Election Guide – Justice and Peace Issues

There are lots of great guides produced by various parts of our Church that touch on many different issues and give us a sense of the values, directions and policies of various parties. We assisted in the Archbishop’s guide that covers key issues like marriage and refugee and asylum seeker policies. This guide is an extended version of a broad range of justice and peace issues that may be of interest or concern to you. As with all guides it is by no means exhaustive nor does it cover all the possible issues that are important in deciding how we each vote. But it is a helpful reference.

This has been a long election campaign and much of the coverage suggests many of us are tired, cynical and disillusioned with our political process and system . This has led to a sense of apathy, to a sense of hopelessness. But as Christians we are called to more than this. We know there is hope, and we know we can be bearers of and witnesses to that hope.  Irrespective of who we vote for or why let us remember to bring all of our hope and joy and all of our charity and compassion to the ballot box on July 2. Our body politic might not be all we want it to be, but that means we must engage more, not less. Let us together wrestle with our consciences and pray for clarity so that  we can all raise the level of debate and conversation in this country.

More resources:  http://www.catholictalk.com.au/walking-the-talk/blog/item/771-2016-federal-election-guides; https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/how-to-vote-let-christ-be-your-guide/