‘This Christmas, May Jesus Be Born Anew in Each of Us, So Our Lives Bring Joy & Hope to All’

Christmas CribPope Francis expressed this cheerful wish during his Dec. 23 General Audience today, privately streamed from his Apostolic Library, again without public due to the resurgence of COVID19 in the country. As we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth, the Pope’s catechesis this week looked at Christmas.

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Religions for Peace NSW Report 2020

Religions for Peace NSWReligions for Peace (NSW) is a state-based associate branch of Religions for Peace Australia, which in turn is affiliated with Religions for Peace International. Josie Lacey AM, has chaired the NSW Branch of Religions for Peace for the last 18 years and provides report of the final meeting for 2020.

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Invest in Multi-faith Action for Peace

Religions for Peace InternationalSupporting and cultivating humanitarian interfaith action lies at the core of the Multi-religious Humanitarian Fund – an initiative forged during the COVID-19 pandemic — but built to outlast it. The Fund supports and encourages diverse religious communities to work together in their frontline efforts to respond to humanitarian crises.

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The new EU peace mediation strategy: A step in the right direction on climate issues

Drought and boot

With two new documents, the European Union (EU) has officially recognized the relevance of climate change to peace mediation. This is a welcome and timely development, but the language used still does not put enough emphasis on the human dimension of climate-related security risks.

The new Council Conclusions on EU Peace Mediation, published on 7 December, calls for EU peace mediation efforts to ‘take into account the effect of climate change on peace and security’, and for climate-related risks to be ‘consistently considered in conflict-prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding strategies.’

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Celebrating Hanukkah in a Time of Pandemic

 Celebrating Hanukkah in a Time of Pandemic

Approaching the ninth month of the pandemic, we are faced with the challenge, yet again, of how to celebrate a holiday during a time of isolation and separation. As many families cancelled their annual Thanksgiving dinners with relatives in order to remain safe, we continue to experience the ongoing sense of loss and grief. I am not sure we will ever get to a stage of acceptance.

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What do people really think about immigration to Australia?

Immigration VisaOne of the side-effects of the Coronavirus pandemic has been a halt to people arriving from overseas – as the Ruby Princess debacle showed us, infection and illness can come from peoples landing into Australia. This resulted in a halt to all immigration, and a very slow restart to “Talent Ready” migration in certain classes of skilled workers. The Conversation, through a guest writer, provides an analysis of what people think and feel about immigration to Australia.

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Pope Francis joins 25 countries to fight against poverty and hunger in first round of pledges to IFAD

IFAD LogoRome, 11 December 2020 – Despite the economic consequences of COVID-19, a growing number of countries around the world today stepped up their investments in long-term development, signalling a greater awareness of the links between hunger, inequality and instability which often spark humanitarian crises. By pledging new funds to the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), they committed to ensure hundreds of millions of rural people in some of the poorest countries can sustainably access nutritious food and earn decent incomes.

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16 Days: global voices ring strongly against gender-based violence

Solidarity for Women

The 16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that begins on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and ends on 10 December, Human Rights Day.

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Gesher 2020 – Religion & Ecology: Community in a Time of Crisis

Gesher 2020

Gesher is the official journal of The Council of Christians and Jews (Victoria) Inc. The Annual journal Gesher 2020, Issue 3, Religion & Ecology: Community in a Time of Crisis is now online, along with the other issues from earlier this year and previous editions.

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Christmas Island Youth Summit

Christmas Island Youth Summit

On Saturday 28 November and Sunday 29 November, Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network of Western Australia – MYAN WA, Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia and 3 amazing Shout Out speakers headed off to Christmas Island to run the Christmas Island Youth Summit!

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