Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney
Mob: 0417 279 437
mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au
Assistant Priest: Fr Paschal Okpon
Mob: 0438 562 731
paschalokpon@yahoo.com
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
pmccormack43@bigpond.com
Postal Address: PO Box 362, Devonport 7310
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street, Devonport 7310
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au
Secretary: Annie Davies
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Felicity Sly
Mob: 0418 301 573
fsly@internode.on.net
Mob: 0417 279 437
mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au
Assistant Priest: Fr Paschal Okpon
Mob: 0438 562 731
paschalokpon@yahoo.com
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
pmccormack43@bigpond.com
Postal Address: PO Box 362, Devonport 7310
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street, Devonport 7310
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au
Secretary: Annie Davies
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Felicity Sly
Mob: 0418 301 573
fsly@internode.on.net
Parish Mass times for the Month: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: mikedelaney.podomatic.com
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
PLENARY COUNCIL PRAYER
Come, Holy Spirit of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
Parish Prayer
Heavenly Father,
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month - commences at 10am and concludes with Mass
Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Mondays 7pm Community Room Ulverstone
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Arrangements are made by contacting Parish Office. Parents attend a Baptismal Preparation Session organised with a Priest.
Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist: Are received following a Family–centred, Parish-based, School-supported Preparation Program.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: prepares adults for reception into the Catholic community.
Marriage: arrangements are made by contacting one of our priests - couples attend a Pre-marriage Program
Anointing of the Sick: please contact one of our priests
Reconciliation: Ulverstone - Fridays (10am - 10:30am), Devonport - Saturday (5:15pm– 5.45pm)
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month - commences at 10am and concludes with Mass
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month - commences at 10am and concludes with Mass
Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Mondays 7pm Community Room Ulverstone
Weekday Masses 20th – 23rd August, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin … St Bernard
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe … St Pius X
Thursday: 12noon Devonport … The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Next Weekend 24th & 25th August, 2019
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
MINISTRY ROSTERS 24th & 25th AUGUST, 2019
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: V Riley, A Stegmann, G Hendry
10:30am E
Petts, K Pearce, O McGinley
Piety Shop 24th August:
R Baker
25th August: K Hull
Ulverstone:
Penguin:
Latrobe:
Port Sorell:
Readings this Week: 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY'S GOSPEL:
I enter into my prayer time by deliberately slowing down.
I
use the way that suits me best – whatever quietens my body, mind and heart.
I
allow my inner stillness to grow, preparing myself for a fresh encounter with
the living Lord.
When I am ready, I slowly read the text several times.
I may
like to try and enter the scene, imagining Jesus speaking to me, and perhaps to
my community.
What is the tone of his voice?
How does he look?
Do I feel drawn
to him, or perhaps confused or even frightened by him?
I notice how I react to
the power of his challenging words, and share whatever arises with him.
In
reading the passage again, I may notice Jesus’s leadership style.
Perhaps I become aware of Jesus’s own anxiety
about the path ahead of him.
How do I relate and respond to this human Jesus?
Perhaps
I feel drawn to comfort him?
In what ways do I want the Lord to help me grow as
a human being, as one of his faithful followers?
I speak to the Lord – who
understands what it is to inhabit a human body.
Readings Next Week: 21st Sunday
in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Isaiah
66: 18-21
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Norie Capulong, Shelley Sing, Joy Carter, Marie Knight, Allan Stott, Christiana Okpon, Peter Sylvester, Des Dalton & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Pat Elliott, Mark Jones, Barbara Devlin, Jack McMahon, Shirley Bourke, John Doherty, Peggy O’Leary, Tagling Saili, Cres Novel, Naning Camocamo, Restituto Carcuevas
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 15th – 21st August, 2019
Tom Hyland, Trevor Hudson, Rita & Cyril Speers, Darlene Haigh, Gaylene Jeffries, Lionel Rosevear, Leslie Coad, Andrew McLennan, Beverley Graham, Allen Cruse, Mary Watson, Philip Hofmeyer, Colin Hodgson, Nicolaas Knaap, Margaret Sheehan, Nicolle Gillam-Barber, Alex Negri, Cheryl Leary, Kathleen Laycock, Rita Groves, Cathy Thuaire, Kevin Court, Jenny Wright. Also relatives and friends of the Marshall, Speers, Hawes, Willis and Pilkington families.
May
the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen
SACRAMENTAL
PROGRAM:
We congratulate the children and their families
as we continue to pray for them;
Joe Borlini, Imogen Charlesworth, Sienna Clarke, Paige Curran,
Willow Farr, Brandon Haeren, Niamh Kelly, Lily Kilvington,
Oscar Lakeland, Wilf McGann, Thomas Marshall, Peter Metz,
Sadie Peters, Emily Phegan, Addison Phipps, Georgie Phipps,
Tess Radford, Oscar Smollen and Riley Webb,
Many
happy returns Allan McIntyre on your 80th Birthday!
Weekly
Ramblings
We welcome Archbishop
Julian to our Parish this weekend as he celebrates the Sacrament of
Confirmation for 19 young parishioners. Please continue to pray for them and
their families as their journey towards becoming fully initiated members of our
Catholic Community when they receive the Eucharist for the first time on the
weekend of the 31st Aug/1st Sept.
A reminder
that the Eucharist Preparation Day will be held at Sacred Heart Church next
Saturday, 24th – please note the change of venue from the original
program.
Over the
past few weeks we have been speaking about Living Generously and how it is more
than just money. In my homily I suggested that there were 7 was we can be
generous – our Thoughts, our Words, our Influence, our Time, our Stuff, our
Attitudes as well as our Money. Thanks to all of you who, in so many ways, are
extremely generous in what you do in our Parish and our Community – without
your wonderful support we would not be able to continue.
Take care on the roads and in your homes, 
MT
ST VINCENT AUXILIARY:
will be holding a Cake and Craft Stall at Mt St Vincent,
Ulverstone on Wednesday
21st August starting at 9am. Please come along, bring a friend (or two)!
THURSDAY 22nd
August – Eyes down 7:30pm.
Callers Tony
Ryan & Rod Clark
ATTENTION –
WE NEED YOUR HELP – BINGO!
