Palmerston North workshops look at social justice issues

Hosted by the Diocesan Commission for Justice, Peace, Development and Ecology, and held at the Catholic Diocesan Centre across August and September, the workshops challenged participants to think deeply about three social justice issues on which social harmony, public peace and social justice depend in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

These issues are: keeping the promises the Crown made to tangata whenua in the Treaty of Waitangi; responding to the fact of a changing climate as Christians who truly care; and understanding the cost-of-living crisis as a “social construct” because poverty is built into the system.

Setting the scene was Dr Bonnie Robinson, policy analyst for the Salvation Army. She pointed out that Jesus was the first policy analyst: “When Jesus told stories, his parables, . . . were actually analysing the systems and structures of the day. People were excluded, discriminated against. His parables peeled the onion of his own society.” 

The workshop participants learned how to peel back the historical layers of a social and political crisis.

In looking critically at the history of the Treaty of Waitangi, participants learned the extent of the Christian legacy of the Treaty and, therefore, why the Crown’s many breaches of its promises in the Treaty are an important issue for the Church.

Presenters on August 19 such as Christopher Finlayson, former Minister of Treaty Negotiations, spoke about the Crown-Māori reconciliation journey since the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal.

On August 26, climate change was spoken of as a challenge and as a unique opportunity. Professor Katherine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University emphasised that climate change is not just an environmental issue but an issue “of hunger and poverty, housing and health, and, perhaps, most of all justice and equity”.

Rev. James Bhagwan, Methodist Minister in Fiji and general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, implored all Christians to join the crusade to phase out fossil fuels and make a just transition to clean energy. 

On September 9, the workshop looked critically at the cost-of-living crisis in order to discern how to take creative action for justice and fairness. Speakers included Archbishop Paul Martin SM, who defined the common good in Catholic Social Teaching as respecting the rights and responsibilities of all people. It was proposed, therefore, that Christians must work at all levels of civil society and government to create the conditions that allow every person to have what they need to thrive, not just survive. 

FULL STORY

Thriving in this Beautiful Land: Creating the Conditions for Justice and Fairness (By Mary Eastham/ Tūmanako/Catholic Diocese of Palmerston North)