From Our Mission Leader, Renee Oberin

On the 3-4 September, many Learning and Faith Leaders from the Kildare Ministries schools gathered together at the Brigidine Mission Centre in Albert Park. Many schools are integrating the Living Justice Living Peace charter across the curriculum in various subjects and cross curricular initiatives, and this network meeting is increasingly becoming a rich opportunity to bring together shared ideas and work as well as faith formation and practises for our shared Kildare Ministries mission. 

This time, the focus was on ‘Care for our Common Home – the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor.’ The Integral Ecology of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si provides a rich opportunity to unite students and teachers to act for climate change and be touched by the gospel’s message of dignity for all creation including the cosmos, the earth, all plants and animals, and us.  

We were both honoured and delighted to welcome Alice Carwardine to lead us with her extensive knowledge and experience. Alice is the leader of Caritas Catholic Earthcare, a group that works on helping the environment using Catholic teachings. She has a degree in theology, focusing on how faith and caring for the planet connect, showing her deep interest in this area. In 2018, after successfully adopting a zero-waste lifestyle, Alice began sharing her expertise by conducting workshops for schools. She worked as a Physics and Study of Religion teacher until last year. She is also a member of the Synod writing team for the Brisbane Archdiocese and regularly writes for Catholic magazines around the country about environmental-related topics. 

Alice presented four captivating sessions. Her personal stories of her own ecological conversion were inspiring, and her deep research, knowledge and understanding of climate change and reduction of carbon emissions provided rich resources for us all to draw on to plan our impactful responses to climate change within our campuses, culturally for the enrichment of our communities, and within our curriculum. A great teacher herself, all of us left with new resources as well as new teaching approaches and methods to embed change in our everyday school lives. 

The flow on effect of climate change is currently dramatically increasing the vulnerability of the world’s poorest and creating more and more vulnerable people. Alice’s message to us was to initiate change now. As the leaders of our teams and communities, there is no more time to wait for the next generation, or for the next initiative to present itself. It was clear that this is our imperative as members of Kildare Ministries – to equip ourselves and our students with the means to think about and create new ways to protect our sacred common home and uphold the dignity of all who live within it. 

The Kildare Ministries Net Zero Student Seminar 

At the beginning of August, students from all around our schools gathered for our very first Kildare Ministries Net Zero Seminar. Please find here a link to the feedback from students and teachers alike – there is so much hope found here!