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE:
Phone: 6428 3095 Email: rsjforth@bigpond.net.au
Spirituality in the Coffee Shoppe: Monday 26th August, 10:30am – 12 noon. Join us for a chat on topics of interest to YOU over a cuppa!
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITY:
St Vincent de Paul Society are seeking volunteer members in
the Devonport/Ulverstone and surrounding areas, to help provide Emergency
Relief assistance to people in need.
“The St Vincent de Paul Society is
a lay Catholic organisation that aspires to live the gospel message by serving
Christ in the poor with love, respect, justice, hope and joy, and by working to
shape a more just and compassionate society”.
FOOTY
MARGIN RESULTS: Round 20 (Friday 9th August)
Hawthorn won by 56 points. Congratulations to the following winners; Lally Hay,
GRAND FINAL FOOTY MARGIN TICKETS:
$10.00 tickets are now selling – hurry and get yours today! The winner of the $10 tickets will
receive $500.00 and the holder of
the ticket with the number either side of the winning number $100.00. The $10.00 tickets are available from Devonport, Ulverstone and Port
Sorell Mass Centres or by phoning the Parish Office 6424:2783 The weekly $2.00
footy margin tickets will be sold (as normal) during the finals.
NEWS FROM
ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
Past
scholars of Our Lady of Mercy College Deloraine are invited to a reunion
lunch at Pedro’s Restaurant, Ulverstone on Friday 30th August, 12
noon. Phone: Vivienne Williams: 64 37:0878.
- SICK AND AGED PRIEST FUND APPEAL: was established to ensure that all
diocesan priests incardinated into the Archdiocese of Hobart would receive
adequate accommodation, health care and support needed in their retirement, or
should they become ill. Retirement expenses are currently met by the Sick and
Aged Priest Fund via donations and bequests, and by priests themselves. There
are no federal or state government grants to support clergy in retirement. The Sick and Aged Priest Fund helps to meet
the following needs of our diocesan priests: A modest
monthly allowance
- Nursing
home and hostel care for frail priests
- Assistance
in transitioning to retirement
- Assistance
with out of pocket medical and dental expenses
- Assistance
with board and lodging expenses
- Motor
vehicle costs.
Please support our
diocesan priests through the Sick and Aged Priest Fund Appeal during September.
Your donation can be placed in an envelope which will be available from all
Mass Centres early September.
International Pro-Life Filmmaker to speak on the cultural
impact of Euthanasia: August 29
Kevin Dunn – International Pro- Life Filmmaker, will speak
on the topic of Living, Dying and the Power of Presence, using clips
from his documentaries about how euthanasia laws are affecting the culture
of The Netherlands, Belgium, USA and Canada and what we can do to stem the tide.
The talk will take place from 7-9pm on Thursday August 29 at Legana Christian
Church, 1 Gerrard Close, Legana. For more information about the event please
contact Ben Smith on 6208 6036 or ben.smith@aohtas.org.au.
For more information on Kevin see: www.kevindunn.info
.
DOMINICAN ANNIVERSARY:
60 years ago the Dominican Sisters arrived in Hobart, to bring Catholic Education for girls to the Northern Suburbs. Dominican Anniversary will be celebrated with a special Mass on Sunday, September 15th at 10 am at St John’s Glenorchy. Morning tea will follow. All friends, old scholars and associates of the Dominicans are warmly invited to attend.
Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic Charity that supports suffering and persecuted Christians. Currently over 200 million Christians worldwide cannot freely exercise their faith; Christians are persecuted, discriminated against or oppressed in more than 40 countries. The primary work of Aid to the Church in Need is focused on providing spiritual and pastoral support to keep the Catholic faith alive. We support projects at the request of bishops and religious superiors who have nowhere else to turn. We invite you to stay informed by receiving news from the suffering Church. Visit www.aidtochurch.org and click ‘subscribe’. If you prefer to receive our newsletter via post, call 1800 101 201 during business hours to arrange.
Love Your Enemy
This article is taken from the Daily Email sent by Fr Richard Rohr OFM from the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can subscribe to receive the email by clicking here
To you who are listening, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. —Luke 6:27-29
One of the hardest things to understand with the dualistic mind is Jesus’ command to love your enemy. I’m often asked, “How can we love Al-Qaeda or ISIS (Islamic State or Da’esh) or the Westboro Baptists from our own hometown?”
First, I want to point out that violent, fundamentalist religious groups use God-talk constantly: “God is great. This is for God. I’m a martyr for God. I’m on God’s good side, but you’re going to hell.” Their words and behavior are rooted in dualistic thinking where everything is clear-cut, black and white, good and bad. This is religion at its worst, entirely lacking in inner experience. And so, we can imagine how someone might say, “God is great!” and pull out a gun to shoot thirty people or shout hate speech, having not experienced God as infinite and inclusive love.
I want to be honest and up-front about this. We’re dealing with a lot of low-level, dualistic thinking—in Christianity, in Islam, and in every religion at its immature levels. People use religion to cover their own malevolence, hatefulness, fear, and anger. It’s not just Islam. Christianity has been doing this for centuries. But we’ve got to do better.
How can we do better? To begin, we might put ourselves in the other’s shoes and imagine why someone is so hateful. While working in the Albuquerque jail for over a decade, I met many men who had been raised in a punitive, authoritarian, absolutist way, often with an absent or abusive father. Understanding another’s story can teach us compassion. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t set some healthy boundaries. But it does open our hearts and help us recognize that other people are victims, too. They’ve been wounded, too. Yet they are still objectively an image of God, created in God’s image.
As you’re able to open your heart to your “enemy,” allow God’s love to flow through you to them. Picture their face and send them warmth and tenderness. If this is a struggle, begin by focusing on someone that is easy for you to love, for whom you feel natural affection. Then broaden that circle of compassion to friends, acquaintances, and strangers. No one is outside the embrace of God’s loving presence!
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Exploring and Experiencing the Naked Now, disc 3 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2010), CD, DVD, MP3 download.
