Social Justice Sunday will be celebrated on 29 August 2021, and the Catholic Bishops’ Social Justice Statement, Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor will be launched online on 5 August. By pre-ordering, will receive a strictly embargoed copy for the Australian Catholic Bishop Conference's 31 July gathering.
For ecological sustainability, and for efficiency, the Statement will be available electronically, and print copies will only be available by pre-order via the ACBC online shop. A fully marked up file suitable for commercial printing will be made available on request if you would like to organise your own print run.
This year there will be five prayer cards that accompany the Statement. One addresses the overall theme of the Statement, while each of the others focuses on a particular theological foundation set out in the Statement. Instead of a Ten Steps Action Leaflet, we are offering a DL sized action card. The action card and prayer cards can also be pre-ordered.
Please place your orders online here by 8 July.
The Statement, prayer cards and action card are each being offered in packs of ten. Price are inclusive of GST and postage. Members of the GST Religious Group should sign-in on the ACBC Online Shop to obtain GST free pricing. You will find instructionson how to do this here.
Liturgy notes, and other supporting material will be available on the website of the Office for Social Justice www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au in due course.
Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor, affirms that “we human beings need a change of heart, mind, and behaviour”. It provides theological foundations to ground and inspire efforts to care for creation while responding to the needs of the disadvantaged and excluded. The Statement reflects on creation in and through the Trinity; the sacramentality of all created things; the wonder and beauty available to the contemplative eye; and the need for conversion and change of life.
In the Statement, the Bishops invite the whole Catholic community to join them in taking up Pope Francis’ invitation to a seven-year journey towards total ecological sustainability, guided by seven Laudato Si’ Goals. These Goals are: response to the cry of the earth; response to the cry of the poor; ecological economics; sustainable lifestyles; ecological spirituality; ecological education; and community engagement and participatory action.
The Statement especially encourages Catholic families, communities and organisations to: listen to the First Nations; reflect on the theological foundations offered in Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor; and plan their next steps towards the Laudato Si’ Goals.
Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor will be a useful resource throughout our seven-year journey to total sustainability.