Appointee ‘daunted’ but committed

Sydney
23 June 2002

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Appointee ‘daunted’ but committed

By Kathleen Carmody

The newest appointee to the Commission for Australian Catholic Women, Joan Hendriks, says that joining the commission was daunting at first, but that she’s looking forward to being a part of it.

She was appointed by the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference last week to fill the vacancy left by Mrs Colleen Muckan of Mt Isa, who stepped aside because of her extensive workload in the diocese of Townsville.

Mrs Hendriks, an Indigenous Australian, said she was committed to the role of the commission “and I’m looking forward to being an active part of the process ... in achieving the objectives of the Woman and Man: One in Christ document”.

She said: “The title projects a vision of the commission working through a process of a just and equitable distribution of the workload of the journey as one in Christ.”

The Australian Bishops' Social Justice Statement 2000 placed considerable emphasis on the participation of indigenous women in the life of the Church, and Mrs Hendriks, from Brisbane, brings much experience and wisdom to facilitating this. She has had a long involvement at all levels of Church life representing indigenous people.

She is co-ordinator of Churches Together Aboriginal Partnership, Queensland, a lecturer in Cultural Studies and Indigenous Spirituality at the Australian Catholic University and a member of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council.

Mrs Hendriks has also been an integral part of the process put in place in the archdiocese of Brisbane by Archbishop John Bathersby after the Woman and Man: One in Christ Jesus report came out.