Our Values: Excellence
This article is taken from the Blog posted by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timoneum, Baltimore. You can find the original blog by clicking here
Over the past few weeks we have been using this space to reflect on the values we rely on in serving our mission as a parish. This week “Excellence.”
Excellence in the church can be hard to define. Some parishioners measure the excellence of a homily by its length (the shorter the better). Still others judge the excellence of church music by their own familiarity with it, or personal preferences. For pastors and parish staff, excellence can be even harder to define.
Over time, we have come to identify excellence as outstanding fitness for a purpose. Here are a few marks of excellence we’ve identified.
Dynamic
Excellence is all about many qualities at the same time: it is energetic, vital, vigorous, potent, effective, enterprising, sometimes bold. It’s moving, it’s going somewhere. For instance, when we first started on our rebuilding journey we heavily invested time, energy, and money in our Sunday evening Mass and the youth program that followed it. Our investment there was absurdly disproportionate to other Masses, programs, and services. And it was there we achieved a level of excellence that we realized we wanted to replicate at our other weekend services and programs. Today, we offer the same experience across all our Mass times. Each Mass has the same message, same music, and same volunteer ministers (though different teams) to host and serve. That might not sound very dynamic but it’s not about doing many things, it’s about doing only a few things in an ever increasingly exceptional way.
Disciplined
Excellence is disciplined, or, in another word, intentional. Excellence doesn’t just happen by accident. Too often in church world, we get caught up in the grind of preparing for the next weekend that we don’t stop to intentionally plan our long-term strategy. Excellence requires us to make time for preparation: message preparation, music rehearsals, event preparation, and staff training. It also requires strategically determining what not to do, which expectations will remain unmet, what requests go unanswered. Admittedly this is hard for pastors and church staff who are often people-pleasers. The disciplined pursuit of excellence will not please everyone.
Discontented
Excellence is not a destination. As we discussed in a blog post on our value of adaptability, our culture and context are constantly changing. Unless you are a perfect preacher and pastor (I’m not), there is always room for improvement. Seek out experts to learn from. Read compelling books. Relentlessly review and renew the weekend experience with your staff. Experiment constantly, rip off other people’s great ideas. There is a certain habit of discontentment to excellence.
As we launch our new year (September 7 & 8 is “Kick-Off Weekend”), there will be plenty of evidence of our discontent: expansion of our music program, changes on the Concourse and in the Café, expanded and rebranded shuttle parking service, to name a few features.
We define excellence as outstanding fitness for a purpose. In other words, excellence is measured by how well we are serving our purpose: love God, love others, and make disciples. Our mission is the yardstick for everything we do. The excellence of our message, music, and ministers, and programs and services, our campus and buildings, all of our communication is measured by how they are serving and advancing our mission.
We’ve also discussed excellence in worship in a past blog post. Check out that post here. And stay tuned to this blog for next week’s post on the fifth value: “Committed.”
Respect, Recognition and Dialogue:
The Church in the Amazon
The Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region in October 2019 will place the experience of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon at its centre. Michael Czerny SJ, Special Secretary to the Synod, explains why there is an urgent need for the Church to be present in the region with compassion and justice. Michael Czerny SJ, Under-Secretary to the Vatican’s Section on Migrants and Refugees, is serving as Special Secretary to the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon in Rome in October 2019. You can read this article on the ThinkingFaith.org website by clicking here
The Church is committed to modelling its presence in the Amazon on the example of the Good Samaritan: it seeks to act on the gospel commitment to compassion and justice. It must observe, understand, then reach out and act. This is the reason that Pope Francis convoked a Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region. With the help of the Synod, it will be possible to introduce pastoral and environmental initiatives in the Amazon and thereby affirm the modes of being Church that such actions entail.
This readiness for commitment is usefully synthesised in the final chapter of the working document for the Synod, the Instrumentum Laboris (IL),[1] which sums up the challenges and hopes of a prophetic Church in the Amazon basin. The horizon against which this vision takes shape, without which there can be no justice and no life, is the fact that ‘everything is connected’, as Pope Francis explained in Laudato si’ (§138). The social and the natural cannot – and the environmental and the pastoral must not – be separated. Dangerous compartmentalisations – intellectual and spiritual, economic and political – have put human life in jeopardy on Earth, the common home of humanity.
The upcoming Synod is committed to helping heal the ruptures in a part of the world where the consequences of contemporary misconceptions and pernicious practices are particularly serious. It is time for the Church to grapple with this challenge. Hence the wording of the Synod theme, ‘New paths for the Church and for integral ecology’, and the title of the final chapter of the Instrumentum Laboris, ‘The prophetic role of the Church and integral human promotion’. Both speak about dimensions or dynamics that must go together in the Church’s mission: pastoral ministries, human promotion, integral ecology, new paths and prophetic roles.
Like Laudato si’ with its extensive historical, scientific, economic and pastoral exposition, the IL also provides a lengthy analysis of current conditions in the Amazon. In the words of Pope Francis: ‘Amazonia is being disputed on various fronts... There is neo-extractivism and the pressure being exerted by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum, gas, wood, gold and forms of agro-industrial monocultivation’.[2] The IL adds:
The manifold destruction of human and environmental life, the diseases and pollution of rivers and lands, the felling and burning of trees, the massive loss of biodiversity, the disappearance of species (more than one million of the eight million animals and plants are at risk), constitute a brutal reality that challenges us all. Violence, chaos and corruption are rampant. The territory has become a space of discord and of extermination of peoples, cultures and generations (§23).
The conditions in the Amazon have various causes. Local and multinational interests support and encourage public or private investments at the cost of devastating impacts on the Amazon’s environment and its inhabitants. However, a key starting point is that indigenous peoples see their territories being threatened: they are undermined by interests that exploit them and are often denied the title to their own lands.
