On Sunday 4 July, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday marked the start of NAIDOC week. This year the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) have adopted the NAIDOC theme for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday, Heal Country, looking at what reconciliation in the Church might look like. When exploring this notion, NATSICC is continuing to take steps towards First Nations people and culture finding a home in and being celebrated within the Church.

The question of what reconciliation in the Church looks like is one that many countries have had to consider in light of past injustices related to Church-supported colonisation. The first part to healing involves the relationship between First Australians and the Church. The Church needs to continue coming to grips with its own mistakes in this area: its involvement in the Stolen Generations, its running of missions in which children were taken from their parents, its involvement in missionary outreach work that did not adequately respect First Nations peoples and its ongoing Eurocentric worldview.
Healing this relationship is critical for the health of the Church in this country, the health of the land itself and the health of its First Peoples.
In his 2001 apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Oceania, Pope John Paul II recognised that the relationship of the Church to the Aboriginal peoples and the Torres Strait Islander peoples remains vital but that it is also difficult because of past and present injustices and cultural differences. Pope John Paul II also recognised that the Church should more thoroughly study Indigenous cultures and communicate the faith in a legitimate way appropriate to Indigenous cultures. Pope John Paul II went on to state that the Church will support the cause of all Indigenous peoples who seek a just and equitable recognition of their identity and their rights.
He also acknowledged, ‘Whenever the truth has been suppressed by governments and their agencies or even by Christian communities, the wrongs done to the indigenous peoples need to be honestly acknowledged… The past cannot be undone, but honest recognition of past injustices can lead to measures and attitudes which will help to rectify the damaging effects for both the Indigenous community and the wider society. The Church expresses deep regret and asks forgiveness where her children have been or still are party to these wrongs. Aware of the shameful injustices done to First Peoples in Oceania, the Synod Fathers apologised unreservedly for the part played in these by members of the Church, especially where children were forcibly separated from their families.’
The question of reconciliation in the Church is particularly pressing, given 2021 marks the 250th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in Australia, and the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity to the Torres Strait. Yet many First Australians recognise that the Spirit of God was poured out onto the original inhabitants of this great Southern Land many, many thousands of years prior. Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann, a respected Ngangiwumirr Elder, artist and 2021 Senior Australian of the year explains the importance of experiencing God’s presence in the Land: ‘My people today, recognise and experience in this quietness, the great Life-Giving Spirit, the Father of us all. It is easy for me to experience God’s presence. When I am out hunting, when I am in the bush, among the trees, on a hill or by a billabong; these are the times when I can simply be in God’s presence. My people have been so aware of Nature. It is natural that we will feel close to the Creator.’

'On a day where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Catholics come together and sit side by side, we should acknowledge that we are united in a fight to save God’s creation. It is one we cannot fight alone.'
In looking at reconciliation in the Church, it’s impossible to overlook the role of the land in Aboriginal and Torres Strait spirituality. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are inextricably connected to country in Australia and its waters. This connection to country and all of God’s creation is core to their spirituality as a people and that of their ancestors.
The term itself — Country — encompasses far more than the physical land. ‘For us, country is a word for all the values, places, resources, stories and cultural obligations associated with that area and its features. It describes the entirety of our ancestral domains,’ explains Professor Mick Dodson, member of the Yawuru peoples and Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University (ANU) and Professor of Law at the ANU College of Law.
In his exhortation Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis called for an ‘inculturated spirituality’, noting that for Indigenous cultures and peoples, ‘ancient practices and mythical explanations co-exist with modern technologies and challenges’. And a ‘myth charged with spiritual meaning can be used to advantage, and not always considered a pagan error’.
This year’s NAIDOC week celebrations sees the world’s oldest continuous culture adopting new innovations in digital technology. As part of the ‘inculturated spirituality’ where ancient practices and modern technologies overlap, NATSICC is offering ways to incorporate Indigenous spirituality into Church traditions.
This affects the level of daily operations, like NATSICC chairperson John Lochowiak meeting with the Ambassador to the Holy See over Zoom, and the Council conducting regular meetings over Zoom, but also in ways it engages with the wider Church, and invites the Church to partake in traditional customs.
This year, as last year, NATSICC offered a virtual Welcome to Country for parishes, schools and organisations who have been unable to invite a Traditional Custodian to provide a Welcome to Country.
Indigenous groups are adopting digital technologies to affirm and encourage Indigenous identity, community and family connections. And like organisations in around the world, NATSICC is emerging a different organisation post-COVID-19 with numerous examples of how digital innovation can enhance opportunities for protecting and preserving language and celebrating culture.
As a way of enhancing and enriching parishioner celebrations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday, NATSICC has engaged with young Catholic, Kuku Yalanji and Yidinji man Luke Stevens (pictured) to produce a series of Didgeridoo tracks. Luke has used his cultural gifts to explore the theme of this year’s celebration — Heal Country — through the lens of his Catholic Faith in order to produce these reflective and inspirational Didgeridoo tracks with suggested applications: Welcome/Entrance, Preparation of Gifts/Communion reflection and Farewell/After Mass. ‘As a young Indigenous Catholic man,’ Luke says, ‘my faith has taken me on a journey where I have enjoyed finding unique ways to sharing faith with others.’
As part of its online resources offering, NATSICC also provides a number of hymns for the Entrance and Communion parts of the Mass replacing the entrance and Communion antiphons in the Roman Missal on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday. These were written and performed by Torres Strait Islander Councillor Dolly McGaughey, to evoke the spirit of the Islands.
There is also planning underway for the Galong Retreat, run by NATSICC, as both an in-person and virtual spiritual retreat this coming November.
On a day where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Catholics come together and sit side by side, we should acknowledge that we are united in a fight to save God’s creation. It is one we cannot fight alone. We must combine the knowledge of First Australians with the technology borne of Western culture to ensure that future generations shall have the opportunity to experience the gifts of God’s creation as intended.
As outlined in the Australian Catholics Social Justice Council’s document Catholics & the Process of Reconciliation, the Church must continue its work for reconciliation if it is to be a sacrament of unity both with God and among peoples. The mission of the Church is to be at the service of the whole of humanity in making the unity achieved in Christ a living reality. This must be demonstrated in the quality of relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Catholics themselves.
We have taken steps towards leading a reconciliation in the Church, a journey on which we are all invited to share. In the words of Pope John Paul II during his 1986 visit to Alice Springs, ‘what has been done cannot be undone. But what can now be done to remedy the deeds of yesterday must not be put off till tomorrow.’
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) is the peak advisory body to the Australian Catholic Bishops on issues relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics. The council was founded in 1992 and the Secretariat is based in Adelaide.
Main image: Luke Stevens holding a Didgeridoo (Supplied)