Mission and Role
Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation
Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World.
The Justice and Peace Office is an agency of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.
Justice and Peace Office Team
Julie Macken
Research and Project Officer
During the early 1990’s Julie wrote a number of documentaries including, Mary the story of Saint Mary MacKillop, The Business of Saint Making and Muslim Converts, before joining The Australian Financial Review as a senior writer for over a decade. From 2007 onward she worked with Federal Labor, the NSW Greens, United Voice (then the LHMU) Greenpeace and more recently, ActionAid. She is currently doing a PhD at Western Sydney University into the question of Australia’s treatment of refugees. In 2016 she got together with Carmen Lawrence, Pamela Curr, Wendy Bacon and Claire O’Connor to form, Australian Women in Support of Women on Nauru.She is passionate about changing the way Australia treats those who ask for our protection and how we treat this ancient land.
Email: julie.macken@sydneycatholic.org
Fr Peter Smith
Justice & Peace Promoter
Fr Peter Smith is a priest of the Archdiocese of Sydney, Australia. He is the Parish Priest of the inner city parish of St Columba’s North Leichhardt. Peter is also the Promoter of Justice and Peace for the Archdiocese and teaches in both the Medical and Philosophy & Theology faculties of the University of Notre Dame, Sydney.
Additionally, he sits on a number of committees both ecclesiastical and secular including The Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, (a national body of the Episcopal Conference), The Sydney Archdiocese Anti-Slavery Committee and and the Archdiocesan Properties Committee.
Peter is the Co-editor in Chief of Solidarity: The Journal of Catholic Social Thought and Secular Ethics and a Founding member of The Global Catholic Climate Network.
peter.smith@sydneycatholic.org
Ruth Moraes
Research & Project Officer
Ruth comes from a background in research and verification of information for publication in encyclopedias and journals. Ruth has worked and volunteered on human rights projects in New Zealand and India. In regards to social justice, she is particularly interested in pro-life issues, human rights and anti-corruption work.
Ruth has a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Arts (History) from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and is currently studying towards a Master of Liberal Arts (Theology) at the University of Notre Dame Australia.