This is in contravention of international law and conventions.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (adopted on 13 September 2007), to which the pope has referred on several occasions, contains rights as important as the right to self-determination, by virtue of which indigenous peoples determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development (art. 3). In the exercise of their self-determination, indigenous peoples have the right to autonomy in matters relating to their internal and local affairs (art. 4). And article 6 of the 1989 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries gives rise to their right not to be affected by legislative or administrative measures which may affect them directly without first being consulted ‘in good faith and in a manner appropriate to the circumstances’ in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent.[3]
The disparity of forces and, in many cases, the flagrant disrespect for constitutional rights, as well as the imposition of a so-called model of development, are continually causing great social upheavals in many indigenous communities: vulnerability, deteriorating relationships, migration, unemployment, violence and hunger. The lack of recognition, demarcation and title of the territories (a sine qua non for personal security, community stability and cultural survival) has led to an alarming number of martyrs in the Amazon. ‘To question power in the defense of territory and human rights is to risk one’s life, to step onto the path of cross and martyrdom.’ (IL §145)
The IL cites that 1,119 indigenous people were murdered between 2003 and 2017 for the broad reason that they were ‘defending their territory’.[4] In fact, these murders are sometimes attributed more specifically to drunkenness, domestic violence or local disputes. In general, though, they should be understood as consequences of environmental as well as social and structural deterioration, problems flowing from the lack of demarcation of indigenous territories and their invasion by powerful outside interests.
The Church in its pastoral role works closely with victims, and in its prophetic role opposes abuses. It is called to be ‘the advocate of justice and of the poor’, as Pope Benedict XVI reminded the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean.[5] The Church’s presence is, in reality, ‘a prism through which one can identify the fragile points of the response of our States and societies as such to urgent situations and over which, independently of the Church, there are concrete and historical debts that we cannot avoid’.[6] By ‘seeing with a critical conscience’, as the Church does wherever it ministers, it observes ‘a series of behaviours and realities of the indigenous peoples that go against the Gospel.’ (IL §144)
How should the Church react? Papal writings since Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum in the 1890s, the documents of Vatican II and a continuously growing body of Catholic Social Teaching all provide clear guidance. In response to a dominant model of society that leads to exclusion and inequality, and an economic model that kills the most vulnerable and destroys our common home, the mission of the Church must include a prophetic commitment to the dignity of every human being without distinction, and to justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
As Pope Francis states so clearly, ‘I believe that the central issue is how to reconcile the right to development, both social and cultural, with the protection of the particular characteristics of indigenous peoples and their territories. [...] In this regard, the right to prior and informed consent should always prevail’.[7] Speaking to the indigenous people of the Amazon at Puerto Maldonado, he said: ‘I consider it essential to begin creating institutional expressions of respect, recognition and dialogue with the native peoples, acknowledging and recovering their native cultures, languages, traditions, rights and spirituality’.[8]
In the Amazon, the ‘good living’ (buen vivir) of the indigenous people depends on the just demarcation of their territories and on scrupulous respect for the same. Politics, in the words of Pope St John Paul II, ‘is the use of legitimate authority in order to attain the common good of society’.[9] The basic political task is to assure a just social order, and the Church ‘cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice.’ (Evangelii Gaudium §183, cf. Deus caritas est, §28) So the Church stands with indigenous people as they seek to care for their territory.
With all these great difficulties and dynamics, threats and promises in our minds and also in our prayer, let us recall the words of Pope Francis that serve to open this final chapter of the IL. ‘From the heart of the Gospel we see the profound connection between evangelization and human advancement, which must necessarily find expression and develop in every work of evangelization.’ (Evangelii Gaudium §178)
This article first appeared in Italian in L’Osservatore Romano on 1 August 2019.
[1] Working Document for the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region: http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/documents/pan-amazon-synod--the-working-document-for-the-synod-of-bishops.html
[2] Pope Francis, Meeting with Indigenous People of the Amazon, Coliseo Regional Madre de Dios (Puerto Maldonado, Perú), 19 January 2018: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2018/january/documents/papa-francesco_20180119_peru-puertomaldonado-popoliamazzonia.html
[3] Pedro Barreto SJ, ‘Synod for the Amazonia and Human Rights: Peoples, Communities and States in Dialogue,” Civiltà Cattolica 4058 (July 2019). https://www.laciviltacattolica.com/synod-for-the-amazonia-and-human-rights-peoples-communities-and-states-in-dialogue/
[4] Cf. Consiglio Indigenista Missionario, CNBB, Brazil, ‘Relatório de violência contra os Povos Indígenas no Brasil – Dados de 2017’, pp. 84ff. This report is presented by Dom Roque Paloschi, ‘Na ausência da Justiça, a violência cotidiana devasta as vidas dentro e fora das terras indígenas’, Brasília 2018, p. 9.
[5] Address of Pope Benedict XVI to the Inaugural Session of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean (13 May 2007): http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2007/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20070513_conference-aparecida.html
[6] Pedro Barreto SJ, op cit.
[7] Pope Francis, Address to III Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples' Forum of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 15 February 2017: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2017/february/documents/papa-francesco_20170215_popoli-indigeni.html
[8] Pope Francis, Meeting with Indigenous People of the Amazon.
[9] John Paul II, Address for the Jubilee of Government Leaders, Members of Parliament and Politicians, 4 November 2000, §2. http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2000/oct-dec/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20001104_jubil-parlgov.html
Weekday Masses 20th – 23rd August, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin … St Bernard
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe … St Pius X
Thursday: 12noon Devonport … The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Next Weekend 24th & 25th August, 2019
Next Weekend 24th & 25th August, 2019
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
5:00pm Latrobe
MINISTRY ROSTERS 24th & 25th AUGUST, 2019
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: V Riley, A Stegmann, G Hendry
10:30am E
Petts, K Pearce, O McGinley
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil M Heazlewood, G Lee-Archer,
M Kelly, P Shelverton
10.30am: M Sherriff, T & S Ryan, D & M Barrientos
Cleaners 23rd
Aug: B Paul, D
Atkins, V Riley 30th Aug: M & R Youd
Piety Shop 24th August:
R Baker
25th August: K Hull
Mowing of lawns Presbytery Aug: M Tippett
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: S Webb
Ministers of
Communion: Volunteers
Cleaners: Flowers: I Beard
Hospitality:
T Good Team
Penguin:
Greeters P Ravallion, P Lade
Commentator:
E Nickols
Readers: J Garnsey, Y Downes
Ministers of
Communion: P Lade,
J Barker Liturgy: Pine Road
Setting Up: A Landers Care of Church: G Hills-Eade, T Clayton
Latrobe:
Reader: M Eden Minister of
Communion: M
Mackey
Procession of
Gifts: Parishioner
Port Sorell:
Readers: G & V Duff Ministers of Communion: L Post
Cleaners: C & J Howard
Readings this Week: 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Second Reading: Hebrews 12:1-4
Gospel: Luke 12:49-53
PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY'S GOSPEL:
I enter into my prayer time by deliberately slowing down.
