The Southern Cross | December 2024

When I look back on the hundreds of stories we have published this year, three stand out for me not only in terms of newsworthiness but because they represent who we are as a people of faith and hope with an inherent belief in the dignity of every human being.

The first is the beautifully written piece by Katie Spain about Afghani asylum seeker Nagina Bakhtiari (now Zahra) who returned to Australia recently and is giving back to the community that supported her before she and her family were cruelly deported in 2004.

Nagina’s journey from Afghanistan to Adelaide to Pakistan as a child, then back to Adelaide where she now helps young refugees at St Aloysius College (SAC), is truly inspiring but also highlights the importance of seeing every person as deserving of a safe and secure home. From an interfaith perspective, it reinforces the recent statements of Pope Francis that ‘all religions are a path to God’.

The kindness shown to Nagina by leaders and members of the Catholic community at a time of uncertainty and fear has had a lasting impact and is reverberating now through her presence in our community and at SAC.

Sadly, we are still seeing people living in limbo and full of despair due to inhumane immigration policies.

The second story of note is that of Jodie Clark, Sacred Heart College old scholar and a remarkable South Australian woman who has been working in one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent times.

Her personal account of the war in Gaza, where she was responsible for the Rafah border crossing and the distribution of aid to two million displaced Palestinians, highlighted some of the complexities of the conflict. She was able to show empathy for the Israeli victims of Hamas and the deep impact on the nation, while also acknowledging the appalling effect of the IDF response on the long-suffering Palestinian people.

To hear from someone from our own community who has lived and worked in Gaza on several occasions helped shed light on a conflict which so many of us can’t comprehend.

Jodie didn’t shirk from exposing the horrors of war and in doing so encouraged us to pray and campaign for peace in the Holy Land.

While it was heartening to see a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon last month, the people of Gaza have never needed our support more than now.

The third important story is that of 13-year-old Christian Brothers College student Javale Morato who was the victim of a freak accident involving a hammer throw at school athletics training.

By sharing their anguish and desperate pleas to God for a miracle, Javale’s parents spoke to us of the often under-valued place of faith and prayer in our lives.

As Teresa told me, there was a point where they realised there was nothing they could do but pray for the doctors and nurses who were doing their best to save their son, and for Javale to keep fighting for his life.

The family also found much comfort and strength in the support of their school and faith communities. It will be a long road back to full recovery for Javale but he is in good hands and surrounded by love.

We are grateful to Nagina, Jodie, the Morato family and all the other amazing people who have featured in The Southern Cross in 2024 for sharing their inspiring stories with us.

Not every story has a happy ending but as Christians we are a people of hope, and never more so than at Christmas when we re-live the story of Jesus coming into our world as a vulnerable baby and lighting the way to justice and peace.

- Jenny Brinkworth, Editor, The Southern Cross

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