‘If the land is sick, so are we’: Australian First Nations spirituality explained

Aboriginal Religious Art

As an national interfaith and multifaith body with links to other nations, Religions for Peace gives acknowledgement and respect to all religions and spiritualities. In particular, we do not speak about Indigenous spirituality, rather, we allow indigenous peoples to share their law, their practice, their spiritual beliefs. We are coming to know that their presence in this land is older than 60,000 years – so these beliefs handed down in oral tradition are older than the Abrahamic religions. Here, this article by Joshua Waters, Senior Research Fellow, Indigenous Knowledges, Deakin University shares beliefs about the wellness of the land and the wellness of those who inhabit it.

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Victoria: Anglican Church and First Nations Matters

Anglican Province of Victoria Logo

The Anglican Province of Victoria will commence a new Indigenous ministry and reconciliation initiative to strengthen the participation and leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the Anglican Church. The project will be led by Wiradjuri elder and Anglican priest, the Reverend Canon Glenn Loughrey.

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The Voice: Where to from here?

Christians for an Ethical Society (CES)Christians for an Ethical Society (CES) in conjunction with the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (ACC&C), are hosting this very special forum with one of Australia’s leading indigenous theologians, Professor Anne Pattel-Gray. Prof Anne Pattel-Gray will discuss the Referendum held last year and the hope that Aboriginal theology provides for the future on Tuesday 18 June 2024.

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Conference Report: Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice – An Indigenous Theological Revolution

Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological Revolution

This report focuses on a groundbreaking four-day conference held under the auspices of the School of Indigenous Studies established in 2022 by the University of Divinity. Conference Report: Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice was a four-day conference held 5-8 February 2024, at St Paschal’s College, Box Hill, Victoria. This report is provided by Emeritus Professor Des Cahill, President – Religions for Peace Australia, Moderator – Asian Conference of Religions for Peace.

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From esotericism to embodied ritual: Care for Country as religious experience

Care for Country as religious experienceIn an academic paper, it is shared that Aboriginal spiritual psychology begins from an appreciation of intentional and practical connection with the living systems of Country and kin. They draw on cases from Dadirri and other stories to describe Aboriginal contemplative practices as being conscious of our mutual vulnerability with the living cosmos.

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Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological Revolution

Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological RevolutionThe University of Divinity will join The School of Indigenous Studies to host a 4-day conference in February 2024 – Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological Revolution.

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Amar is driving from Sydney to Darwin to engage culturally diverse communities with the Yes campaign

Amar Singh and Van
Australian of the Year Local Hero award winner Amar Singh says there’s been a “gap” in communicating the importance of the referendum to multicultural communities.

Amar Singh says it’s his responsibility as “a human being” to engage multicultural communities with the Yes campaign.

That’s why he’s begun a two-month 25,000 kilometre round-trip journey from Sydney to Darwin.

Mr Singh won the 2023 Australian of the Year Local Hero award for his work with his charity Turbans 4 Australia, a Sikh-led assistance organisation that delivers food and aid to vulnerable people across western Sydney.

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International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

International Day of the World's Indigenous PeoplesIn order to raise awareness of the needs of Indigenous Peoples, every 9 August commemorates the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. This date, adopted in December 1994 by UN General Assembly marks the date of the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in Geneva in 1982. Here, we examine the role and futures of the Indigenous Youth of Australia.

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Dadirri, “deep listening” that the Aboriginal people offer to the Church

Miriam Rose Ungunmerr-BaumannSydney (Agenzia Fides) – In the Aboriginal communities in Australia, every assembly, meeting, ecclesial gathering is lived starting from a style of relationship with others which is typical of the Aboriginal culture: the spirit of “dadirri” (which means “deep listening”). This attitude, which characterizes the relationship with any other person, allows assemblies to proceed fruitfully, is the basis of “walking together” and represents a trait of synodality which has always been lived in these communities.

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Recognition and Voice

Noel PearsonAn Afternoon With Noel Pearson
With the referendum on the way, it’s important to explore and discuss as a community what it will mean to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is hosting an event with Noel Pearson (online) on Monday 31 July 2023 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm AEST.

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Walking Together Workshop

Walking Together WorkshopFor the 1st Nations People, Sovereignty is a spiritual bond between land and its people and that Sovereignty was never ceded. It ios a connection between past present and future. The Migrant Workers Centre, the Islamic Council of Victoria, the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria jointly hosted a Workshop at the Trades Hall, Melbourne. The workshop took participant through the #Uluru #Statement of the #Heart and how best the Multicultural community can walk with the 1st Nations People to achieve recognition of the Voice in the Constitution.

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