Visiting Alice Springs I met an elder of the Aboriginal Catholic community. Each day she uses her pension money to provide afternoon tea to more than 20 children in her street who do not have someone to supervise them after school. For some children in difficult family situations, it is their only regular meal each day.

A recent report found that very little of the government money supposedly spent on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people actually made it to the people themselves.

So, how is the Church different? Our work is done by missionaries (who get a living allowance), by local members of the Aboriginal community working mostly as volunteers, and through dedicated Catholic teachers. Other Catholic parishioners also volunteer.

The overheads aren’t there, just dedicated Catholics who care about Aboriginal people, listen to them and work with them.

Other indigenous people like the Q'eqchi in Guatemala are the poorest in their societies. They have had their land taken from them in ways we would find totally unacceptable today.

The Church is not only with indigenous people, the Church is indigenous people. Faith-filled indigenous leaders are the key to positive change, and they are saying, “we want the support of the Church.

Not in the same way as the past; we are the leaders now but we want the Church to be more involved... We need support as it can be very difficult for us.”

The invitation is there this World Mission Month. God has given us this time to proclaim our faith through our words, actions and lives in our own country, and with the world’s indigenous peoples.

Yours in Christ,

Martin Teulan
National Director