I use the way that suits me best – whatever quietens my body, mind and heart.
I allow my inner stillness to grow, preparing myself for a fresh encounter with the living Lord.
When I am ready, I slowly read the text several times.
I may like to try and enter the scene, imagining Jesus speaking to me, and perhaps to my community.
What is the tone of his voice?
How does he look?
Do I feel drawn to him, or perhaps confused or even frightened by him?
I notice how I react to the power of his challenging words, and share whatever arises with him.
In reading the passage again, I may notice Jesus’s leadership style.
I use the way that suits me best – whatever quietens my body, mind and heart.
I allow my inner stillness to grow, preparing myself for a fresh encounter with the living Lord.
When I am ready, I slowly read the text several times.
I may like to try and enter the scene, imagining Jesus speaking to me, and perhaps to my community.
What is the tone of his voice?
How does he look?
Do I feel drawn to him, or perhaps confused or even frightened by him?
I notice how I react to the power of his challenging words, and share whatever arises with him.
In reading the passage again, I may notice Jesus’s leadership style.
What does his passion and honesty about the challenges of
being a disciple stir in me?
Perhaps I become aware of Jesus’s own anxiety about the path ahead of him.
How do I relate and respond to this human Jesus?
Perhaps I feel drawn to comfort him?
In what ways do I want the Lord to help me grow as a human being, as one of his faithful followers?
I speak to the Lord – who understands what it is to inhabit a human body.
Perhaps I become aware of Jesus’s own anxiety about the path ahead of him.
How do I relate and respond to this human Jesus?
Perhaps I feel drawn to comfort him?
In what ways do I want the Lord to help me grow as a human being, as one of his faithful followers?
I speak to the Lord – who understands what it is to inhabit a human body.
Glory be ….
Readings Next Week: 21st Sunday
in Ordinary Time – Year C
First Reading: Isaiah
66: 18-21
Second
Reading: Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13
Gospel: Luke 13:
22-30
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Norie Capulong, Shelley Sing, Joy Carter, Marie Knight, Allan Stott, Christiana Okpon, Peter Sylvester, Des Dalton & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Pat Elliott, Mark Jones, Barbara Devlin, Jack McMahon, Shirley Bourke, John Doherty, Peggy O’Leary, Tagling Saili, Cres Novel, Naning Camocamo, Restituto Carcuevas
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 15th – 21st August, 2019
Tom Hyland, Trevor Hudson, Rita & Cyril Speers, Darlene Haigh, Gaylene Jeffries, Lionel Rosevear, Leslie Coad, Andrew McLennan, Beverley Graham, Allen Cruse, Mary Watson, Philip Hofmeyer, Colin Hodgson, Nicolaas Knaap, Margaret Sheehan, Nicolle Gillam-Barber, Alex Negri, Cheryl Leary, Kathleen Laycock, Rita Groves, Cathy Thuaire, Kevin Court, Jenny Wright. Also relatives and friends of the Marshall, Speers, Hawes, Willis and Pilkington families.
Norie Capulong, Shelley Sing, Joy Carter, Marie Knight, Allan Stott, Christiana Okpon, Peter Sylvester, Des Dalton & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Pat Elliott, Mark Jones, Barbara Devlin, Jack McMahon, Shirley Bourke, John Doherty, Peggy O’Leary, Tagling Saili, Cres Novel, Naning Camocamo, Restituto Carcuevas
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 15th – 21st August, 2019
Tom Hyland, Trevor Hudson, Rita & Cyril Speers, Darlene Haigh, Gaylene Jeffries, Lionel Rosevear, Leslie Coad, Andrew McLennan, Beverley Graham, Allen Cruse, Mary Watson, Philip Hofmeyer, Colin Hodgson, Nicolaas Knaap, Margaret Sheehan, Nicolle Gillam-Barber, Alex Negri, Cheryl Leary, Kathleen Laycock, Rita Groves, Cathy Thuaire, Kevin Court, Jenny Wright. Also relatives and friends of the Marshall, Speers, Hawes, Willis and Pilkington families.
May
the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM:
This weekend Archbishop Julian Porteous will confirm the Sacramental Candidates from across our Parish.
We congratulate the children and their families
as we continue to pray for them;
Joe Borlini, Imogen Charlesworth, Sienna Clarke, Paige Curran,
Willow Farr, Brandon Haeren, Niamh Kelly, Lily Kilvington,
Oscar Lakeland, Wilf McGann, Thomas Marshall, Peter Metz,
Sadie Peters, Emily Phegan, Addison Phipps, Georgie Phipps,
Tess Radford, Oscar Smollen and Riley Webb,
We congratulate the children and their families
as we continue to pray for them;
Joe Borlini, Imogen Charlesworth, Sienna Clarke, Paige Curran,
Willow Farr, Brandon Haeren, Niamh Kelly, Lily Kilvington,
Oscar Lakeland, Wilf McGann, Thomas Marshall, Peter Metz,
Sadie Peters, Emily Phegan, Addison Phipps, Georgie Phipps,
Tess Radford, Oscar Smollen and Riley Webb,
Many
happy returns Allan McIntyre on your 80th Birthday!
God
bless you on your special day and may it be filled with love and memories.
Weekly
Ramblings
We welcome Archbishop
Julian to our Parish this weekend as he celebrates the Sacrament of
Confirmation for 19 young parishioners. Please continue to pray for them and
their families as their journey towards becoming fully initiated members of our
Catholic Community when they receive the Eucharist for the first time on the
weekend of the 31st Aug/1st Sept.
A reminder
that the Eucharist Preparation Day will be held at Sacred Heart Church next
Saturday, 24th – please note the change of venue from the original
program.
