MEDIA
RELEASE
Saturday 14 October 2006
Brisbane Delegates Reflect on Alice Springs
Gathering
Over thirty delegates from the Brisbane Archdiocese
attended Dreaming from the Heart, a gathering in Alice Springs
organised by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic
Council (NATSICC) to mark the twentieth anniversary of Pope John Paul
II’s meeting with Indigenous Australians in Alice Springs.
They joined over six hundred Indigenous and
non-Indigenous Catholics from around Australia in a week of prayer,
liturgy discussion and reflection focussed on Pope John Paul’s challenge
to Indigenous Australians and to the Church.
The gathering opened with a Eucharist led by Bishop
Ted Collins of the Northern Territory who had been a bishop for only five
months when Pope John Paul came to Alice Springs in his diocese to meet
with Indigenous Australians.
Ravina Waldren, Coordinator of Brisbane’s Murri
Ministry Team, expressed her delight at the Eucharist and what Bishop
Collins said.
”Bishop Ted Collins was here when Pope John Paul II
came here twenty years ago and he summed up the spirit of the people as we
came here to remember and celebrate this anniversary,” Ms Waldren said.
Bishop Ted shared some wonderful humorous stories
about the Pope’s visit,” she said.
“The opening Eucharist was wonderful for me as an
Aboriginal woman because there were so many Indigenous people performing
important roles in the
liturgy,” she said.
“This gathering is important to me because it is a
rare opportunity for me to catch up with so many people from around
Australia who I haven’t seen for years,” she added.
David Miller, Chair of the Murri Ministry Team’s
Management Committee, was deeply touched by the role played by women in
traditional communities such as Wadeye.
“It was very touching for me to see so many
Indigenous people gathered together,” Mr Miller said.
“What really touched me was the singing in lingo of
the Wadeye and
Tiwi ladies in the Mass – it brought tears to my eyes,”
he said.
Sr Kay McPadden, a Josephite Sister who works with
the Murri Ministry Team, was present when Pope John Paul II came to Alice
Springs in 1986. She stressed
the on-going importance of his message.
“It was just beautiful to be here twenty years
after the last time we were here with Pope John Paul, to be here with the
people who were here twenty years ago and to appreciate their continuing
friendship,” she said.
“It was also wonderful to be here with their
children who were caring for the older ones and continuing the hope for
justice,” she said.
“The other thing which is important to me is that
we are here in memory of Pope John Paul II and, at the same time, in the
living reality of Pope Benedict who has shown us that he supports
Indigenous people in Australia too,” she said.
“Knowing that Pope Benedict is maintaining the
spirit of Pope John Paul means that what we are doing here is not just
nostalgia for the past, but something in the present,” she said.
David Reilly, 22 year old Indigenous man from Acacia
Ridge was excited about the number of young Indigenous people who came to
participate in the gathering.
“This is exciting, seeing so many young Indigenous
people like me, and I loved seeing the traditional dancing,” Mr Reilly
said.
Archbishop Bathersby who spent the whole week in
Alice Springs expressed a hope that the gathering would give a boost to
efforts to promote
reconciliation.
“Well, it’s been a terrific gathering and I’ve
met a number of people who were here in 1986 which was one of the great
experiences of my life and I’m delighted to be back here again.”
Archbishop Bathersby said.
“I do think that, perhaps, Australia, in general,
has gone to sleep about reconciliation with our Indigenous brothers and
sisters. And I think this is
an enormously important gathering to try and kick-start that whole
reconciliation process again because there is still so much further that
we have to go,” he said.
“I’m delighted to be here; it’s one of the
great experiences of my life,” he said.
The week was marked by a number of memorable
liturgies. Among them was a
celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and a Healing Liturgy. Jane Ceolin, Executive Officer, Indigenous Education,
Queensland Catholic Education Commission, was particularly moved by these
liturgies.
“This is a very moving and touching experience for
me,” Ms Ceolin said.
