Pope Francis ‘may ask about voice to parliament’

Aboriginal elder Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann will have an audience with Pope Francis inside the Vatican on Wednesday.

Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann will have an audience with the Pope on Wednesday. Picture: Jacquelin Magnay.

Aboriginal elder Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann says she wouldn’t be surprised if Pope Francis asks her about the voice to parliament when she has an audience with him inside the Vatican on Wednesday.

But Dr Ungunmerr Baumann, a former senior Australian of the Year, a celebrated indigenous educator, and artist from Nauiyu, three hours south west of Darwin, said she was still uncertain as to the benefits and drawbacks of the voice and said remote Aboriginal communities required far more information before making up their minds.

When asked if she would be talking to Francis about the voice, Dr Ungunmerr Baumann said: “I shouldn’t laugh but that’s a difficult one for me, I’m trying to get my head around it.”

The 73-year old said First Nations and Torres Strait Islander peoples were still uncertain of the impact of the voice on their communities.

But she believed that the Catholic Church, while intensely interested in how the voice was being debated and discussed in Australia, will not hold a position as to how people should vote because “the church isn’t in that style of wanting to put words in our mouths”.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he (Francis) did (ask about the voice),’’ she said, noting that the patron of her foundation, Father Frank Brennan, had been at the Vatican “explaining all things to him”.

Father Brennan, also a law professor, has advocated changing the wording of the voice from ‘executive government’ to ‘ministers of state’ so that support for the upcoming referendum could be broadened.

He is to present a main lecture about the recognition of Aboriginal rights and the impact of the voice at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome on Saturday.

Dr Ungunmerr Baumann is in Rome for National Reconciliation week which coincides during the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and the Holy See and the 50th anniversary of the first Aboriginal Liturgy.

She told The Australian: “There should be more people coming out and explaining what the voice to parliament is and how it will impact us, in a good way or bad way to have a better understanding when it comes to voting.”

Dr Ungunmerr Baumann was one of the founding Aboriginal leaders on the National Indigenous Council, set up by prime minister John Howard and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Mal Brough in 2004 to advise the federal government on the impact of various decisions on aboriginal life.

She said: “I can’t see any difference with my time on the National Indigenous Council (and the voice)”.

She said of that time, back in the early 2000s that the National Indigenous Council understood what the government was doing and the reasoning for providing various services.

“But now this is happening, there is not enough information going to our places,” she said.

Dr Ungunmerr Baumann has had a strong connection to the Catholic Church, stemming back to when she was 10 years old and attending St Francis Xavier Catholic Church at the remote Northern Territory community of Daly Creek. She later became principal of the same school, after being the first Aboriginal schoolteacher in the Northern Territory. She said the church had provided eduction and support for the youth of the area for generations.

The Jesuit priest Don MacKillop, brother of Mother Mary MacKillop, later canonised as a Saint, worked among the aboriginal people at Daly River in the 1800s. Dr Ungunmerr Bauman said Don was in charge of three stations in the area and one letter from Mary Mackillop said how she was packing up to get ready to go to Daly River because her brother was there.

“But the sickness and remoteness was pretty hard and they packed up and left,’’ said Dr Ungunmerr Baumann.

Dr Ungunmerr Baumann made the rare and long journey to Rome this week from Daly Creek via Darwin, Perth and London to build bridges between education and culture with a series of talks and meetings with senior Catholic Church officials.

Australia’s ambassador to the Holy See, Chiara Porro said the visit was a unique opportunity to exchange perspectives on many priority issues for both Australia and the Holy See. Ms Porro said: “It will also be an emotive journey by one of our country’s most respected Indigenous leaders, and it stands to be an inspiration and an example that will resonate strongly with Aboriginal communities across Australia’’.

On Tuesday evening Dr Ungunmerr Baumann will unveil one of her special artworks to be presented to the Holy See which centres around the concept of “seasons” and blending traditional Indigenous elements with Christian

themes, at a reception at the Vatican Museums.

As well as meeting Francis on Wednesday, Dr Ungunmerr Baumann will hosts discussions on inclusive education, integral ecology, Indigenous spirituality and attend a lecture on the

impact of the 1992 ‘Mabo’ landmark legal victory for Indigenous rights in Australia.

Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, will also herald 50 years since the first Aboriginal Liturgy in Australia, held during the 40th International Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne in 1973, with a mass at Domus Australia in Rome.