pathways, May 09
Chocolate concerns
Angels & Demons: Beyond redemption
ACRATH DVD goes international
symposium: Catholic means every child counts
from a parish pew: SACRIFICE
Chocolate concerns
Congregational leaders in New South Wales [CLRI(NSW)] have urged Cadbury Dairy Milk and associated products in Australia and New Zealand to make a stand against practices which impoverish people and enslave children.
In particular, they have asked the company to achieve a Fairtrade certificate.
This follows the news that Cadbury UK and Cadbury Ireland have made the decision to have Dairy milk chocolate and Cadbury's hot chocolate beverage certified as Fairtrade products.
In a letter toe Cadbury, CLRI(NSW), which represents about 3500 Catholic sisters, brothers and priests and their associates in NSW, raised concerns about the production of chocolate - low wages, exploitative labour practices and the use, in some cases, of child labour.
The letter pointed out that the average yearly wage for cocoa farmers fluctuated between $30 and $110. Commodity markets, which control the price of cocoa, were volatile and made life very insecure for small farmers. Ivory Coast and Ghana, despite being major producers of cocoa, remain very impoverished countries.
The leaders said, however, that of greater concern was the issue of child labour. In 2000 a US State Department investigation estimated that 284,000 children were involved in the production of cocoa - small children wielding machetes, spraying pesticides and slicing pods.
Of these children around 12,000 had been sold into slavery; indentured for a lifetime to provide the raw materials for western luxury items.
"Given the commitment of Cadbury UK and Ireland (we) urge you to achieve Fairtrade certification for Cadbury dairy milk and associated products in Australia and New Zealand and make a stand against practices which impoverish people and enslave children."
Angels & Demons: Beyond redemption
The heavily-hyped film Angels & Demons is not a very good film, according to the Jesuit director of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting, Fr Richard Leonard.
"Despite its huge budget and many admirable features, it is not a good film," he said on the eve of the film's release.
"In fact, as with the book, there are a host of mistakes in the film, but the ridiculous plot even stretches the imagination of the greatest fans of the thriller genre."
He said the most objectionable thing for the church was when the Chief Cardinal Elector - who cared more for the good order of the Conclave than the safety of tens of thousands of pilgrims and all the citizens of Rome - said dismissively of their security, 'we all have to die sometime'.
"No Dean of the Sacred College would be unmoved by the city's well being," he said.
Fr Leonard praised the art direction, set design, set dressing, costumes, computer animation effects and cinematography.
"The technical elements are spectacular but when the story does not hang together and is accompanied by some cringing dialogue, all the best technical attributes in the world cannot save it."
ACRATH DVD goes international
The DVD Trading Lives featured on the Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking Humans (ACRATH) website has been taken by two Australian Police agents to Brunei where they were attending a training session about trafficking in people. They planned to use the DVD as part of their presentation - to show ways of collaborating with other groups/organisations.
in other trafficking-related news ...
The United Nations anti-crime arm has named acclaimed American painter Ross Bleckner as Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking.
It was announced at the opening of an art exhibition displaying paintings by former child soldiers and abducted girls from Uganda. Bleckner, the first artist to be honoured as a UN Goodwill Ambassador, has been appointed to spearhead the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) "Blue Heart" campaign against human trafficking. Launched in March, the initiative aims to raise awareness about the millions of victims and rally support to combat this modern form of slavery.
AND
If an unarmed nun can force rebel militia in Uganda to free over 100 abducted children, it must be within the capacity of United Nations Member States to take "bold and decisive action" against the global threat of human trafficking, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said (May 13).
Addressing the General Assembly's thematic debate on human trafficking, Mr Ban spoke of Grace Akallo, a young high school student who dreamed of being the first person from her village to go to university until she was forcibly taken by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) along with 138 other girls. The girls were followed into the bush by the school's headmistress, Sister Rachele, who confronted the rebels, Mr. Ban continued. Instead of leaving after the LRA threatened to kill her in front of the girls, she "faced them down, risking her own safety" and rescued more than 100 girls.
"If this seemingly powerless educator from Uganda could face down armed rebels, surely we in this room can stand up to this threat with bold and decisive action," Mr Ban said.
symposium: Catholic means every child counts
Congregational leaders have been encouraged to attend a symposium on special education.
Catholic means every child counts symposium is being organised by CLRI(NSW) at the Canterbury Park Event Centre, Sydney, on June 2, in response to a concern for the education of students with special needs and the support available for these students and their families.
According to CLRI(NSW) executive officer Sharon Price RSM religious are concerned for the poorest and the most disadvantaged.
"Children and adults with special needs and their families certainly fit that bill," she said.
"Catholic schools have been offering tailored education for students with special needs for well over a century, in special schools and in programmes in systemic and congregational schools.
"Our aim on this day is not to talk about special education, but to come up with some way forward so that our church, our government and our society makes better financial provision for those whose needs are greater."
The keynote speaker will by Bishop Anthony Fisher OP (Auxiliary, Archdiocese of Sydney).
The symposium will be held from 9am-5pm, with registration at 8.30pm. The cost is $100 and there is ample parking.
from a parish pew
Marist priest Kevin Bates, parish priest of Holy Name of Mary, Hunters Hill (Sydney) recently wrote a reflection which encapsulates Parish life. It spoke to the heart and mind of one of the parishioners that there are parishes throughout Sydney - and Australia - where, silently, parishioners are making a difference and making the ordinary of each day into an extraordinary experience for others.
THE MEANING OF SACRIFICE
Last Sunday the people attending 10am Mass got a bit of a surprise to see young Marcus Rudd and his dad, Kevin, walk down the aisle and join them for Mass.
It was something special to have the PM with us for that little while, but the reason for his visit, sitting next to him at the Mass, provides the focus of our reflection this week.
With Chris O'Brien (a doctor who became well-known for his skill and compassion on the reality TV show, RPA, before becoming terminally ill himself), the Prime Minister on Friday, had launched LifeHouse, a project that Chris has worked for and inspired. It will be a centre at RPA which will provide comprehensive care for cancer patients into the future.
Chris, whose illness is progressing noticeably, is facing the biggest battle of his life, and in the midst of that battle he is giving everything he can to his dream that others will have the best possible treatment that conventional and alternative medicine can provide.
In many other more hidden ways, Chris is gifting others with his presence, his kindness and his wisdom.
His sacrifice gives fresh meaning to the word "sacrifice" in literal terms, as he "makes holy" this most challenging part of his journey.
In flesh and blood terms, he makes present the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and fulfils in his own marvellous way his baptism promises.
We can readily take inspiration from him because of his more public profile.
Look around you this week and look carefully.
Right around our wonderful parish there are people making sacrifices for each other in so many ways. Many of these people are acting in quiet unknown circumstances, but in the "making holy" of their acts or lives of service, they truly make present the gift of God's love, just as surely as if their actions or lives had been more widely known.
This week we remember and acknowledge the sacrifices of so many of our countrymen and women who either gave their lives, or sacrificed themselves to serve and survived in the various conflicts that have marked our national history.
Who knows what was in their hearts? Who can ever know the depth of their suffering? Who can ever really understand the burden of wartime memories that our service men and women carry, often silently, for the rest of their lives?
For all who model for us the sacrifice of Jesus, the known and the unknown, we give thanks this day.
May each of us take heed and be at one with each other's needs, as they have been with ours.
Father Kevin Bates SM
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