Two things can be true at the same time. This seems to be an unpopular concept in an increasingly polarized world. I am committed to the Catholic Church in spite of many spectacular failures by my Church. The Church, at its best, remains a sign of hope, faith and love for so many in our world, especially the poor. At the same time, the Church still has so much work to do to reclaim the confidence of the community after years of confirmed reports of sexual abuse and, worse, cover up. This will be a work in progress for some time but may, in time, have great benefits. We will see Churches that are more humble, more human and more inclusive and supportive. The Institute of Child Protection Study within the Australian Catholic University published a report last week which revealed about 0.4% of the population, or an estimated 87,000 Australians, experienced sexual abuse during childhood by leaders and other adults in religious organisations including male and female clergy, priests, and pastors. Happily, more current data would indicate that processes implemented have had very positive effects to more recent generations. We still have lots to work on and all Churches have much to reflect upon. Some practices, traditions and beliefs are rooted in practices, traditions and beliefs that were just wrong. Along with being a Pope Francis fan, I really

admire Archbishop Jeremy Greaves who is the leader of the Anglican Church in Brisbane. He writes and speaks very authentically as a Christian leader. He was quoted in last weekend’s Courier Mail making a very public apology to those who are same sex attracted or transgender. Leadership takes courage and the Jesus I believe in, would be very proud of this statement. Bishop Jeremy said, “We apologise to sexually diverse and gender diverse people for the times when we have not accepted that you are who you are. We have denigrated you, we have excluded you from Sacraments and the community of the Anglican Church. There are times when we supported the criminalisation of your sexuality, we’ve advocated for and or condoned the practices known as ‘conversion therapy’. We have isolated you and subjected you to mistreatment and when we have not spoken up to protect you from violence and exclusion.”

In 2022, the Australian Catholic Bishops released a document as a guide for those of us in Education in how we should work with students in our schools entitled, ‘Created & Loved: A Guide for Catholic Schools on Gender and Identity’. This document reminds us all that every human person is equal in the eyes of God and is precious. The lives of our young people and the issues that they face today and will face tomorrow are not simple, nor black and white. Good Catholic schools will help young people think and reflect carefully on the issues of their lives and the world.

I shared with staff last week, after reading Bishop Jeremy’s apology, a prayer written by Pope Francis that teachers might pray, “May we use the power that we have as educators to instil within our students the values of equality, stewardship, compassion and love for one’s neighbour. In our interactions with students, may we always model what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus, who demonstrated authentic servant leadership, even to the point of death.”

Bundy Bingo – has run for 40 years.  The Carswell family have been the mainstay of this operation all of that time.  Over those years, Bundy Bingo has raised funds for Surf Lifesaving and Shalom College.  Each year we receive a cheque from the Carswell’s for a share of the profits.  Over the years, that has amounted to almost $500,000.  I got a letter from Danny last week outlining the history of Bingo and any long term Bundaberg person would find an interesting read.

Shalom Clothing Store – we are still in negotiations with Weareco, the company that produces most of our school uniform, to hand over operation of our Clothing Store to them. This new business will be a commercial site not on our property. All going well, the new store which will sell all of our uniform lines, will be operating early in Term 4. There are a number of factors which have led the College Board to make this decision. Hopefully, a full-time commercial premises with a strong on-line purchasing platform, will offer parents a level of service that we can’t. In the lead up to this changeover, our Clothing Store will operate as normal.

Parent Pick Up Eggmolesse Street – I received an email from Council last week pointing out that they had been observing traffic in the afternoons in Eggmolesse St. Apparently, parents are parking and waiting for their children while parked on the Yellow Lines. The email asked me to alert parents to this and remind them that this practice is illegal. They asked that we forward this reminder to all as a ‘friendly warning’. The next one may be QPS or BRC Traffic officers issuing parking infringement notices.

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
mcmahond@shalomcollege.com