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Pope Urges Australia to Aid Aborigines

8 October 2006 -The Guardian (UK) - Pope Benedict XVI has called on Australians to address the social divisions that have left hundreds of thousands of Aborigines living in dire poverty.

Benedict also urged Aboriginal elders to lead their communities away from drug abuse, crime and alcoholism.

``I encourage them to exercise authority wisely through faithfulness to their traditions - songs, stories, paintings, dances - and most especially through a renewed expression of their deep awareness of God,'' the pope said in a statement.

His message was delivered by retired Cardinal Edward Cassidy at a meeting of Roman Catholics in Alice Springs on Saturday.

Many of Australia's 400,000 Aborigines live in the kind of poverty more common in developing countries.

Among Australians, Aborigines have the highest rates of incarceration, unemployment, preventable disease and infant mortality. On average, they die more than 20 years younger than other Australians.

Benedict said Aboriginal elders alone could not address the problems in their communities.

``I therefore encourage all Australians to address with compassion and determination the deep underlying causes of the plight, which still afflicts so many Aboriginal citizens,'' the pope said.

Source: The Guardian(UK)

related links :

• Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
• Bishops' Committee for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
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• Pope calls on Govt to apologise to Aboriginal Australians
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• Pope John Paul II’s Indigenous legacy
  17 April 2005 - Pope John Paul II visited Australia three times in his lifetime. The first, in the 70’s, as a Cardinal, during the Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne.
• Australia condemned for `racist tendencies'
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• Church helps soothe Australia's Aborigines
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• Papal email reignites 'sorry' debate
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• Pope's apology renews calls for PM to say sorry /
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• Pope says sorry to Aborigines
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• God knows you should say sorry, new archbishop tells PM
  8 June 2001 - Is the Prime Minister out of step with God? Possibly, according to Sydney's new Anglican archbishop, at least over Aboriginal reconciliation and Uniting Church minister Harry Herbert agrees.
• Church Leaders Take a Desert Trek to Bridge Australia's Divisions
  15 June 2000 - Christianity Today - Leaders of nine Australian churches have completed a pilgrimage of reconciliation a week-long 1,900-mile bus trip to Australia's remote heart.
• Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC)
  Aboriginal Issues - Statements & Submissions
• Church Leaders Take a Desert Trek to Bridge Australia's Divisions
  ChristianityToday.com
• Aborigines and the Australian Church
  Yuri Koszarycz
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council
• Papal Statement (Ecclesia In Oceania — 174kb text file)

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