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New premises for the Catholic overseas aid organisation, Caritas Australia, were officially opened on 25 August with a liturgy and blessing attended by several hundred supporters and staff.
The move by Caritas Australia from its previous address in North Sydney to Caritas Australia House, located at 24 O'Riordan Street, Alexandria, brings together under one roof the Australian Catholic Bishops' three social justice agencies: Caritas Australia, the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council and Catholic Earthcare Australia.
The liturgy and blessing were conducted by Bishop Eugene Hurley, the Bishop of Darwin and Deputy Chairman of the Caritas Board, who apologised for the absence of Archbishop Adrian Doyle, Caritas Australia's Chairman, who was unable to attend due to ill health.
In blessing Caritas Australia House, Bishop Hurley said that more than simply a building, the new premises would be a co-ordinating centre for continuing the Church's mission to the world.
"We are gathered in God's presence today to bless and make holy this building … Let us ask God to dwell in this building through those who work to build God's kingdom of justice and peace."
Bishop Hurley reflected that the nature of the Church's evangelical mission as far back as St Peter had been about ordinary people rising to extraordinary challenges through acceptance of God's presence in their lives.
"Peter, known as Simon, was named Cephas (Petrus) by Our Lord, 'and on this rock I will build my Church,'" Bishop Hurley said, adding that Peter's all-too-human failings, denials and doubts, had not in the least deterred the trust placed in him by Christ.
"This is more than a building, it is a symbol of what we do despite our failings to make a just world," Bishop Hurley said, quoting from Pope Benedict VXI's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love),
"He said three things make the Church the Church: proclaiming the Gospel, celebrating the sacraments, and caring for the poor. This love of the poor is an essential and defining activity of the Church."
Caritas Australia's CEO, Jack de Groot, then welcomed Australia's Ambassador designate to the Holy See, Tim Fischer AC, to officially open the building.
Mr Fischer reflected on the work that Caritas had done since its founding in Europe 84 years ago and, in particular, the humanitarian projects undertaken by Caritas Australia in Oceania.
"In Project Compassion the values of Catholic social justice have been carried into Oceania by Caritas Australia through its understanding of the need for development of social justice in our region," Mr Fischer said, citing examples such as the provision of healthcare and education in PNG and Timor Leste,
"In the work done in Gizo in the Solomons and Aceh after the 2005 tsunami, and in Burma earlier this year after the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, your work is revealed to be a humane force in our region where there is great need," he said.
"I salute you all, and wish you well in your continued mission to prosecute issues of food, security and poverty."
