Identity and Mission

Making It Real

Each year the Australian Catholic Church, through the Australian Catholic Bishops Council, release what is called a Social Justice Statement, focusing on a particular issue that is relevant in today’s society. This year the statement is titled “Making It Real: Genuine human encounter in our digital world.” Its aim is to highlight some of the issues we face in our digital world and offer solutions to the problems that have arisen as a result.

It is an interesting topic to explore. If you are reading this, it is on a screen and not on paper. That’s good, in that we are not tearing down trees so that you can have the pleasure of reading my musings about the world. But, in reading this, you are adding to your screen time, which has become one of the real conundrums of our modern world. We spend a lot of time at school dealing with problems that arise as a result of inappropriate use of social media; we also spend a lot of time using social media to inform our community of what is happening around the place. The students are using social media to deal with relationship issues. These issues are nothing new, it is just the format that they are expressed that has changed. So the Social Justice statement is relevant for us as we continue to navigate our increasingly digital world and look for ways to experience “Genuine Human Encounter”.

The full statement can be accessed at https://socialjustice.catholic.org.au/files/Order-forms/2019/Social%Justice%20Statement%202019%20WEB.pdf (more screentime, I know) and a summary is attached.

Mr Anthony Chapman

Director of Identity and Mission