Take care on the roads and in your homes,
MT
ST VINCENT AUXILIARY:
will be holding a Cake and Craft Stall at Mt St Vincent,
Ulverstone on Wednesday
21st August starting at 9am. Please come along, bring a friend (or two)!
THURSDAY 22nd
August – Eyes down 7:30pm.
Callers Tony
Ryan & Rod Clark
ATTENTION –
WE NEED YOUR HELP – BINGO!
Bingo is a very significant fund raiser for the
parish. Bingo is called each Thursday in Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
Hall and helpers are required from 5:45pm to 10:00pm.
If you are interested in helping out or would just like to
know more about how Bingo operates, please come along to a meeting at the
Parish Hall on Thursday 22nd August at 3:30pm.
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE:
Phone: 6428 3095 Email: rsjforth@bigpond.net.au
Spirituality in the Coffee Shoppe: Monday 26th August, 10:30am – 12 noon. Join us for a chat on topics of interest to YOU over a cuppa!
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITY:
St Vincent de Paul Society are seeking volunteer members in
the Devonport/Ulverstone and surrounding areas, to help provide Emergency
Relief assistance to people in need.
Our volunteer members give encouragement and hope to the
people they assist. Members are not required to be trained counsellors, they
just need to have great listening skills, empathy and compassion for people in
need. All training is provided.
Many members are connected to a parish and meet regularly
in prayer, spiritual reflection and to support each other in the work that they
do. Associate members can support the work of the Society without attending
meetings. Would you like to know more?
Please contact State Membership and Community Services
Manager, Melissa White on 63 330822 or melissa.white@vinniestas.org.au
“The St Vincent de Paul Society is
a lay Catholic organisation that aspires to live the gospel message by serving
Christ in the poor with love, respect, justice, hope and joy, and by working to
shape a more just and compassionate society”.
FOOTY
MARGIN RESULTS: Round 20 (Friday 9th August)
Hawthorn won by 56 points. Congratulations to the following winners; Lally Hay,
GRAND FINAL FOOTY MARGIN TICKETS:
$10.00 tickets are now selling – hurry and get yours today! The winner of the $10 tickets will
receive $500.00 and the holder of
the ticket with the number either side of the winning number $100.00. The $10.00 tickets are available from Devonport, Ulverstone and Port
Sorell Mass Centres or by phoning the Parish Office 6424:2783 The weekly $2.00
footy margin tickets will be sold (as normal) during the finals.
NEWS FROM
ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
Past
scholars of Our Lady of Mercy College Deloraine are invited to a reunion
lunch at Pedro’s Restaurant, Ulverstone on Friday 30th August, 12
noon. Phone: Vivienne Williams: 64 37:0878.
- SICK AND AGED PRIEST FUND APPEAL: was established to ensure that all diocesan priests incardinated into the Archdiocese of Hobart would receive adequate accommodation, health care and support needed in their retirement, or should they become ill. Retirement expenses are currently met by the Sick and Aged Priest Fund via donations and bequests, and by priests themselves. There are no federal or state government grants to support clergy in retirement. The Sick and Aged Priest Fund helps to meet the following needs of our diocesan priests: A modest monthly allowance
- Nursing
home and hostel care for frail priests
- Assistance
in transitioning to retirement
- Assistance
with out of pocket medical and dental expenses
- Assistance
with board and lodging expenses
- Motor
vehicle costs.
Please support our
diocesan priests through the Sick and Aged Priest Fund Appeal during September.
Your donation can be placed in an envelope which will be available from all
Mass Centres early September.
International Pro-Life Filmmaker to speak on the cultural
impact of Euthanasia: August 29
Kevin Dunn – International Pro- Life Filmmaker, will speak
on the topic of Living, Dying and the Power of Presence, using clips
from his documentaries about how euthanasia laws are affecting the culture
of The Netherlands, Belgium, USA and Canada and what we can do to stem the tide.
The talk will take place from 7-9pm on Thursday August 29 at Legana Christian
Church, 1 Gerrard Close, Legana. For more information about the event please
contact Ben Smith on 6208 6036 or ben.smith@aohtas.org.au.
For more information on Kevin see: www.kevindunn.info
.
DOMINICAN ANNIVERSARY:
60 years ago the Dominican Sisters arrived in Hobart, to bring Catholic Education for girls to the Northern Suburbs. Dominican Anniversary will be celebrated with a special Mass on Sunday, September 15th at 10 am at St John’s Glenorchy. Morning tea will follow. All friends, old scholars and associates of the Dominicans are warmly invited to attend.
Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic Charity that supports suffering and persecuted Christians. Currently over 200 million Christians worldwide cannot freely exercise their faith; Christians are persecuted, discriminated against or oppressed in more than 40 countries. The primary work of Aid to the Church in Need is focused on providing spiritual and pastoral support to keep the Catholic faith alive. We support projects at the request of bishops and religious superiors who have nowhere else to turn. We invite you to stay informed by receiving news from the suffering Church. Visit www.aidtochurch.org and click ‘subscribe’. If you prefer to receive our newsletter via post, call 1800 101 201 during business hours to arrange.
Over the past few weeks we have been using this space to reflect on the values we rely on in serving our mission as a parish. This week “Excellence.”
Love Your Enemy
This article is taken from the Daily Email sent by Fr Richard Rohr OFM from the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can subscribe to receive the email by clicking here
To you who are listening, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. —Luke 6:27-29
One of the hardest things to understand with the dualistic mind is Jesus’ command to love your enemy. I’m often asked, “How can we love Al-Qaeda or ISIS (Islamic State or Da’esh) or the Westboro Baptists from our own hometown?”
First, I want to point out that violent, fundamentalist religious groups use God-talk constantly: “God is great. This is for God. I’m a martyr for God. I’m on God’s good side, but you’re going to hell.” Their words and behavior are rooted in dualistic thinking where everything is clear-cut, black and white, good and bad. This is religion at its worst, entirely lacking in inner experience. And so, we can imagine how someone might say, “God is great!” and pull out a gun to shoot thirty people or shout hate speech, having not experienced God as infinite and inclusive love.
