On behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Ric Thorpe, the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, has presented a new cope honouring the First Peoples of Australia. Read Archbishop Sarah's message in full:
Brothers and sisters,
I would like to begin my message to you by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which this momentous gathering is happening today. I would also like to pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
I thank each of you for your presence today, and I am grateful to Archbishop Ric Thorpe for sharing these words, and presenting this cope on my behalf.
I wish that I could be with you, standing with you on your land. I pray that I will one day have the opportunity to be with you, and to listen and learn from you.
This gift was commissioned by my predecessor, Justin Welby, on his visit to Australia in 2022. The hope was to create a liturgical garment that honours the testimony of the First Peoples of Australia: a visible, wearable sign - bearing the stories, symbols, and the faith of your peoples, affirming that truth and justice must have their rightful place at the very centre of our faith, and our Church.
In the intervening years, this cope has been carefully formed through the wisdom and witness of Bishop Chris McLeod, Pastor Ray Minniecon, Canon Glenn Loughrey, Aunty Dianne Langham, Aunty Rose Elu and all the members of NATSIAC.
I want to honour what has been shared in order to create this cope – the sacredness of your stories, and the bravery and strength it takes to share them. They are stories of violence, dispossession, the removal of children, forced assimilation and the destruction of your culture. To our shame, the Church was implicated in parts of this terrible history.
I recognise that these stories and experiences are not simply past. Their consequences continue to be felt across generations, in families and communities, and in enduring experiences of inequality, intergenerational trauma and injustice.
As is written on the cope, we are commanded by our Lord to love one another. This commandment is at the heart of our faith, but it was violated in the treatment of the First Peoples of Australia. As we remember them, the cope invites us to affirm the God-given dignity of those whose voices have too often been silenced.
Three other words are inscribed on this cope – Reconciliation, Justice, Truth. These Gospel concepts cannot be separated from one another. I pray that this cope will be a visible, sacred act of truth-telling, and that from this true justice, and true acts of reconciliation may flow.
This gift, this gesture, will, of course, only be meaningful if it is matched by action. Please receive this gift as our commitment to walk with you, and to play our part in this ongoing journey of truth-telling, justice and reconciliation.
