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Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge has endorsed the Australian first nations Uluru Statement.
The Statement was signed in 2017 by 250 aboriginal and Torres Strait islander leaders.
It calls for the establishment of a ‘First Nations Voice’ in the Australian Constitution and a ‘Makarrata Commission’ to supervise a process of ‘agreement-making’ and ‘truth-telling’ between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
So far it has not received backing from Australian lawmakers.
“… I call on all people of goodwill and good intention to support the journey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by endorsing the Uluru Statement From the Heart and putting it into action in every way possible,” Coleridge said when endorsing the statement after a special Mass for First Nations leaders and parish representatives last Friday.
“Only a heart of stone could allow the indigenous peoples to become aliens, exiles, and refugees in their own land,” he said.
“God is going to take out of us that heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh – the heart of Jesus… that recognises the other as a human being.
“What has been done to the indigenous peoples of this land could only have been done by denying that they were in fact human – they were at best perhaps subhuman.
“A heart of flesh says no to that, absolutely no.”
The Mass and Coleridge’s proclamation were part of his historic visit to the coastal lands of the Quandamooka people east of Brisbane this week – just days before the start of the Church’s Plenary Council of Australia.
One of the Plenary’s key themes is “renewing the Church’s solidarity with First Australians”.
To date, Government policies have largely failed Australia’s First Nations peoples.
Coleridge said the poor health and incarceration rates of indigenous Australians – the highest in the world – is “a national disgrace”.
“Our role is not to do things on behalf of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples but to listen to them, to learn from them, to accompany them, and to support them to determine their own future.
“In 1967 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people were counted for the first time, and now they seek to be heard.
“So as Archbishop I call on all people of goodwill and good intention to support the journey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by endorsing the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and by putting it into action in every way possible.”
It is considered significant that Coleridge chose the traditional lands of the Quandamooka country to proclaim his support for the Uluru Statement.
It was the site of Australia’s first Catholic mission to First Nations peoples in 1843.
Dean Parkin, a Quandamooka Uluru Statement signatory (pictured with Coleridge), welcomed the Church’s support.
An indigenous body advising parliament would lead to better indigenous affairs policy on law making, which would lead to better outcomes and more efficient use of government funds, he said.
“The key thing is to give voice to those who have been previously unheard.”
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