Catholic Religious Australia (CRA), in partnership with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC), is delighted to launch an eCourse created by NATSICC, the Cross Cultural Competency in a Catholic Context for CRA members.
Ongoing education plays a key role in dismantling the effects of systemic racism and cultural ignorance. This new training programme has been developed by NATSICC as a key tool in helping increase awareness about, and understanding of, Australia’s First Peoples. It provides a foundational course for all Religious Institutes and their staff, through their various ministries across Australia, to provide effective and respectful ministry, while walking alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“We’re cognisant of the fact that we need to work harder to build an equitable Australia. We are therefore grateful for the opportunity to work with NATSICC to provide this eCourse to Religious Institutes and their ministries, to conscientiously, actively and purposefully change for the better,” said CRA President Peter Jones OSA.
“This important programme is one way that our Religious Institutes can develop a cross-cultural competency that truly appreciates the cultural richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples,” he added.
It is timely that this course is being launched on the eve of the anniversary of Pope St John Paul II’s visit to Alice Springs on 29 November 1986, which provided the encouragement for the establishment of Aboriginal and Islander Catholic Ministries all over Australia.
“Education is transformative and we believe this course can help to take us from acknowledgement and good intentions to concrete outcomes based on justice, equity, and the proper recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights,” said Anne Walker, CRA National Executive Director.
“We believe this course can assist Religious and their ministries in achieving those aims,” she added.
NATSICC hopes that all people working in the Catholic Church, who have contact with Australia’s First Peoples, will take up the course; the arrangement with CRA is a key mechanism to achieve that vision.
More information about the eCourse is available on the CRA website, under Resources.
With thanks to Catholic Religious Australia (CRA).
