Rev John Gilmore, NCCA President and I are both reading through the essays of the book, Statements from the Soul: The Moral Case for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and we have been sharing our learnings, sorrows and joys in our conversations over past weeks. 

Early on in the book, we were both moved by the essay of Very Rev Dr Antonios Kaldas, parish priest of Archangel Michael and St. Bishoy Coptic Orthodox Church in Mount Druitt, Sydney and lecturer in philosophy at St Cyrils Coptic Orthodox Theological College of the Sydney College of Divinity. 

Here we learned about the Coptic Christians of Egypt and the history of their displacement. Fr Antonios showed how this history leads the Coptic diaspora in Australia, and around the world, to a sensitivity for the displacement of first peoples and the shared understanding of the intergenerational trauma from dispossession of their land that is carried in spirituality and culture. 

John and I have also found ourselves reflecting that the essays in ‘Statement from the Soul’ have been very rich Lenten studies. In this Lenten season we are called by the psalmist and the prophets to be reconciled to God through an examination of our past in word, thought and deed. Greater awareness of the past focuses us on the present. And this season of preparation draws us into our future as Easter people.

‘Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ (cf Ephesians 5:14) 

For both John and I, the book has a strong sense of God’s calling – for all Australians to support the invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and support the constitutional recognition of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Voice to Parliament.  

As the essays show, our support to realise the three requests of the Uluru Statement, addressing the sovereignty, justice and self-determination of Australia’s First Peoples, is about unity and reconciliation, and the healing of our nations. And therein lies a symmetry with the Paschal mystery in our journey from Uluru. 

Elizabeth (Liz) Stone

NCCA General Secretary