Cath News report: Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but rather entails the true development of people, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said in a statement for the 2010 Social Justice Sunday.
The statement pointed out the rise in violence in Australia among drunken professional sportsmen, road rage, late-night assaults and armed robberies, according to an AAP report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The statement addresses the growing social problem at all levels, including in the home, communities and across national structures.
It cites incidents of schoolyard and cyber bullying, and says the "recent demonisation of asylum seekers as a threat to our national security" is an example of how violence occurs in divisive political rhetoric and sensationalist media reporting.
"Assaults, which constitute the bulk of all crime, have increased by over 50 per cent in the decade to 2007," the statement says.
"We hear increasing reports of road rage, of bashings fuelled by drugs and alcohol, or armed robberies on trains or in shops, of professional sportsmen involved in violence in pubs and clubs, of players and umpires being assaulted even at junior sporting events."
The statement urges people to build peace and to identify and speak out against exclusion and oppression.
It will be distributed and presented to churches around the nation on Social Justice on Sunday, celebrated on September 26. http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=23260
The statement pointed out the rise in violence in Australia among drunken professional sportsmen, road rage, late-night assaults and armed robberies, according to an AAP report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The statement addresses the growing social problem at all levels, including in the home, communities and across national structures.
It cites incidents of schoolyard and cyber bullying, and says the "recent demonisation of asylum seekers as a threat to our national security" is an example of how violence occurs in divisive political rhetoric and sensationalist media reporting.
"Assaults, which constitute the bulk of all crime, have increased by over 50 per cent in the decade to 2007," the statement says.
"We hear increasing reports of road rage, of bashings fuelled by drugs and alcohol, or armed robberies on trains or in shops, of professional sportsmen involved in violence in pubs and clubs, of players and umpires being assaulted even at junior sporting events."
The statement urges people to build peace and to identify and speak out against exclusion and oppression.
It will be distributed and presented to churches around the nation on Social Justice on Sunday, celebrated on September 26. http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=23260
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