Sydney Gaza Rally _ Photo taken by Fr Claude Mostowik 5 May 2024

INVASION DAY 2024 EVENTS

15 October 2023: 

Statement on Palestine and Israel_ Pax Christi Australia _ International Christian Peace Movement

Pax Christi Australia is part of the international peace movement Pax Christi International, based in Brussels, working to promote peace with justice and nonviolence.

Pax Christi Australia joins with many around the world mourning the suffering endured in Israel and Palestine and calls on peace groups to continue to stridently promote active nonviolence in the struggle for peace with justice. We have witnessed for many years the demonisation and dehumanisation of people. This dehumanisation can lead only to violence and eventually crimes against humanity and war crimes. Palestinians and Israelis have dehumanised each other to such an extent that each side is considered less than human, and now Palestinians are termed as ‘human animals’ who must be eradicated. The alarming statements by Israeli military officers must be condemned as they escalate their attacks on Gaza as well as depriving a whole people of water, electricity, food, and medicines to the people. This is collective punishment.

‘The Middle East does not need war but peace, a peace built on justice, dialogue, and the courage of fraternity’

Pope Francis

See the full statement HERE

8 October 2023:  Pax Christi Australia is a member of APAN See Press Release issued today in light of recent day events.

APAN stands by the Palestinian people in Gaza, calling for an immediate end to Israeli attacks and 16 year old illegal and inhumane blockade:

Yesterday, on the 7th of October, Palestinians held captive for the past 16 years in Gaza, in what former British Prime Minister David Cameron described as “the world’s largest open air prison” have broken through the walls that have kept them isolated from the rest of the world for a generation.

Despite Israeli state and settler attacks against Palestinians escalating since the election of the current Israeli government, Israeli colonial violence has been a constant to Palestinians since the Nakba and the creation of the state of Israel.

“Occupation is violence. Israel hasn’t been defending itself, it’s been waging war on Palestinians, each and every day for decades” said Nasser Mashni, President of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network.

Recently, Netanyahu arrogantly delivered a delusional speech at the UN, showing a new map of the Middle East centered around Israel, absent any mention of Palestine. The response from the Palestinians came yesterday crushing Netanyahu’s and Israel’s expansionist aspirations.

“The events of this week are a clear result of Israeli escalation – Israeli forces, including rampaging settlers, have killed Palestinians each and every day this year, just this week Israelis have invaded the most holy sites in Jerusalem; mobs of settlers have attacked Palestinian towns killing Palestinians while Israeli soldiers watch on. And this is on top of a 16 year illegal and inhumane siege on Gaza and 75 years of denial of Palestinian freedom, right of return and self determination” added Nasser Mashni.

Read full press release HERE

18 August 2023: 

One of Australia’s premier pop groups GANGgajang has just released this new song .You know their iconic Aussie song. ( written in Bundaberg in 1985)

“…Out on the patio we’d sit,
And the humidity we’d breathe,
We’d watch the lightning crack over cane-fields
Laugh and think, this is Australia.!”

Their new song  encourages us to listen to what the Voice of the Heart is saying to us all.

13 August 2023:

Pax Christi Asia-Pacific’s Solidarity Statement on the Visit of US Bishops to Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Pax Christi Asia-Pacific stands in solidarity with Archbishop John C. Wester and Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne as they undertake their “Pilgrimage of Peace” to Japan to promote nuclear disarmament. The urgency of their mission reflects our anxiety that nuclear arms are still part of military planning. They are calling upon all people to engage in an “urgent conversation” about the continued risks posed by the stockpiling and development of nuclear weapons.
The events of August 6 and August 9, 1945, forever altered the course of human history with
the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As we commemorate these
anniversaries, we must reflect on the devastating consequences of nuclear conflict and
recommit ourselves to preventing such a tragedy from ever happening again.  Read the full statement HERE

6 August 2023:

Hiroshima Rally Sydney 6 August 2023 _  Speech Fr Claude Mostowik msc

For 78 years, the earth and its inhabitants have lived under the threat of nuclear destruction. Trillions of dollars have gone into their development and maintenance, while actual human needs of shelter, health care, food, and education are deeply underfunded.