“One of the special things has been the celebration
of the Sacrament of Reconciliation where we were literally like a
family,” she said.
Evelyn Parkin, a Stradbroke Island
woman who
ministers to Indigenous people on the island, highlighted the role of
women in the gathering and thanked the Church of Brisbane for its support
of delegates attending the gathering.
“What impressed me was the women from the
communities, especially how they took leading roles in the liturgies,”
Mrs Parkin said.
“Even outside the liturgies, they would gather
together and sing in their own language,” she said.
“It makes us think about our elders and ancestors
who did the same thing,” she said.
“We don’t have it now, but we carry it in our
hearts,” she said.
“I love and thank the women from the communities
for reminding us of our heritage,” she said.
“I want to especially thank the parishes in
Brisbane who have provided us with help to get here for this wonderful
experience,” she said.
Gwen Graham, also from Stradbroke Island, made
special mention of the prayers led by each State delegation at the
beginning of each session of the gathering.
“I loved all the prayers led by the different State
delegations; they were just wonderful,” Mrs Graham said.
One of the highlights of these times of prayer came
when Ernie Trevaskis from the Rockhampton Diocese encouraged delegates to
exchange the sign of peace in a very different way.
He asked delegates to tell each other “I love you and there’s
nothing you can do about it!” His
invitation led to more than five minutes of joyful exchanges between
delegates.
Keynote speaker at the gathering was Mark bin Bakar,
Indigenous entertainer from the Kimberleys.
He spoke powerfully about the Gospel and its call for justice for
Indigenous Australians. Mrs
Graham greeted his words with great approval.
“Mark touched on every subject that we feel in our
hearts, things that need to be spoken,” Mrs Graham said.
During the gathering, the Pass It On Message Sticks
which travelled through hundreds of parishes, schools and agencies in
every diocese were carried in procession and delegates from each State
told the gathering where each Message Stick had travelled and what had
been done to remember and act on Pope John Paul II’s 1986 message.
Executive Officer of Brisbane’s Catholic Justice
and Peace Commission, Peter Arndt said that the Message Sticks were an
important vehicle for promoting action for reconciliation in the Church.
“We spent a lot of time discussing the importance
of the Pope’s message and there is a clear intention to use the Message
Sticks in the coming years as a catalyst for action which responds to the
Pope’s call for the preservation of Indigenous culture, for dialogue
between Indigenous culture and spirituality and the Christian tradition,
for support of Indigenous land rights and for effective healing of past
hurts,” Mr Arndt said.
The gathering’s closing outdoor Eucharist was led
by Bishop of Rockhampton, Brian Heenan.
It was celebrated against a most impressive backdrop.
As the Mass began the Moon hung high in the sky and wallabies and
kangaroos gathered on the hill behind the bishops celebrating the
Eucharist.
The next day, a Eucharist marking the twentieth
anniversary of the Pope’s visit was celebrated at the site of his
meeting with Indigenous people, Blatherskyte Park.
The Eucharist was led by Papal Legate, Cardinal Edward
Cassidy.
Aunty Joan Hendriks, a Stradbroke Island elder,
stressed the deeply spiritual nature of the gathering.
“I hope that everyone who came to this gathering
gained some insight into the immense richness of the spirituality of
Indigenous people,” Mrs Hendriks said.
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission is
eager to continue its work with Indigenous Catholics to promote work for
reconciliation in the Church.
Reflecting on the anniversary Eucharist, the
Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that the Mass was a
fitting end to a memorable week.
“Not everything during the week went off smoothly,
but all of us who were a part of this experience will never forget it,”
he said.
“We have been renewed in our commitment to
spreading Pope John Paul’s message and promoting the Church’s
wholehearted involvement in action
to bring about reconciliation,” he
said.
For further information, please contact Peter Arndt
on (07) 3336 9173 or 0409 265 476.
NB
This release is issued with the approval of the Commission or its
Executive under the provision of its Charter which enables it to speak in
its own right. The views
expressed in it do not necessarily represent the views of the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.
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