Social Justice Statement Launch - Bishop's Address

Bishop Tim Harris Social Justice Statement Launch Address

We gather today with hope, compassion and a shared desire for a more peaceful, united Australia.

Yet many in our community carry pain and fear amid growing division.

The dreadful massacre at Bondi last December, and the abuse directed at all those that we consider to be ‘other’; whether because they are unborn or elderly or disabled, or from a different nationality or religion or background to ourselves, remind us that polarisation wounds the dignity and wellbeing of all Australians.

We see this division every day, especially online, where anger, misinformation and hateful attacks spread quickly.

Our country needs a change of heart: one that offers hope, healing and a way beyond fear.

The statement from Australia’s bishops, which we launch today, offers guidance to the People of God on how we might respond.

Last October, Pope Leo reminded us that “the supreme rule in the Church is love”.

In this, he echoes the teaching of Jesus: love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.

For two thousand years, Christians have tried to live by that command. St Maximillian Kolbe, quoted at the beginning of our statement, gave his life in love amid the horrors of the Nazi regime.

And even on that dreadful night at Bondi, love was not absent.

As gunfire broke out, Mohammed Rahmat Pasha, a young Indian Muslim, arrived at the scene and began helping the wounded, despite the danger around him.

While others ran for safety, he stayed to help people he had never met.

Later, he said his actions were guided by faith and humanity: “Saving an innocent is saving all of mankind.”

After the attack, when the New South Wales Government asked Jewish faith leaders what they needed, they asked for positive action.

Rabbi Nochum Schapiro offered a simple response: let every person perform one mitzvah, one act of kindness and love, in memory of those who could no longer show kindness to others.

That is the heart of our message today.

Love is not only a word or a feeling. Love is action. It reaches beyond what is familiar and comfortable.

It listens to others’ stories, fears and hopes. It builds bridges of understanding. It dispels ignorance. It offers forgiveness and extends grace. It helps heal communities.

So, in the face of hatred, division and violence, we are invited to go into our communities with kindness, friendship and a listening ear.

This is the culture of encounter Pope Francis called us to build. It is the path beyond polarisation.

In his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo warned of a global culture of power marked by polarisation and violence.

His response is a civilisation of love: a society where justice and charity belong together, and love guides our economic, political and cultural life.

We all have a part to play in building that civilisation of love. As bishops, we can act at the national level. And this social justice statement we are launching today, ‘Living the Gospel in Times of Social Division’, is a small step in starting that conversation.

But each of us can act in our own neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools and communities.

So today, we urge all Christians, all people of faith, and all people of good will across Australia: let us reach out with friendship, with listening and with genuine empathy and compassion.

Let us build understanding. Let us commit ourselves to a society that respects and upholds the dignity of every human life, and in which every person, whatever their background, race or religion, can flourish and live with dignity. And may God, who loves us beyond imagining, fill us with love and guide our feet into the way of peace.

Click here to view the Social Justice Statement - August 2026