Since its founding in 1945, Pax Christi has prioritised the work of nuclear disarmament and is member of the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons. Many Christian churches celebrate The Feast of the Transfiguration. The mountain top experience gave them a glimpse of Jesus that stretched their imaginations where they saw themselves as part of something bigger – to be courageous instruments of justice and compassion. On that mountain, they hear a voice that calls, ‘Listen to him (Jesus)!’ But the one who is transfigured on the mountain will soon be disfigured on the cross and points to the disfigured in the world. This feast also commemorates a disfiguration. As Jesus climbed the mountain, on this day pilots climbed into cockpits to kill 100’s of 1000’s of people. As we remember the mushroom-shaped cloud that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we keep killing our siblings and disfiguring the Earth. The disfiguration continues….. Read the complete speech HERE

31 July 2023: 

Prayers for Hiroshima day/ feast of the transfiguration 2023

Introduction
In 1945, the United States detonated a nuclear weapon over the Japanese city of
Hiroshima on August 6. It is also the Feast of the Transfiguration, and I have used my
reflection which follows repeatedly here to connect the two.
Hiroshima Peace Day aims is to remember the between 90,000 and 146,000 people
who died after the first ever use of a nuclear weapon. It also aims to bring about world peace and ban nuclear weapons. One might look into how many nuclear weapons we
have on earth; and how many, we know, would be sufficient even for those who argue
for a nuclear deterrent. This leads to reflection on military expenditure…
Each year, on this day, the Mayor of Hiroshima reads a special Peace Declaration. His
message is sent to every country in the world pleading leaders to abolish nuclear
weapons. At 8:15 a.m., the time the atomic bomb was dropped, the Peace Bell is rung
and all in Hiroshima observe silence for one minute. Read the full Prayer and Reflection HERE

14 June 2023:  Mapping Militarism

14 April 2023:Neither Their War Nor Their Peace _ Professor Clinton Fernandes The Unreported Truth

A pressentation by Professor Clinton Fernandes at Pax Christi Australia NSW Annual General Meeting  held online on 3 April 2023

19 March 2023:  Submarine deal ‘part of a powerful propaganda campaign to foster fear of China’

The new security pact between Australia, Britain and the US – which includes supplying nuclear powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy – has been described by an Australian missionary, active with Pax Christi Australia, as “part of a powerful propaganda campaign to foster fear of China.”

“AUKUS is nothing new except that it is a revitalisation of three countries that colonised this region in the 1880’s and is doing it again,” said Fr Claude Mostowik of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. He added: “AUKUS is a continuation of Australia abdicating its sovereignty. After being on the coattails of Britain until the Second World War we are now joined at the hip with the USA which is a greater threat to our security and our capacity to say ‘no’ to US interventions in the regions.”

Fr Mostowik felt that China is not seen as a threat by many in the peace movement or by many enlightened academics. He said, “much of the rhetoric is about increased need for protection by armaments, including nuclear, rather than focusing on engagement, dialogue, diplomacy and negotiation that leads to understanding.” He takes the view, “we must talk down the possibility of conflict and talk up the need for collaboration and understanding as a way to peace and stability.” He felt very few leaders are taking the latter position, with notable exceptions being Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, and Pope Francis. “Will we listen to them rather than those who have much to profit from military conflict?”

Article in ICN independent Catholic News: Ellen Teague Mar 16th, 2023

Read Full Article Here

15 February 2023: 20th Anniversary Of Huge Demonstrations Against Impending Iraq War

On the weekend encompassing Friday 14 February to Sunday 16 February 2003 in Australia, coordinated mass protests against the impending Iraq War occurred around the world in over 600 cities. This global mass protest was described as the largest protest event in human history. According to the BBC 6-10 million people protested in a total of about 60 countries. In Italy the Rome protest involved about 3 million people, and in Spain the protest in Madrid involved 1.5 million people.

On Friday 14 February the protesters totalled  150,000 people in my city Melbourne (I and family were there with highly visible black on white STOP WAR placards). On 16 February 250,000 people protested in Sydney, and 100,000 in Brisbane. About 600,000 demonstrated against the impending Iraq War in cities around Australia [1-5]. Between January 3 and April 12, 2003, 36 million people across the world globe participated in some  3,000 protests against the Iraq War [5].

Read the full report HERE

6 February 2023: The Uluru Statement from the Heart

The Uluru Statement from the Heart asks Australians to walk together to build a better future for establishing a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution, and establishment of a Makarrata Commission for the purpose and truth telling

Do you need a better understanding of what is being asked?

Please see links below for two resources prepared by Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education.

Ulhuru Statement from the Heart Discussion  Resource Kit

Ulhuru Statement from the Heart Resource Kit for Teachers

Christmas 2022 Reflection _ Fr Claude Mostowik msc

As people entered Adelaide’s Cathedral for Christmas some years ago, they found the Christmas crib smashed. Statues of Mary and Joseph were urinated over, and the Jesus statue smashed. The archbishop instructed that the broken pieces of Jesus be gathered in a basket and places before the altar. The desecrated image and vandalised crib gave people much to think about as the broken bits produced a powerful image of Jesus’ rejection by the world; how people are treated; and, how we treat God’s gift of creation. The broken statue was also an invitation to refashion Christ, to rebuild his body in the world.

