serving the faith communities of the Goulburn Valley
As part of NAIDOC Week, Greater Shepparton City Council is excited to be offering the opportunity to members of the community to participate in a FREE workshop to better understand rich local history and culture across Greater Shepparton and surrounding areas. This event is offered to interested persons at Kidstown on Tuesday 11 July and an additional session on Thursday 13 July.
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Forced marriage is the most common form of modern slavery reported in Australia. People from CALD backgrounds are disproportionately affected. This training is being offered for FREE in Shepparton on Wednesday 7 June, 1-4pm. Pastoral workers and people from all faiths are encouraged to participate.
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Laudato Si’ Week 2023 will be celebrated May 21-28 with the film “The Letter” to mark the eighth anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical on care for creation. This global celebration will unite Catholics to rejoice in the progress we have made in bringing Laudato Si’ to life, and show how the protagonists of “The Letter” are already doing so.
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Shepparton Regional Reconciliation Group invites you to attend the 2023 Sorry Day Commemoration to be held on Friday 26 May at Monash Park in Shepparton, starting at 10:30am.
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Australia Day has recently become an event that is contested by many – for many good and respectful reasons. Greater Shepparton Council would like to hear your feedback and comments on the idea of having an inclusive and respectful day of community celebration that is not held on 26 January.
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IN remembrance of loved ones passed, GV Hospice Care has organised a special event for the community to come together in a moment of reflection and thoughtful support.
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Live the life you please is a film-led social impact campaign that will change the way you think about the last chapter of life. There will be a screening in Shepparton as part of a national launch. On Tuesday 23rd of May, 6pm Shepparton Village Cinemas will be running a special Q&A event of the film that will feature local health experts who can discuss palliative care, ageing, aged care and related health services.
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African Family Services will conduct a three-day Train the Trainer Program in Bendigo. Participants will be paid a stipend of $100 per day for their attendance. The dates are Thursday 18th May, Friday 19th May and Saturday 20th May.
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Vesak is when Buddhists in Shepparton and across Australia come together and recollect the Lord Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing. Vesak is an international celebration and listed among UN Observances. Buddhism is one of the world’s oldest philosophies of non-violence and has practiced peaceful relations for over 2600 years. In this day and age, Buddhism continues fostering of world peace. For the eighth year, The Buddhist Association of the Goulburn Valley will be celebrating Vesak Festival in Shepparton on Saturday 13th of May 2023 from 4.00 pm to 6.00 pm at the Queen’s Gardens.
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Grand mosques mark the urban space of major historical cities such as Mecca, Medina, Cordoba and Tunis. More recently, these buildings have been built in cities like Algiers and Abu Dhabi. The notion of a “grand mosque” has been shaped by the location of the mosque, its scale and its historical importance. Melbourne now has a Grand Mosque.
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Descendants of Indigenous diggers have paid tribute to their ancestors at Anzac celebrations across the country, as calls for recognition of First Nations soldiers continue.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the names and images of people who have died, but published with the descendants’ permission.
It was the first time that Aboriginal riders joined the Light Horse memorial parade in the tiny border town of Barmah, Victoria on the banks of the Murray River.
Former stockman and Wangkangurru man Uncle Raymond Finn has made it his mission to highlight the sacrifices of First Nation soldiers and their military service to Australia.
People of faith communities in Australia, will gather to express their concern for and solidarity with the courageous people of Myanmar on Sunday 30 April, 5pm AEST) Collins St. Baptist Church, 174 Collins St. Melbourne. This event will be livestreamed.
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Military service and war is a significant part of our mob’s history and current experience. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have served in large numbers in every conflict since Australia’s Federation in 1901 and some signed up to colonial forces before this.
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Father Bob Maguire has died aged 88.
He dedicated his life to charitable works and earned a reputation as a candid commentator unafraid to speak his mind.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 for services to youth homelessness.
The mosque; the Islamic holy place of prayer, carries a distinct structural characteristic and identity. It is a serene and spiritual architecture that brings individuals closer to their faith and divine entity. Prophet Muhammad’s original house in Medina (in present-day Saudi Arabia) is believed to be the first place of prayer, and served as a model for early mosque architecture; a mud-brick structure with living quarters on one side of an enclosed rectangular courtyard. Soon after, the allocation of open spaces in the center of towns where Muslims could gather and pray became more frequent, resulting in several spaces of worship with a universal spatial characteristic: their orientation towards Mecca.
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A 20 metre cross, which took more than a decade to build, has been unveiled in a remote part of Central Australia. It’s located in Ikuntji, more than 230 kilometres west of Alice Springs. Landscape photographer Ken Duncan has led the project, raising several million dollars through private donations. Community members hope the site will be a meeting place for locals and create economic opportunities through tourism.
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Greater Shepparton City Council in partnership with Emergency Recovery Victoria, Wellways, Goulburn Flood Recovery Service and Mooroopna Football Netball Club are hosting a Community BBQ and Conversation Session with David Younger, natural disaster preparedness and recovery consultant. This event will take place at the Sir Ian McLennan Centre, Echuca Road, Mooroopna on Tuesday 2 May from 6pm.
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The UN chief has called for people of faith worldwide to “join their voices in a common prayer for peace”, as the holy festivals of Ramadan, Easter and Passover coincide this week.
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The Vatican on March 30 formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” officially declaring that an historic policy used to justify colonial exploitation is “not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church.”
The rejection of the concept, which has been used to describe a collection of papal teachings dating back to the 15th century, comes after years of pressure from Indigenous groups and some government leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Full Moon after the March Equinox (often called the Vernal Equinox) brings in its wake many religious celebrations based on the lunar calendar each year. We think of Passover, Easter, Buddhist New Year, Jain celebration, Hindu and Baha’i Observances and the Islamic observance of Ramadan ending in Eid-al-Fitr, the festival of celebration.
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