27^th Sunday of the Year

Jesus was warning his critics that the time was short for them to come around to collaborate with what God was offering through him. Pope Francis is giving the world a similarly urgent message today. Whereas Genesis spoke of Abel's blood crying out to God from the earth, Francis tells us that sister Earth herself ‘now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her’ by plundering and ‘seeing ourselves as her lords and masters.

26^th Sunday of the Year

Wherever we look, we see and experience inequity and injustice motivated by greed for land, money, and resources. It happens in Australia and in the Philippines, and in the Amazon region, it often leads to impoverishment, displacement and death for peasants and Indigenous people. We also face a scary future with between 30-50% of all species heading for extinction by the middle of this century and 99% currently threatened species are at risk from human activities.

Pacific climate voice in Vatican - ERC applauds Australian Embassy

Human rights organisation, the Edmund Rice Centre, has applauded statements made by Australia's new Ambassador to the Vatican, Chiara Porro, who is supporting calls from Catholic leaders in Oceania for a Synod for the Pacific region.