70th Anniversary Celebrations of Centacare Melbourne

Address Given by Archbishop Denis Hart
at the 70th Anniversary Celebrations
of Centacare Melbourne
in Brenan Hall, St Vincent’s Hospital,
on Wednesday, 12th October, 2005, at 7.30pm

...

My dear Friends,

I am delighted to be present at the invitation of Mr. Frank Swann, your Board Chairman, and Father Joe Caddy, the Executive Director, at this special celebration of the seventy years of Centacare, known for so many years in Melbourne as the Catholic Family Welfare Bureau.

The seventy years have seen a constant fulfilment of Catholic outreach to families; through marriage counselling, pregnancy support, guidance of young people, adoption services, assistance to families who are struggling, all within the Church’s clear concept of family as man, woman and children as the domestic church.

This is an evening of celebration. Our gifted executives, counsellors and workers, those how have manned the telephone, have always provided an outreach regardless of a person’s origin or creed, so that the understanding of the dignity of personhood and of the reality of the family, which we hold dear, arising from Church teaching reaches into our society to serve it as a gift and to inspire it as a goal.

On untold numbers of occasions our counsellors have walked with people in their brokenness knowing that they too, as we all are, are broken, but are redeemed by Christ. With ever increasing skill they have responded to modern needs and to the pressures of broken families, alcohol and drug addiction, by compassionate care and professional referrals, by engaging with the people of our communities and cities. It is a proud record for which we thank God tonight.

The presence of former staff members, directors and board members and of our present staff and those affiliated with us have made this a particularly proud occasion for me. As Archbishop I see Centacare as the Church reaching out to the families of our city, ever ready to listen, ever gentle in care, ever inspiring in the hope which we give, linked to careful professional assessment and walking with the people whom we seek to serve.

I am most grateful to all who will participate in this evening; to Professor Allan Fels and to those who have worked so hard to make this evening a truly fitting commemoration. Thank you for your presence with us, as we thank God for his many gifts in people and in the service that you and so many others have brought to the citizens of Melbourne and beyond.

Our Centres at various times, in Melbourne, Footscray, Geelong, Malvern, Mitcham and Dandenong have sought to engage an ever growing city in the arms of compassion and while we are not the largest social agency we are proud in the integrity with which we work and the dedication and commitment we bring so readily to the service of our clients.

May these seventy years be but a milestone, because the future is very much entrusted to us and to the vision and care we are able through skill, dedication and our readiness to follow the words of the Lord, “As often as you did it to these the least of my brethren, you did it to me.” A Christlike vision of suffering humanity and of the compassionate and professional care, which we can bring lies at the very basis of all that Centacare has done in the past and will seek to embrace in the future.

For those who have preceded me as archbishop I thank God for Centacare, for the people who make it such a generous outreach to others, and those whose gifts and competencies are so readily placed at our disposal.

Let us pray:

Father, you have given all peoples one common origin,
And your will is to gather them as one family in yourself.

Fill the hearts of all with the fire of your love and the desire to ensure justice and compassion for all their brothers and sisters.

By sharing the good things you give us, may we secure justice and care for every human being, an end to all suffering and a human society built on love, compassion and peace.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.