Bishops focus on justice and peace in 2007 Social Justice Statement - Who is my neighbour?

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On behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, I present the Social Justice Sunday Statement for 2007, Who Is My Neighbour? Australia’s role as a global citizen.

This year’s Statement deals with global issues of justice, development and peace.

As you read the Statement, I invite you to contemplate the faces pictured on the cover of this document.

Each one of these people is unique. Their experiences and the particular circumstances of their joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties are likely to be just as diverse. But through this amazing diversity, we are all sisters and brothers of this world – created in the image and likeness of God. The life we share is sacred and our human dignity is to be respected.

The variety of faces also reflects something of the diversity in our own community. Our multiculturalism is an aspect of national life that makes Australia great, reflecting our solidarity with all peoples of the world and a generosity of heart in responding to those in need. And what of the circumstances of many of our Indigenous sisters and brothers who continue to endure third-world conditions in this land of plenty?

Even in times of crisis or in the face of the seemingly insurmountable challenges of war, terrorism, hunger and disease, we are called to recommit ourselves to our neighbours and to act in the interests of people who do not share our prosperity and security.

When Jesus Christ spoke to the people, he set a higher standard than that of the law of the day. His disciples were called upon to extend the new commandment of love so that it embraced the stranger, the outcast and even the most despised enemy.

Like the young lawyer who questions Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, we might ask ourselves ‘Who is my neighbour?’ As individuals and as a nation, we are invited to consider the response Jesus gave in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

With every blessing

Christopher A. Saunders, DD

Bishop of Broome

Chairman

Australian Catholic Social Justice Council