The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) has issued a statement urging Catholics to consider how they will vote in the Federal Election 2016. In it they pick up Pope Francis’ expression “thrown away people” highlighting the experiences of
- Indigenous Australians
- asylum seekers and refugees
- survivors of sexual abuse
- those who suffer family violence
- those in the womb
- the elderly
- those suffering mental illness
- those suffering addiction
- those entrapped in new forms of slavery and
- the desperately poor beyond our shores who look to us for help.
Members of each of these groups have been “thrown away” or disregarded by Australian society and lack a loud voice in election debates. Catholics are urged to prayerfully listen to their needs and that of creation in considering how to vote.
ACBC Statement for Election 2016
The four page statement is called A Vote for the Voiceless. It can be downloaded here.
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