BR RICHARD WALSH
Saturday morning
BIO
Richard Walsh is a Christian Brother who was born in Dunedin. An old boy of the St Paul’s Hgh School Dunedin, he joined the Christian Brothers, trained in Melbourne, and then taught in Christchurch and Dunedin for many years at what is now Trinity Catholic College. Following a passion for spirituality, he undertook a year-long spiritual formators course in Dublin. After a time as principal at St Thomas of Canterbury, in 2000, he was invited to head the Edmund Rice Spirituality Centre in Lusaka until again he was invited to be the Province Leader of the newly formed Christian Brothers Africa Province. In 2014 Richard was elected to the Christian Brothers Congregation Leadership team based in Rome and in 2021 returned to Christchurch.
ABSTRACT
The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh wrote:
“To create fundamental change, we, the members of society, have to transform ourselves. If we want real peace, we have to demonstrate our love and understanding so that those responsible for making decisions can learn from us.”
Mahatma Gandhi said: Be the change you want to see in the world.
Jesus of Nazareth said (more or less): Metanoia….have a change of mindset and heart set in order to be open to the newness of the Good News. A new kingdom is at hand. A fundamentally new paradigm is on the way.
Pope Francis has said, ‘We are living not in an epoch of change, but a change of epoch.’
In his book The God Shift, Adrian Smith wrote: In all aspects of life – scientific, sociological, political, cultural, ethical, psychological- we no longer express ourselves nor understand our world as our parents did. Yet we are expected to believe in and worship a God with concepts that have remained unchanged from the Middle Ages. Hence the sense of unreality about God, about religion, about the Church experienced by many Christains today.
What does this mean for humanity….for religious/spiritual people….for those inspired by Edmund Rice…for me?
This session will introduce consideration of the issues around the personal transformation to which we are called as disciples of Jesus and followers of Edmund Rice. What is it to go beyond charity to justice and beyond justice to mysticism which leads to working for justice and acts of charity?
SIR MARK SOLOMON
Saturday afternoon
BIO
Tā Mark Solomon was born and raised in Christchurch where he lives
with his wife Maria, their children, and extended whānau. Tā Mark served as Kaiwhakahaere (chairperson) of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, the tribal council of Ngāi Tahu, for approximately 18 years, from 1998 until December 2016. In 2013, he was recognised as Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and Business. He was previously deputy Chair of the Canterbury District Health Board, and is also founding Chairman of the Māori Carbon Collective.
He is on Te Pukotahitanga, The Māori advisory group to the Government’s joint venture on family violence and sexual violence. Tā Mark has been a strong advocate in Te Waipounamu for Tū Pono: Te Mana Kaha o te Whānau, a whānau-driven movement that has a focus on exploring ways of enabling a stronger Māori response to reduce and eliminate family harm/violence. More recently he was appointed to the steering group who provided advice for the establishment of the Māori Health Authority.
ABSTRACT
SONYA VUNI & VERONICA FOUHY MULLIN
The Man, The Mission… or The Museum? The legacy of Edmund Rice today
Sunday morning
BIO
Veronica is Assistant Director of Religious Studies at St Peter’s College, Auckland. She has been teaching Theology for 20 years in both secondary and tertiary education across the country.
Veronica was first introduced to the Edmund Rice Network on the India Immersion School trip with St Peter’s College in 1998. Since then, she has completed volunteering stints with the Christian Brothers in Dili, East Timor, and Arusha, Tanzania, working and living in their communities. In her spare time, Veronica is working towards her Doctorate of Ministry investigating the efficacy of including te ao Māori in Catholic secondary student leadership formation.
ABSTRACT
MILLICENT KAVENAGH
“Charity seeks to calm things down, advocacy seeks to stir things up.”
Sunday morning (student session)
BIO
Millicent is a member of the Formation Team and the Advocacy Coordinator at the Edmund Rice Oceania Province. She is a passionate educator and advocate, having worked as a teacher in Edmund Rice schools, and with experience in the development of social justice curriculum in the classroom. With a Master of Education specialising in Equity, Diversity and Social Change, Millicent is passionate about advocating for an equitable and just society. Millicent’s role in Formation allows her to be able to connect and share with a wide network of people who work together under the values of presence, compassion and liberation.
ABSTRACT
Millicent’s workshop is an introduction to Human Rights, the Sustainable Development Goals and the work of Edmund Rice International at the United Nations. We will consider how we can include rights-based advocacy in our education and our personal lives and shift the work that we currently do from charitable response to a rights-based response; developing our own justice mindsets.