PERTH, WA: January 5, 1989
Registered by Australia Post Publication No. WAR 0202
Number 2617
POST ADDRESS: PO Box 50, Northbridge, 6000 W.A. LOCATION: 26 John St, Northbridge (east off Fitzgerald St).
TELEPHONE: (09) 328 1388
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It is not hard to find reasons for self-destructive behaviour of many Aboriginal people. If death at one's own hand is a macabre form of protest, I want the Aboriginal community
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to know that there are plenty of us willing to stand beside them in their quest for a better life. Only violence and division will result if we allow the gap to widen. — Bishop Hickey of Geraldton.
We stand by you Hickey's assurance to Aborigines in wake of latest death Until the questions of by taking his own life. self-worth have been "My first reaction was to addressed the problem pray for the repose of his of Aboriginal deaths in soul. May he rest in God's custody will not be peace. solved. "My next reaction was This is the view of to pray for our communBishop Hickey of Gerald- ity, bewildered and conton following the recent fused by a string of death there of yet similar tragedies. Why another Aboriginal in Geraldton? Why us? custody. "We are in danger of Bishop Hickey calls for becoming a deeply accelerated programmes divided community, susfor employment, health, picious, resentful of housing and education critics from outside. without fear of electoral troubled, secretly guilty. backlash. "If suicide is linked with He calls also for more profound depression and love and reconciliation loss of self-esteem we do between blacks and not have to look far to whites and praises the find plenty of reasons for self-destructive work of the Aboriginal the Catholic community to behaviour of many Abodevelop understanding riginal people. between the races. "It is not pleasant to His statement reads: know you are on the "It was with great outer as a group, not sadness that I heard that liked much, not given yet another Aboriginal credit for much. man had died in custody "You feel it when you in Geraldton. apparently try to rent a house or
Catholic Migrant Centre is set to move house • Pages 6 and 7
apply for a job or wear second-hand clothes, or listen to remarks that children bring back from school. "When you are told so often that you are no good you begin to believe it, so you fight, or you drink or you damage property. At times you feel close to despair. "There is a close parallel here with the depression and hopelessness of so many teenagers who tend to react in much the same way. "Thank God so many people have stood firm and courageous in the face of the destructive pressures on them. "Let us by all means do all that is possible to prevent deaths in custody, but until the questions of self-worth have been addressed the problem will not be solved. "Governments need to accelerate programmes
of training for employment, health, housing education and the causes of alcoholism without fear of electoral backlash. "But there is something else that must happen at a much more basic level, at the level of Christians seeking to be One. We are called by Christ to live as brothers and sisters and to respect and love one another because human dignity has been given divine endorsement. "Unless love becomes very personal it will be little more than a general feeling of benevolence. "Each one of us, black or white or whatever, is called to promote harmony, not division. "There is a danger in the present unrest that groups will move into hostile positions, each one blaming the other for the present situation.
"As followers of Christ we must move beyond mutual recrimination to tackle the problems together, drawing on the reconciling power of Christ. "The symbol for the Hiroshima Peace Movement is a fist raised in anger. The symbol for the Nagasaki Peace Movement, begun by a Japanese Catholic convert, is a picture of hands joined in prayer. "Our answer as Christian people at the personal level is one of mutual understanding and friendship, not hostility. not even the silent withdrawal that says the problem is too big. 'There are plenty of friendship groups around, such as the A ustralia/America, Australia/Italy, Australia/ China societies. "Is the gap too wide for us to hope for similar
groups between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people? "The Holy Father has asked us in his New Year's message to take seriously the legitimate political, social and religious aspirations of minorities, adding that terrorism often has the denial of these rights at its source. "I urge people to work not only for social justice for the Aboriginal minority but also for ties of friendship that promote understanding. "Such groups can exchange greater awareness of one anothers traditions and values and the history of interaction that has given rise to the problems that face us today. "It is perhaps not widely known that the day after the much publicised "riots" in Geraldton last year, members of our
Catholic Aboriginal community called on some of the shopkeepers whose windows had been broken to express regret at the behaviour of a few. "This gesture earned respect and admiration. "Iam very pleased to see that the weekly Aboriginal Mass in Geraldton has become a place where others also attend, forming a unity around the Eucharist that transcends ethnic divisions. "If death at ones own hand is a macabre form of protest, I want the Aboriginal community to know that there are plenty of us willing to stand beside them in their quest for a better life. "Only violence and division will result if we allow the gap to widen. In Christ we have both the inspiration and the means to bridge that gap."
Focus on the great work of the Australian Catholic Relief
Father Jegorow on what is being done for the disabled
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