I want to be honest and up-front about this. We’re dealing with a lot of low-level, dualistic thinking—in Christianity, in Islam, and in every religion at its immature levels. People use religion to cover their own malevolence, hatefulness, fear, and anger. It’s not just Islam. Christianity has been doing this for centuries. But we’ve got to do better.
How can we do better? To begin, we might put ourselves in the other’s shoes and imagine why someone is so hateful. While working in the Albuquerque jail for over a decade, I met many men who had been raised in a punitive, authoritarian, absolutist way, often with an absent or abusive father. Understanding another’s story can teach us compassion. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t set some healthy boundaries. But it does open our hearts and help us recognize that other people are victims, too. They’ve been wounded, too. Yet they are still objectively an image of God, created in God’s image.
As you’re able to open your heart to your “enemy,” allow God’s love to flow through you to them. Picture their face and send them warmth and tenderness. If this is a struggle, begin by focusing on someone that is easy for you to love, for whom you feel natural affection. Then broaden that circle of compassion to friends, acquaintances, and strangers. No one is outside the embrace of God’s loving presence!
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Exploring and Experiencing the Naked Now, disc 3 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2010), CD, DVD, MP3 download.
Our Values: Excellence
This article is taken from the Blog posted by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timoneum, Baltimore. You can find the original blog by clicking here
Excellence in the church can be hard to define. Some parishioners measure the excellence of a homily by its length (the shorter the better). Still others judge the excellence of church music by their own familiarity with it, or personal preferences. For pastors and parish staff, excellence can be even harder to define.
Over time, we have come to identify excellence as outstanding fitness for a purpose. Here are a few marks of excellence we’ve identified.
Dynamic
Excellence is all about many qualities at the same time: it is energetic, vital, vigorous, potent, effective, enterprising, sometimes bold. It’s moving, it’s going somewhere. For instance, when we first started on our rebuilding journey we heavily invested time, energy, and money in our Sunday evening Mass and the youth program that followed it. Our investment there was absurdly disproportionate to other Masses, programs, and services. And it was there we achieved a level of excellence that we realized we wanted to replicate at our other weekend services and programs. Today, we offer the same experience across all our Mass times. Each Mass has the same message, same music, and same volunteer ministers (though different teams) to host and serve. That might not sound very dynamic but it’s not about doing many things, it’s about doing only a few things in an ever increasingly exceptional way.
Disciplined
Excellence is disciplined, or, in another word, intentional. Excellence doesn’t just happen by accident. Too often in church world, we get caught up in the grind of preparing for the next weekend that we don’t stop to intentionally plan our long-term strategy. Excellence requires us to make time for preparation: message preparation, music rehearsals, event preparation, and staff training. It also requires strategically determining what not to do, which expectations will remain unmet, what requests go unanswered. Admittedly this is hard for pastors and church staff who are often people-pleasers. The disciplined pursuit of excellence will not please everyone.
Discontented
Excellence is not a destination. As we discussed in a blog post on our value of adaptability, our culture and context are constantly changing. Unless you are a perfect preacher and pastor (I’m not), there is always room for improvement. Seek out experts to learn from. Read compelling books. Relentlessly review and renew the weekend experience with your staff. Experiment constantly, rip off other people’s great ideas. There is a certain habit of discontentment to excellence.
As we launch our new year (September 7 & 8 is “Kick-Off Weekend”), there will be plenty of evidence of our discontent: expansion of our music program, changes on the Concourse and in the Café, expanded and rebranded shuttle parking service, to name a few features.
We define excellence as outstanding fitness for a purpose. In other words, excellence is measured by how well we are serving our purpose: love God, love others, and make disciples. Our mission is the yardstick for everything we do. The excellence of our message, music, and ministers, and programs and services, our campus and buildings, all of our communication is measured by how they are serving and advancing our mission.
We’ve also discussed excellence in worship in a past blog post. Check out that post here. And stay tuned to this blog for next week’s post on the fifth value: “Committed.”
Respect, Recognition and Dialogue:
The Church in the Amazon
The Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region in October 2019 will place the experience of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon at its centre. Michael Czerny SJ, Special Secretary to the Synod, explains why there is an urgent need for the Church to be present in the region with compassion and justice. Michael Czerny SJ, Under-Secretary to the Vatican’s Section on Migrants and Refugees, is serving as Special Secretary to the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon in Rome in October 2019. You can read this article on the ThinkingFaith.org website by clicking here
The Church is committed to modelling its presence in the Amazon on the example of the Good Samaritan: it seeks to act on the gospel commitment to compassion and justice. It must observe, understand, then reach out and act. This is the reason that Pope Francis convoked a Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region. With the help of the Synod, it will be possible to introduce pastoral and environmental initiatives in the Amazon and thereby affirm the modes of being Church that such actions entail.
This readiness for commitment is usefully synthesised in the final chapter of the working document for the Synod, the Instrumentum Laboris (IL),[1] which sums up the challenges and hopes of a prophetic Church in the Amazon basin. The horizon against which this vision takes shape, without which there can be no justice and no life, is the fact that ‘everything is connected’, as Pope Francis explained in Laudato si’ (§138). The social and the natural cannot – and the environmental and the pastoral must not – be separated. Dangerous compartmentalisations – intellectual and spiritual, economic and political – have put human life in jeopardy on Earth, the common home of humanity.
The upcoming Synod is committed to helping heal the ruptures in a part of the world where the consequences of contemporary misconceptions and pernicious practices are particularly serious. It is time for the Church to grapple with this challenge. Hence the wording of the Synod theme, ‘New paths for the Church and for integral ecology’, and the title of the final chapter of the Instrumentum Laboris, ‘The prophetic role of the Church and integral human promotion’. Both speak about dimensions or dynamics that must go together in the Church’s mission: pastoral ministries, human promotion, integral ecology, new paths and prophetic roles.
