The root of social justice ministries is the call to justice and charity. In the Gospel according to Luke (4:18), Jesus began his public life by reading a passage from Isaiah that introduced his ministry and the mission of every parish. The parish must proclaim the transcendent message of the gospel and help:
Bring “good news to the poor” in a society where millions lack the necessities of life;
Bring “liberty to captives” when so many are enslaved by poverty, addiction, ignorance, discrimination, violence or disabling conditions;
Bring “new sight to the blind” in a culture where the excessive pursuit of power or pleasure can spiritually blind us to the dignity and right of others; and
“Set the downtrodden free” in communities where economic and moral forces leave people without real hope.
The term “social justice” embraces the seven principles of Catholic social teaching:
Dignity of the human person
Call to community and participation
Option for the poor
Solidarity with our neighbour
Rights and responsibilities
Dignity of work
Care for God’s creation
In addition to our diocesan social services agency, CatholiCare, and other social justice ministries operating in the diocese such as the diocesan Justice Ecology and Peace Council, Catholic Mission, Caritas, St Vincent de Paul Society and Catholic Healthcare, there are a number of other social justice ministries and groups operating in the diocese.
Services directory
Other social justice ministries
Albion Park Social Justice Group
Meets in Albion Park, working towards a deepened faith, recognising and respecting differences, promoting peace, taking action to bring justice and nurturing God’s creation.
Has been meeting for over 15 years in Kiama focusing on issues that arise out of group discernment using Catholic Social Justice Teaching as a guide, and addressing a felt need in the local area or in the wider world
Exists to promote social justice and peace, ecological concern and respect for life in society, in light of the Gospel and the social teaching of the Church. Meetings are held in Ruse.
Places skilled volunteers in remote communities around the world with the objective to facilitate people cooperating across cultures to achieve a just, sustainable, interdependent and peaceful world free of poverty.
Established to provide a forum and support for reconciliation in the Macarthur Region. The group organises a number of events and participates in reconciliation activities for the Appin Massacre Memorial, Sorry Day, Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week.
Account means the account held at your financial institution from which we are authorised to arrange for funds to be debited.
Agreement means this Direct Debit Request Service Agreement between you and us, including the direct debit request.
Business day means a day other than a Saturday or a Sunday or a listed public holiday.
Debit day means the day that payment is due.
Debit payment means a particular transaction where a debit is made, according to your direct debit request.
Direct debit request means the Direct Debit Request between us and you.
Us and we and our means the Catholic Development Fund.
You means the customer(s) who signed the direct debit request. Your financial institution is the financial institution where you hold the account that you have authorised us to arrange to debit.
Debiting your account
By submitting a direct debit request, you have authorised us to arrange for funds to be debited from your account according to the agreement we have with you.
We will only arrange for funds to be debited from your account:
As authorised in the direct debit request; if the debit day falls on a day that is not a business day, we may direct your financial institution to debit your account on the following or previous business day. If you are unsure about which day your account has or will be debited, please check with your financial
Changes by you
If you wish to stop or defer a debit payment you must write to us at least 5 business days before the next debit day.
This notice should be given to us in the first instance.
Your obligations
It is your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient clear funds available in your account to allow a debit payment to be made.
If there are insufficient clear funds available in your account to meet a debit payment:
you or your account may be charged a fee and/or interest by your financial institution;
you or your account may be charged a fee to reimburse us for charges we have incurred for the failed transaction;
you must arrange for the payment to be made by another method
Please check your account statement to verify that the amounts debited from your account are correct.
Dispute
If you believe that there has been an error in debiting your account you should call us on 1800 047 703 and confirm the details in writing with us as soon as possible so that we can resolve your query quickly.
Accounts
You should check:
with your financial institution whether direct debiting is available from your accounts offered by financial
your account details which you have provided to us are correct by checking them against a recent account statement; and
with your financial institution before completing the direct debit request if you have any queries about how to complete the direct debit
Warning: if the account number you have quoted is incorrect, you may be charged a fee to reimburse our costs in correcting any deductions from:
an account you do not have authority to operate; or
an account you do not
Confidentiality
We will keep any information (including your account details) in your direct debit request confidential.
We will make reasonable efforts to keep any such information that we have about you secure and to ensure that any of our employees or agents who have access to information about you, do not make any unauthorised use, modification, reproduction or disclosure of that information.
However, we may use your contact details to provide information about the fund. Should you wish this not to be the case, please advise the fund in writing.
Our diocesan logo is theologically rich and very succinct. As a hand, it depicts our mission as a diocese and as individuals within the diocese, of bearing (bringing, carrying) Christ’s love to one another and to the world around us. In this, we are the hand of Jesus Christ, and we are offering ourselves to him so that he might work through us.
We can be the bearers of his love only as a response to his call and in the strength of his grace. We are reminded of this in two ways—through the symbol of the dove (the Holy Spirit) also present in the logo, and by the incorporation of the cross that segments the logo. The presence of the cross is a reminder that bearing the love of Christ will inevitably cost us if we live it authentically. However, in the way that the Cross is the portent of redemption and life—an echo of the tree of life in the book of Genesis—so becoming bearers of the love of Christ will also bring us to life.
The four fingers of the hand also represent the four regions of our diocese. The first is bluerepresenting the beautiful water of the Shoalhaven. The second is a blue and green combination representing the waters and escarpment of the Illawarra. The third is greendepicting the hills and plains of the Macarthur. The fourth is dark green illustrating the forests of the Southern Highlands.
