New Director appointed for Catholic Earthcare Australia

Mrs Jacqui Remond has been appointed as the new Director of Catholic Earthcare Australia, Bishop Christopher Toohey announced today.

Bishop Toohey, the Chairman of Catholic Earthcare, welcomed Mrs Remond’s appointment, saying that she brought a deep personal and faith-based commitment to making God’s Earth a better place to live.

“I am confident that she will be able to harness the energies of a great many people and give people a sense that they can make a difference in this area,” Bishop Toohey said.

“As a Mum of a young child, a committed woman of faith, and with an impressive professional background, Jacqui will give a richness to the perspective of Catholic Earthcare, which is all about bringing integrity to our involvement with the natural world.”

In 1997 Mrs Remond graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Education in Science. She then lectured Environmental Science at Notre Dame University, Broome campus,  before returning to Sydney to work as a secondary school and TAFE teacher, teaching the new syllabus of Earth and Environmental Science. In 2003, she first began working for Catholic Earthcare Australia developing and producing environmental education resources for distribution to Catholic schools.

In recent years, Mrs Remond was Coordinator of the Northern Australia Environment Alliance in Broome. She worked with 10 environment groups to advocate for the protection of Northern Australia and to promote best-practice environmental management of Cape York Peninsula, the Gulf region, the Top End and the Kimberley. In 2006, Jacqui undertook training with Al Gore to become a ‘Climate Change Leader’.

Mrs Remond said she was delighted to be taking up the role with Catholic Earthcare.

“I am confident that Catholic Earthcare can play a critical role in empowering Catholics and others to connect fully with God’s creation, to honour and respect it, and to consciously care for the gift of creation as active stewards,” she said.

“I envisage parishes and schools across the nation fully responding to Pope John Paul II’s call for ‘ecological conversion’ through their actions to strive for ecologically sustainable practices and preparing their local environment for future generations.”

Mrs Remond said Catholic Earthcare would continue to provide quality resources that inform and inspire Catholics to take action, and would also continue to support community based initiatives such as ‘Greening Communities’, which is soon to be launched by Church Resources.

For more information on Catholic Earthcare Australia, please visit www.catholicearthcareoz.net.