Local church builds bonds of community

St Vincent’s Catholic Parish Ashfield joins the ‘Share the Journey, Global Week of Action’ to build stronger communities.

The Catholic community of Ashfield ‘Shared the Journey’ as part of Refugee Week on Sunday 24 June. Fr Joti Bilawalu and parishioners were joined by State Member for Strathfield Jodi McKay, also a parishioner, and local councillors Julie Passas, Marghanita Da Cruz and Vittoria Raciti, to show their support for building welcoming communities.

‘Share the Journey is a call from Pope Francis to all men and women of goodwill, to meet-up, share a meal, story and culture,’ explained Jenny Collins-White from Catholic Mission, the event partner. ‘By doing so we are creating meeting places where something bigger happens, understanding’.

‘It’s very simple, a meal, but profound because this meeting allows new possibilities that were not there before,’ she added. ‘It’s also profound because we have to step out of our “comfort zones” across these boundaries we have between us and welcome people who come as migrants and refugees’.

The Share the Journey campaign launched in September 2017, aims to strengthen the bonds of our communities and create spaces and opportunities for diverse peoples to come together.

‘By doing this, and promoting the “culture of encounter” so often talked about by Pope Francis, we aim to combat prejudice and build more inclusive societies,’ concluded Ms Collins-White.

St Vincent’s plans to host more of these encounters over the next year, hoping to build the numbers and draw in communities across cultural and religious boundaries. For more information contact formation@catholicmission.org.au. Share the Journey information can be found at www.sharejourney.org.