Marian College student takes out Diocese Competition
Year 10 Marian College student Stella Jones has won the Year 9 and 10 category of the Christchurch Catholic Commission of Justice & Peace’s Essay Competition.
The topic was ‘Describe a time when an act of racism has been recognized in Aotearoa New Zealand. How can Catholic Social Teaching prevent future similar events?’
After being approached to enter the competition by her Religious Education teacher, Stella initially decided she wouldn’t enter, but as she reflected on the topic of racism she changed her mind.
“I have a lot of friends from different cultures, and I suspect they would have experienced racism before,” she said.
Stella chose to focus her essay on the March 15 Mosque attacks.
“I thought about it and that was the one event that really stood out to me. Racism has always been present in New Zealand, but it wasn’t until the mosque shootings that we really acknowledged that it was here – it was so in your face. It was a shock to everyone that this could happen here in New Zealand,” Stella said.
The Catholic Social Teachings which she wrote about were relevant to everyone, Catholic or not.
“They are the basis of being a good human being and we need to apply them in our lives and just do it all the time. No matter whether you’re Catholic or not, it’s about the moral values that we have.”
Stella said she was “so excited” to find out she had won the competition.
“I didn’t think I could actually win it. Mum and Dad were really proud of me,” she said.
You can read Stella’s full essay below.
STELLA JONES - YEAR 10
MARIAN COLLEGE
Describe a time when an act of racism has been recognised in Aotearoa New Zealanad. How can Catholic Social Teaching prevent future similar events?
The Christchurch Mosque Attacks was an event that shook New Zealand as a whole. It was something none of us expected; we certainly were not prepared for the hardships that we faced in the aftermath of the attack. Without warning, a colossal amount of trauma and despair was thrown at the heads of the people of Aotearoa New Zealand. And thus, more attention than ever was brought to a topic that had always existed in our communities, yet was never truly faced with the willpower we needed to fight it. Racism. On the 15th March, 2019, it became apparent that this issue was no longer a distant fear displayed to us on our daily news channels. The abundance of action that occurred after this calamity showed us that when our society is divided, the stability of our communities becomes non-existent. By prioritising the values encapsulated in the Catholic social teachings into our lives, we can prevent future incidents from happening.
To begin, the Catholic social teachings can prevent inhumane events by helping us to become activists for human rights in society. Although racism is becoming more challenged in our world, it is still ever present. Throughout the ages, racism has picked its targets as people of colour, “half-castes”, and people who don’t fit the supposed norms of society. Racism divides society into races and deems certain ones to be more superior than others. This was present in the Mosque Attacks as the terrorist was a white supremacist who made an ultimate decision to inflict violence upon Muslim people in the midst of his hatred. This compelled New Zealanders to try and rid the country of racism. Whether we knew it or not, we were implementing the Catholic social teachings through our actions. The principles people showed include Life and Dignity of the Human Person, Rights and Responsibilities, and Call to Family, Community, and Participation. These state that every person is sacred and it is vital for everyone to be granted dignity and human rights. Not only this, but each person has a duty to participate in society to help all people regardless of their differences. Through schools educating young people on racism, the government creating action strategies, and people working to end discrimination, it is evident that the Mosque Attacks awakened our country on the importance of these principles to harness peace in our ever changing world. By applying them, we are activists by challenging immorality. No matter the possible repercussions, we must do whatever possible to allow people to have the respect they deserve.
Secondly, the Catholic social teachings are a prominent factor in the way our society acts. This is because they can guide us to improve equality. Again, the belief of certain races being better than others is an idea that needs to be abolished. The Catholic social teachings tell us that we need to ensure that our workforces, schools, and social congregations are fair for everyone. The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers principles state that the dignity of work and the dignity of people in work must be protected. This correlates over to schools, sports teams, and other groups in society. To bring this into our lives we must make sure people of all races, genders and religions are treated equally. This is still something we are yet to solve which is disheartening but is definitely possible. We started to be implemented even more after the mosque shootings, when the message of “ We are one” arose into our country. This shows that everyone is as worthy as each other despite differences in appearance and beliefs. By making our society fair, disputes can be prevented as everyone will feel valued in their occupations. Although It is impossible to change every individual's outlook on the world and the people in it, every step works towards the bigger picture, however small.
Lastly, after the tragedy of the Mosque Attacks, it was extremely moving to observe how New Zealanders acted towards each other in the following months. The event brought people together as we realised how important it is to stand with each other in times of adversity. During this time, people made an extra effort to comfort and guide those affected by the attacks. In addition, children in schools created momentos as a reminder that we were all in this together. This displayed how even the young understood the depth of the issue on some level. Through this it is evident how the Catholic social teaching principle of Solidarity helps in times of affliction. It is clear that the support of our peers helps us through the racism debacle. Even with this, naturally it can be hard for us to recognise and stop racism, often because of the fear of being victims to it ourselves. With this in mind, it is important to know that even consoling people when racism does happen, is part of the solution. We should always keep the message of loving our neighbour in our minds, especially in dire circumstances.
To conclude, racism is something that affects us all, whether it is directed at us as individuals or not. To steer clear of demoralising incidents like the Mosque Attacks, It is important we look back on events in history to make sure they never repeat. We must also make sure we do not use these events as the only motivation to change. We must act in the present instead of waiting for something bad to push us into action. To do this we can channel the grace of the Catholic social teaching principles. These values that everyone should use as good human beings, regardless of religion. Without these in practice, it is impossible to find tranquillity. As Pope Paul VI once said, “If you want peace, work for justice”.
Bibliography
https://jsri.loyno.edu/catholic-social-teaching-cst-and-racism
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14682761.2021.1971885
Article added: Wednesday 16 November 2022
