On Monday May 19 church leaders were among two groups of Christians to hold simultaneous sit-in prayer vigils at the Sydney office of Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Melbourne office of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
The peaceful action was a response to Australia’s cruel treatment of asylum seekers and an appeal to the two major parties to end the bipartisan tragedy of offshore detention, especially of children.
Among the sit-in participants were two Catholic priests, a nun, two Baptist pastors, an Anglican Priest, five Uniting Church ministers, and a number of lay church leaders.
For the first time in Australian history, leaders of a major Christian church chose to take part in civil disobedience: the Moderator of the Uniting Church in NSW and ACT, the Rev. Dr Brian Brown, participated in the sit-in at Mr Abbott’s office; and former President of the National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia, the Rev. Dr Alistair Macrae, participated in the sit-in at Mr Shorten’s office.
“Churches have exhausted all formal channels of policy debate on the issue of asylum seekers, that’s why we are risking arrest today. There comes a time when such grave injustice must be confronted directly through peaceful acts of civil disobedience; we believe that to be silent is to be complicit in the injustices being perpetrated against asylum seekers,” said Dr Brown.
Australian church denominations have been united in their concern for asylum seekers for over a decade. Recent statements by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Anglican Archbishops of Australia have denounced the cruelty of the current asylum seeker policies supported by both major parties. The Uniting and Baptist churches have also recently offered to house and care for asylum seekers.
The sit-in actions were inspired by recent peaceful protests in the offices of Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. The sit-ins have used the theme “Love Makes a Way” (#LoveMakesAWay on Twitter) which is a response to the government’s “No Way” advertising campaign.
The Rev. Nicole Fleming of the Balmain Uniting Church, who took part in the prayer vigil in Sydney, reflected: “On Monday morning, along with the Moderator and six other clergy and lay people from a range of denominations, I was arrested for breaching the peace, although no charges were laid.
“As the church sat together – clergy and lay people – we filled the room with prayer. It was a deep and sincere act of love offered in the name of Christ, the one in whom love makes a way.
“I took this risk to sit with my fellow believers and pray because there are 1,023 children being damaged as they are held in detention in centres in Australia and off-shore; because I believe that love and compassion should be offered to all asylum seekers; because we can name here people who seek asylum in Australia and have become valuable to us in this community.
“I sat in prayer for a compassionate, bipartisan change as well as to seek change in the hearts of those who don’t want to welcome asylum seekers in this country; I sat in prayer with my fellow believers from a range of other denominations because it was a statement of unity in diversity, an act of ecumenical love; I sat in prayer for the love of Christ because it is what the gospel demands of me; because I hope that love does make a way.”