Like Laudato si’ with its extensive historical, scientific, economic and pastoral exposition, the IL also provides a lengthy analysis of current conditions in the Amazon. In the words of Pope Francis: ‘Amazonia is being disputed on various fronts... There is neo-extractivism and the pressure being exerted by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum, gas, wood, gold and forms of agro-industrial monocultivation’.[2] The IL adds:
The manifold destruction of human and environmental life, the diseases and pollution of rivers and lands, the felling and burning of trees, the massive loss of biodiversity, the disappearance of species (more than one million of the eight million animals and plants are at risk), constitute a brutal reality that challenges us all. Violence, chaos and corruption are rampant. The territory has become a space of discord and of extermination of peoples, cultures and generations (§23).
The conditions in the Amazon have various causes. Local and multinational interests support and encourage public or private investments at the cost of devastating impacts on the Amazon’s environment and its inhabitants. However, a key starting point is that indigenous peoples see their territories being threatened: they are undermined by interests that exploit them and are often denied the title to their own lands.
This is in contravention of international law and conventions.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (adopted on 13 September 2007), to which the pope has referred on several occasions, contains rights as important as the right to self-determination, by virtue of which indigenous peoples determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development (art. 3). In the exercise of their self-determination, indigenous peoples have the right to autonomy in matters relating to their internal and local affairs (art. 4). And article 6 of the 1989 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries gives rise to their right not to be affected by legislative or administrative measures which may affect them directly without first being consulted ‘in good faith and in a manner appropriate to the circumstances’ in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent.[3]
The disparity of forces and, in many cases, the flagrant disrespect for constitutional rights, as well as the imposition of a so-called model of development, are continually causing great social upheavals in many indigenous communities: vulnerability, deteriorating relationships, migration, unemployment, violence and hunger. The lack of recognition, demarcation and title of the territories (a sine qua non for personal security, community stability and cultural survival) has led to an alarming number of martyrs in the Amazon. ‘To question power in the defense of territory and human rights is to risk one’s life, to step onto the path of cross and martyrdom.’ (IL §145)
The IL cites that 1,119 indigenous people were murdered between 2003 and 2017 for the broad reason that they were ‘defending their territory’.[4] In fact, these murders are sometimes attributed more specifically to drunkenness, domestic violence or local disputes. In general, though, they should be understood as consequences of environmental as well as social and structural deterioration, problems flowing from the lack of demarcation of indigenous territories and their invasion by powerful outside interests.
The Church in its pastoral role works closely with victims, and in its prophetic role opposes abuses. It is called to be ‘the advocate of justice and of the poor’, as Pope Benedict XVI reminded the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean.[5] The Church’s presence is, in reality, ‘a prism through which one can identify the fragile points of the response of our States and societies as such to urgent situations and over which, independently of the Church, there are concrete and historical debts that we cannot avoid’.[6] By ‘seeing with a critical conscience’, as the Church does wherever it ministers, it observes ‘a series of behaviours and realities of the indigenous peoples that go against the Gospel.’ (IL §144)
How should the Church react? Papal writings since Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum in the 1890s, the documents of Vatican II and a continuously growing body of Catholic Social Teaching all provide clear guidance. In response to a dominant model of society that leads to exclusion and inequality, and an economic model that kills the most vulnerable and destroys our common home, the mission of the Church must include a prophetic commitment to the dignity of every human being without distinction, and to justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
As Pope Francis states so clearly, ‘I believe that the central issue is how to reconcile the right to development, both social and cultural, with the protection of the particular characteristics of indigenous peoples and their territories. [...] In this regard, the right to prior and informed consent should always prevail’.[7] Speaking to the indigenous people of the Amazon at Puerto Maldonado, he said: ‘I consider it essential to begin creating institutional expressions of respect, recognition and dialogue with the native peoples, acknowledging and recovering their native cultures, languages, traditions, rights and spirituality’.[8]
In the Amazon, the ‘good living’ (buen vivir) of the indigenous people depends on the just demarcation of their territories and on scrupulous respect for the same. Politics, in the words of Pope St John Paul II, ‘is the use of legitimate authority in order to attain the common good of society’.[9] The basic political task is to assure a just social order, and the Church ‘cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice.’ (Evangelii Gaudium §183, cf. Deus caritas est, §28) So the Church stands with indigenous people as they seek to care for their territory.
With all these great difficulties and dynamics, threats and promises in our minds and also in our prayer, let us recall the words of Pope Francis that serve to open this final chapter of the IL. ‘From the heart of the Gospel we see the profound connection between evangelization and human advancement, which must necessarily find expression and develop in every work of evangelization.’ (Evangelii Gaudium §178)
This article first appeared in Italian in L’Osservatore Romano on 1 August 2019.
[1] Working Document for the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region: http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en/documents/pan-amazon-synod--the-working-document-for-the-synod-of-bishops.html
[2] Pope Francis, Meeting with Indigenous People of the Amazon, Coliseo Regional Madre de Dios (Puerto Maldonado, Perú), 19 January 2018: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2018/january/documents/papa-francesco_20180119_peru-puertomaldonado-popoliamazzonia.html
[3] Pedro Barreto SJ, ‘Synod for the Amazonia and Human Rights: Peoples, Communities and States in Dialogue,” Civiltà Cattolica 4058 (July 2019). https://www.laciviltacattolica.com/synod-for-the-amazonia-and-human-rights-peoples-communities-and-states-in-dialogue/
[4] Cf. Consiglio Indigenista Missionario, CNBB, Brazil, ‘Relatório de violência contra os Povos Indígenas no Brasil – Dados de 2017’, pp. 84ff. This report is presented by Dom Roque Paloschi, ‘Na ausência da Justiça, a violência cotidiana devasta as vidas dentro e fora das terras indígenas’, Brasília 2018, p. 9.
[5] Address of Pope Benedict XVI to the Inaugural Session of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean (13 May 2007): http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2007/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20070513_conference-aparecida.html
[6] Pedro Barreto SJ, op cit.
[7] Pope Francis, Address to III Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples' Forum of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 15 February 2017: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2017/february/documents/papa-francesco_20170215_popoli-indigeni.html
[8] Pope Francis, Meeting with Indigenous People of the Amazon.
[9] John Paul II, Address for the Jubilee of Government Leaders, Members of Parliament and Politicians, 4 November 2000, §2. http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2000/oct-dec/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20001104_jubil-parlgov.html
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