Catholic Outlook Magazine Ordinary Time Winter Edition 2022

When issues such as the refugee crisis seem
overwhelming, Tamara Domicelj, Country
Director JRS Australia, reassures us that actions
we take at the local level make a difference.
This is an abridged version of the address
she gave to leaders from our parishes
at a March gathering organised by the
Diocese of Parramatta initiative, Diocesan
Journey…Walking with Refugees and People
Seeking Asylum.
Local engagement - human-to-human acts - are
an increasingly prominent part of a global fabric
of determined goodwill which I believe is gaining
strength in these volatile and harrowing times.
We are all bearing witness, here in Australia and
overseas, to so many tragedies (not all refugeerelated),
with a devastating toll upon human lives,
family unity, infrastructure and the environment.
We stand alongside Pope Francis and the broader
Catholic Church in lamenting the ‘diabolical
senselessness of violence’, in the Ukraine and
Afghanistan – and in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Yemen
and beyond.
Amidst such calamitous scenes and stories, it is
normal to feel overwhelmed and even pulled towards
despair. We yearn to do more for those who are less
safe than we are, and we can feel pained by our very
human limitations.
And yet, we also bear witness to countless everyday
acts of generosity and courage, small and large,
which collectively are worthy beyond measure.
Prams left at train stations for fleeing Ukrainian
parents to retrieve. Welcoming toys lined up across
border-line bridges to comfort children. Algorithms
developed to connect those with spare rooms with
those who need them. Here, locally, neighbours
saving neighbours from rooftops, in tinnies, amidst
raging brown waters and debris. And everywhere,
acts of proud defiance and resistance, as people
speak truth to power: nuns kneeling before troops in
Myanmar; crowds standing before heavily armoured
tanks in the Ukraine; girls marching for access to
their closed schools in Afghanistan.
We know that there is so much that we do not see,
on our phones and news bulletins, from where
cameras are no longer present, or never were, or
from where footage cannot safely emerge.
Everyone has a role – and every contribution does
count. Individually and collectively, they help to save
and rebuild shattered lives.
Australia was amongst the majority of nations that
affirmed the Global Compact on Refugees a few
years ago. Over 70 years ago, it was Australia’s
signature, the 6th amongst nations, which brought
the International Refugees Convention into effect.
Australia has, at times, played a pivotal role in this
arena - including, historically, with our refugee
resettlement program and humanitarian responses,
such as under the Comprehensive Plan of Action in
the late 1980s and ‘90s, when we welcomed around
70,000 refugees to our shores – mostly from Vietnam
- many of whom have, of course, gone on to make
extraordinary contributions to this country.
Currently much of Australia’s approach is relentlessly
punitive, profoundly ill-conceived, and widely,
globally, decried.
The financial, physical, psychological, ethical and
reputational costs of all of that are immense.
We may be starting to see the fracturing of our
egregious so-called “offshore processing” regime.
There is much still to undo, but after nine long years
Australia has finally accepted New Zealand’s offer
to resettle 450 refugees. And people are also now
leaving for the USA and Canada. There is extensive
and sustained people power behind all of that.
I believe we can roll back this global crisis in
humanitarian response. It will take time and tenacity.
And we will need to be constant and collaborative in
all of our efforts.
We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 12:26: “If one
part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is
honoured, every part rejoices with it”.
Please know that your donations of funds, material
goods, and displays of compassion and care
assure those refugees whom we serve, that they are
welcome here; that we see and honour their courage
and dignity; and that, in our shared humanity, we will
continue to walk alongside them.
To find out how you can support refugees
through your deanery, parish or school, or be
involved in the “Diocesan Journey… Walking
with Refugees” in the Diocese of Parramatta go
to parracatholic.org/socialjustice
National Refugee Week takes place
19 to 25 June 2022.
Tamara Domicelj, is Country Director of JRS Australia, one of
several Catholic organisations which support refugees in the
Diocese of Parramatta.
11