MORE than 250 indigenous Catholics from across Australia who recently attended the 2009 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) as-sembly have impressed organisers with their commitment to “inject the future into their ministry”.
For Brisbane archdiocese’s Murri Ministry co-ordinator Ravina Waldren the event also highlighted areas in which indigenous adults and youth could be better involved in consultation at a local level.
“During my involvement in organising the event, I realised the need for separate indigenous consultation committees from local areas to be attached to the archdiocese,” Ms Waldren said.
“It’s one way to avoid burnout by those involved in the existing ministry.
“It would also be important to have youth representatives connected to such committees.”
Ms Waldren said it was great to see so many bishops – Bishop Christopher Saunders of Broome, Bishop Eugene Hurley of Darwin and Bishop Brian Heenan of Rockhampton – involved in the event.
Murri Ministry hosted the assembly which ran from September 20-25 at Bardon Convention Centre.
The assembly’s emphasis was on encouraging youth.
In attendance were Ab-original and Torres Strait Islander ministries, clergy, religious, community groups, Catholic Education groups, Aboriginal youth groups and others with an interest in Aboriginal ministries.
Ms Waldren said there were many highlights of the national assembly, the first held in Brisbane for more than 20 years.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma delivered the assembly’s keynote address speaking of his involvement in the creation of a model for a new national representative body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Mr Calma handed over his final report on the model to Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin on August 27.
Ms Waldren said the opening Mass and Archbishop John Bathersby’s homily, which recalled the warm and enthusiastic indigenous response to the arrival of Pope John Paul II to Alice Springs in 1986, helped set the tone for the assembly.
Many participants had also responded positively to the opportunity to visit indigenous communities at Cherbourg and Stradbroke Island.
“It was the first time at a national assembly that such a large number of participants had been involved in an immersion experience,” Ms Waldren said.
“More than 50 had travelled by bus to Cherbourg while nearly 70 went to Stradbroke Island.
“In case of Cherbourg it was a chance for those who had never done so to see a mission set-up and in some cases to see where family members had come from, which also highlighted the amazing family connections that often exist between Ab-original communities.”
On the Wednesday of the event indigenous youth prepared their own liturgy, “Land, fire and water”, connected to creation and the spirit.
The assembly’s final Mass was concelebrated by Fr Paul Devitt, of Dubbo, with Missionaries of God’s Love Father David Tremble, from Darwin, assisted by Deacon Theodore Tipiloura, from Bathurst Island.
The next NATSICC national assembly will be held in Melbourne in 2012.