How we hear and interpret the Christmas story matters. Some details provide a basis for social justice work today – that Jesus was born into immense poverty, announcements were made to social outcasts, the politically, economically, socially, and religiously privileged bypassed, and fleeing violence as refugees. We are challenged more and more to seriously reflect on the broadly inclusive meaning of Christmas. Merely singing carols about ‘Emmanuel’ (God with us) can miss the profound depth of these words: that God has joined our struggle here on Earth. God so loved the world that God chose to enter it, and the very fabric of creation of which we too are a part.

Just after COP 27 in Egypt (in November) and COP 15 in Canada (in December) we must recognise the wider – indeed, the cosmic significance of the Word becoming flesh, as we realise that we are not at the centre of creation, as we work to respect, preserve, and protect our creaturely sisters and brothers in Christ. The good works for people on society’s edges can be circumscribed when the truth to is not spoken to Herods of today; when we do not risk confronting the immoral behaviour of political powers that create widows and orphans and destitute asylum seekers as well as impoverishing people around the world and our Common Home – the Earth. God’s entrance into creation as Emmanuel — ‘God with us’ — signifies God’s love for all creation, all creatures, humans included. All are interconnected and interdependent. Everything in the created world is implicated in God’s decision to become flesh. All of God’s creatures are touched by and benefit from God’s gift of love and life in the Incarnation. However, what happened in Bethlehem is just part of the story. That baby grew up to be a man who faced evil and spoke out against it. We must do no less. See full Reflection Here

22 November 2022: Tribute to Fr Peter Maher by Fr Claude Mostowik msc

Father Peter Desmond Maher OAM

June 17, 1950 – November 8, 2022

Father Peter Maher died peacefully on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.  Peter left family and friends who loved him deeply. The priest who delivered the homily at Peter’s funeral invited all in the congregation to just spend a short time to look into the eyes of Peter’s photo on the cover of the Mass booklet. It was a very moving moment.

We could easily list the many organisations that Peter was part of but that would not adequately cover his presence in them because they were always about people – God’s beloved people. The people he ministered to became special in his world. His ministry took him among women and men who were discriminated against, shunned, and excluded by the church and society. His humble, always welcoming, and gentle presence touched people and showed them, whoever they were, that their lives can be filled with compassion and meaning that also inspired them to also pass on that compassion to others. His nonviolent advocacy for all in the various communities he came among also left him on the edges from some sections of the official church.

Peter was a long-time member of Pax Christi and when parish priest at Newtown hosted Pax Christi meetings in the presbytery for several years. He was a man of peace and courage in welcoming Catholic Acceptance (for Gay Catholics) to use the church every week for many years to have their Eucharist. He made Acceptance a ministry of his parish in which many parishioners shared.  It is important to note that he had a wonderful relationship with the Indonesian Catholic community who also used the premises for their weekly Eucharist. It was not long after he retired, this community was moved on.

Until recently, Peter was editor of The Swag, the National Council of Priests quarterly magazine. He Co-chaired Rainbow Catholics InterAgency for Ministry, Australia. He chaired Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat Ministries, Sydney. He had been a chaplain at the University of Technology (UTS) where he was able to host a number of forums for Pax Christi New South Wales on treatment of refugees and asylum seekers after the 2001 Tampa saga. He was recipient of a UTS Human Rights Award in 2008 and the Ally Award Celebrating and Supporting Sexual Diversity and Identity and the Alumni Community Award in 2015. In 2015 he was awarded an OAM.

Peter was always concerned that the Church in Australia engage in a deep listening, a competent dialogue, and a compassionate and just course of action where the experience of people normally excluded or silenced are listened to.  As with the Syrophoenician woman who became Jesus’ teacher, these outsiders, irrespective of age diversity, gender, spirituality, training, sexuality, marital status, and different abilities, informed the journey of the Church.  His concern was that each one of us can fulfil our God-given giftedness without prejudice. His belief was that we need people alive and awake to the forgotten, silenced, hurt, alone, discriminated against and afraid. He felt that we need people who can articulate the joy and pain of human vulnerability and be more awake to the reality of those around us and less blind to the injustice and inequality.

