Faith and Mission

Early February offers meaningful opportunities for our John XXIII College community to reflect on justice in light of our College motto, Seek Justice.

On 8 February, the Church observed the Feast of St Josephine Bakhita, patron saint of victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. Born in Sudan in the 19th century, Bakhita was enslaved as a child before later gaining her freedom and entering religious life. Her story draws attention to the ongoing reality of modern slavery today.

This year, her feast day coincided with the 12th World Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. In his message, Pope Leo XIV renewed the Church’s call to confront what he described as a 'grave crime against humanity.' He highlighted emerging forms of exploitation, including 'cyber slavery,' and reminded Christians that 'true peace begins with the recognition and protection of the God‑given dignity of every person.' He emphasised prayer as a vital source of strength against injustice, and awareness as essential in recognising and challenging exploitative systems in both communities and digital spaces.

St Bakhita’s witness encourages informed and practical responses, including ethical consumer choices such as supporting slavery‑free and fair‑trade products. Seeking justice also requires learning from history. On 13 February, the anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, Australians are invited to reflect on the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recommit to reconciliation through education, acknowledgement and respectful engagement.

These themes of justice, dignity and renewal are reflected in an upcoming College event. John XXIII College will host the book launch of Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO’s Pope Francis: The Disruptive Pilgrim’s Guide on Tuesday, 24 February 2026, officiated by Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, Archbishop of Perth.

Together, these moments invite the College community to see justice as integral to formation — shaping how we think, choose and act in the world.

Event details

Date: Tuesday 24 February 2026

Time: 4:30pm – 6:30pm

Venue: Thomas More Exhibition Centre, John XXIII College

Free but bookings essential: https://www.trybooking.com/1514428

The book will be available for purchase for $25. Attendance may count towards CEWA accreditation hours.

Janeen Murphy

Deputy Principal Faith and Mission

Community Mass

At Community Mass this week, we prayed God’s blessings on our Year 11 Homeroom leaders. In his beautiful homily, Fr Edmond addressed the students and reminded them that God will always be walking with them in the coming year, no matter what.

In our liturgy, we included a prayer for Australia’s First Peoples as we mark the anniversary of the Apology to the Stolen Generation. Jesuit, Fr Andrew Hamilton, shares a fresh perspective, relevant to our time - see his article below.

Koolyangarra House will be preparing our next Friday Eucharist on 27 February. Families are always welcome at the liturgy and at coffee in the Circle of Friends Café afterwards.

In Week 3 there will be no Mass on Friday, as the whole College will celebrate the Eucharist together for the new school year.

If you have any questions regarding our Friday Eucharist, please contact Mary-Anne Lumley: mary-anne.lumley@johnxxiii.edu.au

Community Mass details

College Chapel
Fridays in term time
Starts at 8:00am concludes at 8:30am

Sacraments

Do you have a child in Year 3, 4 or 6?

Families are encouraged to enrol their child in their parish without delay. Next week, many parishes will be closing their enrolments for 2026. The College website has links to sacrament program information from some of our local parishes.

Students will be preparing for the sacraments of Reconciliation in Year 3, First Holy Communion in Year 4 and Confirmation in Year 6.

Preparing for the sacraments is a three-way collaboration of family, parish and school. This means that parents exercise their right in choosing to enrol their child in the parish; the school provides the learning experiences to prepare the children, and the parish arranges the celebration of the sacrament. Parishes require that students be enrolled.

Parents often have questions about the Sacrament program, so please don’t hesitate to ask. Below are some useful points of contact:

The priest or sacrament coordinator in your local parish
John XXIII College website
The Archdiocesan website: Parishes & Mass Times
Mary-Anne Lumley: mary-anne.lumley@johnxxiii.edu.au or via phone on
08 9383 0513

Anniversary of the National Apology

to the Stolen Generations

In recent years, the Anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations has focused on what it says about the place of Indigenous Australians in the land in which they were the first peoples. It has been seen to mark a new beginning, a hope that was disappointed in the conduct of the Referendum about the Voice to Parliament.

That perspective is right. This year, however, the Apology has a deeper relevance to Australian life. It represents a decent and respectful shaping of relationships between Australians at a time when that decency is under threat. In much public conversation, people do not speak to one another but shout at one another. In social media respect is often surrendered to abuse, the search for common ground to polarisation, and respect to contempt, reaching out to cancelling. The choreography of human engagement with one another does not represent respectful conversation but war, complete with masks, hateful slogans and the edge of violence. Hatred can express itself in destroying property and in killing, as in Bondi. Political exchanges are directed not at truth and justice but at embarrassing opponents, not a finding common ground but at winning a battle.

The choreography of the Apology, in contrast, speaks to the challenges facing us today. It was not shouting about Indigenous issues, but a conversation between representatives of the Australian nation and Indigenous representatives. The Prime Minister made the Apology in person to representatives of the Stolen Generations. He was supported by the Leader of the Opposition Party. In doing so, he emphasised that all Australians are equally entitled to respect, and that the Government is responsible for ensuring that all Australians are treated equally regardless of their race and history. The Apology also recognised that Indigenous Australians have a special place in Australia as the First Peoples. They are not the objects of Australian policy but persons who are agents in their own lives.

This conviction of the Apology needs to be reaffirmed in the face of the disrespect for people who are different prevalent today. The removal of children was dictated by the disrespectful claim that the children were defined, not by their shared humanity, but by their inferior race. This claim was used to justify the massacres, displacement, expulsion from land and the cultures it nurtured, violation of sacred places, the taking away of their children, discrimination enshrined in law and in custom, racism and condescension within Australian life, and imposed marginalisation. It obscured the heroic story of endurance, resistance, guarding of culture and language, organisation, pride and constant struggle for justice that were also part of the Indigenous experience.

The dignity and respect involved in the Apology need to be kept in mind both in negotiating the relationship between Indigenous and other Australians and in responding to the social fragmentation evident in public life today. It needs to be enshrined in public life and in the day-to-day conduct of politics.

The Apology was a step toward reconciliation. Despite the scars left by the conduct of the Referendum on the Voice to Parliament, the memory of the Apology brings joy and hope both to our Indigenous members and others. But its ritual and its words, however, show that the path to reconciliation will demand great change. To accept and to implement that is our common challenge.