition and preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, measles and malaria.”
Lazarus at Our Gate: A critical moment in the fight against world poverty also recalled Australia’s part in a declaration agreed to by 189 nations in 2000.
“The ensuing declaration consisted of eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015,” they wrote.
MDGs included to-eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, reduce child mortality, promote gender equality and empower women and combat HIV/AIDS malaria and other diseases.
“As we approach 2015, Australians will be called to put the children, women and men living in poverty at the forefront of our decision-making,” they said.
“This call comes first from those living in poverty.
“Their dignity demands that we respond to their cry.
“Secondly, the call arises from the international community’s efforts since the year 2000 to halve extreme poverty by 2015.”
The ACBC statement noted Australia’s “important responsibilities”.
“As a nation elected onto the United Nations Security Council, we have a direct hand dealing with global security challenges and humanitarian crises,” it said.
“As host of the 2014 Group of Twenty (G-20) economic summit in Brisbane, we have an opportunity to promote the responsibility of the world’s leading economies towards the world’s poor.
“We, the Catholic bishops of Australia, call on our government to exercise these responsibilities not merely in our country’s narrow interests, but in the spirit of the common good of all humanity.
“Australia cannot claim these roles in world leadership if it has not shown that we are willing to act in the interests of the poorest and most marginalised within our shores, in our region and worldwide.”
The Catholic bishops’ statement and associated resources can be downloaded at: www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au.
