Call made for louder voices speaking out for justice 

Ann Hassan wrote that “Christian authorities readily speak up on ‘moral issues’ – euthanasia, abortion, gay marriage, for instance – but are often quieter on global conflict, because doing so can be seen as taking political positions”.

She warned that speaking out involves taking risks, but so does remaining silent.

Christians are commissioned to “Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy”, she wrote, citing the Book of Proverbs.

“It was heartening to see Aotearoa’s Christian leaders unite in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill. And in the last few weeks, we’ve also seen Catholics publicly oppose the genocide in Gaza.”

Last month, the Council of Priests of the Dunedin Diocese made public their letter to Foreign Minister Winston Peters on the Gaza situation. The Sisters of Saint Joseph spoke out in June when the Josephite Justice Office published a statement denouncing the evil actions of both Hamas and the Israeli military.

These letters from Dunedin’s priests and the Josephites join the efforts of many others.

“As we answer the challenge to speak up, we can be emboldened by the public statements of others,” Ms Hassan wrote.

“Responding to the call to ‘speak up and judge fairly’, we will face risks. We might judge imperfectly, or find ourselves at odds with others. But in silence we risk becoming complicit bystanders – morally implicated in the ongoing wrongdoing. Many in our communities are speaking up, lending their voices to the global call to end the death and destruction – devastation which, at present, appears to be flourishing and unrestrained.”

FULL STORY

Speaking up (By Ann Hassan/Tui Motu InterIslands)