10/03/2005
print
send
For his August holiday, Peter Murnane, a 65-year-old Domenican monk, set out
on a pilgrimage from Canberra to celebrate his fortieth anniversary in the order.
He was headed for Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, in the geographic center of
Australia, approximately 2700 kilometers away. His plan: to carry a message of
peace and reconciliation across the country.
You speak of Australia as a place where human rights are not respected, but do
people know what happened? Do they care about the aborigines?
How do you think the problems of native people in Australia can be resolved?
printsend
Australia, a Domenican brother pedaled 2700 km for a journey of reconciliation
Written for PeaceReporter by
Alessandro Orrù
Alessandro Orrù
For his August holiday, Peter Murnane, a 65-year-old Domenican monk, set out
on a pilgrimage from Canberra to celebrate his fortieth anniversary in the order.
He was headed for Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, in the geographic center of
Australia, approximately 2700 kilometers away. His plan: to carry a message of
peace and reconciliation across the country.How’d you get the idea for this journey?
It seemed a good way to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of my entry into the
Dominican Order. I’m also a member of Pax Christi International Group, a peace and justice organization founded at the end of the Second World War.
Myself and six other people decided to make a bike trip from the national capital,
Canberra, to Ayers Rock, which the native people know as Uluru.
For the aborigines, Uluru is a sacred place. Is that why you chose it?
Yes, but it’s also a sacred place for me because it’s at the center of my country,
far from everything in the middle of the desert. We Europeans threw the aborigines
off their land and stole it from them. We should do penance for this and for having
stolen their children and treated them like slaves for centuries. Many aborigines
end up in prison because desperation drives them to drugs and alcoholism. Their
culture and language have been completely destroyed.
You speak of Australia as a place where human rights are not respected, but do
people know what happened? Do they care about the aborigines?“Reconciliation groups” have been formed in many cities, and that was the point
of my journey. In Sydney and other cities, there have been reconciliation marches.
The current government is moving backward with respect to aborigines. There is
widespread unease about this issue, and many say the government is in the hands
of agribusiness and mining concerns.
Is this the first time the Catholic Church in Australia has tried an initiative
of this sort?
No, many people are working to help the
aborigines. Certainly, missionaries committed many errors in the past,
but I think that they are now promoting just programs. Lots of
missions have been closed down by the government in the last few years.
What about the other denominations?
Many people in other denominations, especially the Protestants, are committed
to human rights work too.
How do you think the problems of native people in Australia can be resolved?People often say it’s up to the aborigines themselves to resolve their problems,
but that’s impossible. They have no power, and that’s why recent policies have
done more harm than good.
Are there other human rights “emergencies” in Australia?
The refugees are another big problem. People asking for exile status are not
being treated fairly by the government.
You rode 2700 kilometers on your bike. The longest leg lasted two days and covered
256 kilometers. You kept up a high median distance from day to day. You must have
done a lot of training before the trip.
I usually only use my bike for commuting to and from work. I’m sixty-five, but
I do about 200 kilometers every week.
Topic:
Related articles:
Most discussed topics:
Most frequently used keywords:
