Editorial: In search of a better life

Sydney
23 June 2002

St Pio – newest saint

US calls in Australian archbishop

Order pays $3.6 million

Fund for ‘tragic cases’

Shame and sorrow for all in Church, says schools head

‘Humble, but delighted’

Church stands alone in war on poverty

Giving and receiving

Religious urge Govt to sign Kyoto treaty

Appointee ‘daunted’ but committed

New employment relations commission installed

Call to keep tough embryo laws

Editorial: In search of a better life

Letters: Back to the ‘bad old days’

Conversation: No platitudes – ‘all our teaching has to be real’ - Sybil Dickens, school principal

Reflections: ‘Welcome’ in a new faith family

Rosary peace plan spreads in schools

Students, teachers prepare for Youth Day pilgrimage

St Charbel’s students welcome bishop

Opinion: A role for entertainment and media in ‘new evangelisation’

A new beginning for Tampa refugees

Inspirations: Good hair day for young Maronites

Editorial: In search of a better life

About 23 million refugees are on the move worldwide, the largest such movement of displaced people since the aftermath of the horrors of World War II that left much of Europe devastated. Most of today’s refugees are fleeing war and devastation, too.

And the countries where they seek refuge are having great difficulty coping with their number.

Australia, because of its relative isolation, has had to deal with only a fraction of these dispossessed people. But we still have to ponder what we should do with those who do seek our help. This is especially pertinent this week because the United Nations has designated Thursday, June 20, as World Refugee Day in recognition of the many millions of people who have been uprooted from their homes.

So what is to be done here in Australia? We have only to turn to our own to find the way to the answer.

Pope John Paul II considers himself a migrant – because he is the first pontiff in 400 years who is not Italian.

He has concerned himself greatly with the human rights of migrants, deploring the all-too-common treatment of people, particularly migrants, as objects, declaring on more than one occasion that the human person is never an object or a concept, but a subject with full consciousness that allows him or her to act in full responsibility.

He has also asserted the right of people to move about – be it to escape persecution or to seek a better life. After all, if capital and goods can move freely, why not people?

Our report on page 13 of a young Afghani family happily rebuilding their lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, should, along with the Pope’s words, give us pause for thought.

It is truly touching how the family, including their four-year-old son, reflect back the grace accorded to them by our compassionate Kiwi cousins. The writer, a volunteer who has been helping them settle into their new home, says that, “despite their problems, they are gracious and hospitable”.

The actions of the New Zealand Government and the volunteers who have stepped forward to help these people are a fulfilment today of Jesus’ call 2000 years ago when, speaking of how we will be judged, he said: “When I was hungry, you gave me food; when thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was a stranger, you took me into your home; when naked, you clothed me; when I was ill, you came to my help; when in prison, you visited me.”

He continued: “…anything you did for one of my brothers here, however insignificant, you did for me.” (Matt 25: 35-37, 40. Revised English Bible)