Having known Peter for nearly 30 years, there is a deep sense of loss but also a deep sense of gratitude to God for his presence through Peter. Those present at his funeral, members of Acceptance, LGBTIQ+ people, Indigenous people and women who had found themselves in various forms of distress – who were touched and cared for by him – will miss him but know that they have been ’touched by an angel.’

11 November 2022:

Honour the War Dead by Ending War

We join the traditional Armistice Day ceremony with a message of peace. All who lose their lives in war should be remembered and honoured, as victims of the horror that is war, rather than as heroes.

Meeting at 10.30am Martin Place SYDNEY Please come and join our gathering to spread the message.

6 November 2022: Martha Inés Romero has been appointed secretary general as of 1 January 2023.

Pax Christi International, the global Catholic movement for peace and nonviolence, is pleased to announce that Martha Inés Romero has been appointed secretary general as of 1 January 2023.

Based in Colombia, Martha Inés has served Pax Christi International for over 15 years, including a term in the international board. She is currently the regional coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean. She will continue in this role as she also takes up her duties as Secretary General.

Martha Inés describes herself as a “humble life-long learner,” and brings a rich depth of experience working throughout the Americas and with global partners. She studied conflict transformation at the Kroc Institute for Peace (USA) and was a member of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. She has contributed to the transformation of Catholic teaching through promoting a culture of peace, nonviolence, and reconciliation, first with Catholic Relief Services, contributing to the Caritas Internationalis network, and then with Pax Christi International, through participation in synodal processes and the Laudato Si’ Action Platform.

She is both ecumenically and interfaith minded and works with partners across the civil society for dialogue and cooperation within communities across Latin America and the Caribbean. Her previous experience is in the aid sector, where she held international roles at OXFAM Great Britain and CRS.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to lead Pax Christi International in this challenging time,” said Romero. “I look forward to listening and learning from our dedicated members and partners worldwide. The diversity in our movement is our main strength, one that we can draw on as we transform communities through justice, peace, and nonviolence.”

Pax Christi International co-presidents Bishop (Em) Marc Stenger and Sr Wamuyu Wachira also expressed their appreciation for Martha Inés as she takes up her new role within our movement.

“I admire the great ability of Martha Inés to mobilize and unite for the sake of human rights, justice, peace, and the preservation of Creation. She’s a tireless worker, seizing every opportunity for dialogue and connection throughout Latin America and now around the world,” said Stenger.

“We thank Martha Inés for generously accepting this call to serve, and the willingness to be open to the will of God in this new role and respond to the needs of this movement at this time of our history and beyond,” remarked Wachira. She continued, recalling the words of Psalm 18, “May the Lord continue to be your rock, your fortress, in whom you will continue to find joy and hope, take refuge in situations of challenges, the Lord who will always be your shield and stronghold.”

Martha Inés Romero will replace outgoing Secretary General Greet Vanaerschot, who retires after 40 years of service to Pax Christi International in a variety of roles. There will be opportunities for the movement to welcome Martha Inés and express gratitude to Greet in the new year.

16 October 2022: Faiths 4 Climate Justice Multi-faith Services:

Message from ARRCC _ Thea Ormerod 

What a huge team effort yesterday! Organising groups in 13 different locations across Australia and the Pacific designed beautiful Faiths 4 Climate Justice Multi-faith Services which were attended by many hundreds of people of faith. We were in our element! People from the Pacific shared their experiences and people chanted, prayed, sang and meditated in ways that were always rich and varied, and sometimes really quite moving.

Some supporters showed their deep spiritual commitment to the cause by praying and meditating all through the night before the services in the morning.

As well as being meaningful in their own right, the Services created local interest for a wide range of media outlets leading to much more extensive media coverage than the open letter would have received on its own. Local radio stations took a keen interest. Our passionate and articulate spokespersons shared their wisdom in dozens of radio interviews, many of them on the ABC.

The amazing Fahimah Badrulhisham has quickly put together this draft 2-minute video clip (more photos will be added) summing up some of the achievements of the day. Please share it and any relevant photos and coverage on Facebook and Twitter, tag Anthony Albanese (write @AnthonyAlbanese and choose the relevant image that pops up) and add #Faiths4Climate.

Thank you also to all the First Nations and faith leader signatories, who have lent the weight of their authority to the open letter itself. We were reliably informed that this sometimes involved careful discussion amongst their community leaders, so support wasn’t given lightly.

A HUGE THANK YOU to all who made the day a success!

Uncle John Lochowiak leads a smoking ceremony in Adelaide. Photo credit: Nadav Kaminsky.

Outdoor service in Bunbury. Photo credit: Charo Chacon.

Participants at Parramatta. Photo credit: Michael O’Farrell.