AUSTRALIA: ABORIGINALS ARE HONORED 1ST SUN. IN JULY

DIOCESE OF PARRAMATTA REPORT: Each year on the first Sunday in July, the Catholic Church in Australia honours and prays with the First Australians.

To coincide with Aboriginal Torres & Strait Islander Sunday 2011 (3 July), the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference through its Bishops Commission for Relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders has released a statement titledFriendship: a new name for solidarity with First Australians’.

“What we call the principle of solidarity is frequently stated by Pope Leo XIII, who uses the term friendship’,” the Bishops Commission says.

“The term friendship’ with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a possibility we could examine more fully.

This would imply that to be in solidarity with the First Australians means to deepen our friendship with each other.

“It means to develop an attitude of support and unity. It makes our relationship personal and practical.

By developing friendships, we would become aware first-hand of the issues that concern us all.”

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