Research and Project Development Manager at the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth Tony Giglia signing the agreement as the first witness on the signing of a partnership agreement between the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth and the University of Notre Dame Australia. Photo: Amy Gibbs, UNDA.
By Theresia Titus
These challenges are summarised under the 2016 Archdiocesan Plan priority area, Outreach to Those in Need, which is dedicated to delivering an informed and practical response to people in need in the context of Catholic Social Teaching.
It brings about an understanding of the prevailing community, social and economic environments.
Leading this initiative is Dr Terry Wilson as Vicar for Social Outreach.
Dr Terry Wilson, Vicar for Social Outreach. Photo: Sourced.
Speaking to The Record, Dr Wilson said social outreach is for all people in the community, not just only Catholics.
“The overarching thrust of this strategy was to deliver an informed and, most importantly, practical response to people in need within the Church’s social teaching,” Dr Wilson said.
“St Paul tells us in his letter to James that ‘faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead’. In delivering this part of the Plan, our constant focus has been to provide practical assistance to those in need,” he said.
“An initial task was to identify those areas where there were gaps in the Archdiocese’s service delivery.
As a result, two new services have been introduced.
“The West Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (WACMRO) was opened in late 2017 under the leadership of Deacon Greg Lowe,” Dr Wilson explained.
“Additionally, a Post Abortion Grief Counselling and Support service has been started with more than 50 people assisted in its first year through confidential counselling to deal with the personal trauma they have experienced.”
Aboriginal Catholic Ministry staff. Photo: The Record.
Dr Wilson also explained that several new initiatives, such as the introduction of Disability Access Inclusion Plans, developed in consultation with the Emmanuel Centre and Reconciliation Action Plans, developed in consultation with the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, are also in the process of being implemented in Archdiocesan owned-and-operated agencies to facilitate greater inclusion of all people.
The second strategy within Outreach to Those in Need area is supporting Archdiocesan agencies to cooperate among themselves, to enhance existing social outreach services.
“By fostering collaboration between existing service providers, they deliver more effective assistance to those in need,” Dr Wilson explained.
In October 2017, a ground-breaking Social Outreach Networking Conference was held, co-ordinated in collaboration with the Archdiocesan Communications Office.
It was attended by 21 central social outreach agencies who met collectively and examined how to best assist each other’s work.
Dr Wilson mentioned there are currently 18 collaborative projects within the agencies, including the partnership between Catholic Homes and Identitywa in “working together to provide accommodation and care support for those people with disabilities requiring aged and end of life needs”.
Emmanuel Centre introduced Disability Access Inclusion Plans to facilitate greater inclusion of people with disabilities in Archdiocesan agencies. Photo: Supplied.
Daydawn Advocacy Centre and Aboriginal Catholic Ministry are also working together acquiring funds for aboriginal persons’ funerals, as well as the Emmaus Community and The Shopfront are sharing and distributing resources to assist homeless people.
Five Archdiocesan agencies are also taking students from Centacare Employment and Training on work placements in preparing them to enter the workforce.
Ensuring the efficacy of the co-operation between these agencies, Dr Wilson specified that two further initiatives have been put in place.
“A partnership has been formed with the University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA), through a formal Memorandum of Understanding, for UNDA to prepare an annual overview document that tracks solid baseline data measuring of poverty, homelessness and immigration, to inform the Archdiocese in making future decisions.
“Links are also being established to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s National Centre for Pastoral Research,” he stated.
Emmaus Community founder Br Alan Archer. Photo: Matthew Lau.
The second initiative is the commencement of Catholic Social Services WA in July 2018 with former Chief Executive of St Patrick’s Community Support Centre Fremantle, Steve McDermott, appointed as its first Director.
“CSSWA will promote further collaborative projects while supporting Catholic social outreach agencies.
“It takes as its motto from the words of Pope Francis that he said on 10 July 2016 to ‘do good works, do not just say words that go to the wind. Through the good works that we do … our faith germinates and bears fruit’,” Dr Wilson concluded.
From pages 28 to 29 of Issue 15: ‘Archdiocesan Plan 2016 – 2021: Halfway mark filled with determination to commit to bring Church in Perth closer to Christ’ of The Record Magazine