The Australian Catholic Social Justice Council’s (ACSJC) Briefing for April is now up on the website. The Briefing covers issues of Catholic social teaching in April 2018, highlighting resources, media items and diary events. It can be read here.
From the Secretariat, John Ferguson:
We are coming to the time of the year when we are invited to think deeply about the culmination of Christ’s life on earth – his final journey to suffering, death and resurrection.
The ACSJC has just published an important paper by Peter Arndt, the Executive Officer of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. Peter has taken a profound interest in the sufferings of the people of West Papua, and his journey has given him a perhaps unexpected perspective on the mission and suffering of Our Lord.
The paper is titled ‘Into the Deep: Seeking justice for the people of West Papua’ (Catholic Social Justice Series no. 82). In it, Peter tells of the thousands of Papuans who have been beaten, jailed, raped and murdered by Indonesian police and military. After more than 50 years of repression, they still believe that one day they can reclaim their country. Peter describes the many occasions when he has met West Papuan people and heard their stories, and has asked himself how he should respond as a Christian to their pain.
Peter’s account begins with his meeting with Laurens, a man who had been brutalised by the authorities following a demonstration and who had been forced, despite his injuries, to swim for his life from the warship where he had been taken after his arrest.
