In 1967, Australians gave overwhelming support to a referendum that recognised Australia’s First Peoples as citizens. In 2023, we will be given a chance to vote in another referendum to constitutionally recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples through a Voice to Parliament, writes the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council

Australia’s Bishops see it as an opportunity for all Australians to renew our engagement with the First Peoples of Australia. They have come to this view through much listening to the First Peoples and they encourage us all to listen to them in a spirit of love and humility.

When Fr Niran Veigas SVD answered his vocational call to become a missionary priest, he could not have foreseen himself ministering in Russia and now the Tiwi Islands, but the Indian-born priest is embracing the new challenge of getting to know the people and helping to make a difference in their lives.

Fr Niran was born and raised in a Catholic family in the city of Mangalore, in southwest India and says he began discerning the possibility of being a priest as a young boy.

Australia’s Catholic bishops have called on the nation to seek “a new engagement” with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in their annual Social Justice Statement launched this month.

As we approach the referendum on constitutional recognition of Australia’s First Nations peoples and the establishment of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the bishops’ statement encourages us to listen, really listen, to what our Indigenous brothers and sisters are saying.

Well-known priest, lawyer and advocate, Fr Frank Brennan SJ visited Townsville and Palm Island recently and while there, presented information sessions to the local people about the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Fr Manh Le SVD, parish priest at St Anne’s Parish on Palm Island, said Fr Frank’s visit, while primarily to attend a funeral for a local leader, was a great opportunity to share information on the Voice with the local Indigenous community.

The theme for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday this year is ‘A New Life in Christ’.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council says the theme for this special day in the Church calendar, to be celebrated on Sunday, July 2, relates to “the transformative possibilities that come when we walk God’s Way of love”. What an invitation!

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD and Sr Philippa Murphy FDNSC, both members of the Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) Council and leaders of religious congregations in ministry with indigenous communities, have outlined their support for the Voice to Parliament.

CRA has long been a vocal supporter of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and an advocate for a constitutionally protected voice, truth-telling and treaty and last year made a submission to the Indigenous Voice Co-Design Process calling for enshrinement of the Voice in the Australian Constitution through a referendum.

The friends and partners in mission of the SVD Australia Province raised more than $70,000 in recent months for two special mission appeals – one to assist the people affected by the war in Ukraine and the other, to purchase a campervan for ministry to remote communities in Central Australia.

“We are very grateful for the generosity of people who donated to these special appeals,” says Mission Secretary Fr Viet Nguyen SVD.

It is a world away from Fr Niran Veigas’ previous missionary assignment in Russia to his new assignment in the Tiwi Islands, but the Indian-born priest is embracing the new challenge and looking forward to getting to know the people and helping to make a difference in their lives.

Fr Niran was born and raised in a Catholic family in the city of Mangalore, in southwest India and says he began discerning the possibility of being a priest as a young boy.

The Divine Word Missionaries and Holy Spirit Sisters were well-represented at the recent National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) Assembly in Townsville, along with members of the First Nations communities with whom they live and work. 

SVD confreres from Central Australia, Palm Island and Townsville travelled to the significant national event to share about their ministries and learn from others, under the Assembly theme of ‘Holy Spirit in this Land’.

The Harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.

Today we celebrate the fact that God has always been present with, and loved, our First Peoples in Australia, a love that God extends to all First Peoples across the world, reflects Bishop Tim Norton SVD for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday.