The Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (ACCC) has announced the appointment of two eminent Australians to the Board of the ACCC. They are Lieutenant General (Retd) John Sanderson AC, and the newly installed Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Mark Coleridge.

 

John Sanderson was the Governor of Western Australia until his retirement last year. His 40-year career in the military included a three-year stint as chief of the Australian Army. He was the United Nations Commander-in-Chief of Cambodia after the Pol Pot regime fell, and is now a Special Advisor to the Western Australian Government on Indigenous Affairs.

 

General Sanderson says he is honoured to join the ACCC Board under the auspices of Charles Sturt University (CSU). He says the Board’s commitment to “reconciliation in all its meanings” aligns closely with his Christian beliefs, and that Australia has a moral responsibility to act as “middle power broker for a peaceful world”.

 

“Building a Centre in the nation's capital that is both a physical and spiritual expression of that commitment is, in my view, a profoundly important development at this time of global flux and uncertainty, and I look forward to making whatever contribution my own experience and influence allows," said General Sanderson.

 

Mark Coleridge is the new Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn. After completing his Doctorate in Biblical Studies in Rome, he worked for five years in the Secretariat of State in the Vatican. In 2002, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne.

 

Archbishop Coleridge says “one of the many good things about coming to Canberra as Archbishop is the chance to join in the work of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. Over the years, both here and overseas, I have been deeply interested in the question of the interface between faith and culture, since I think Pope Paul VI was right when he claimed that ‘the divorce of faith and culture is the drama of our time’.

 

“The Gospel without cultures is a dead letter; and cultures without the Gospel can be just as dead.  The Centre is a great opportunity to bring both the Gospel and Australian culture to life in new ways, and I look forward to being part of that."

 

The Reverend Professor James Haire, Executive Director of ACCC on CSU’s Canberra Campus, describes General Sanderson as a “great organiser. He will help us with strategic planning, while Archbishop Coleridge has a lot of knowledge of the Catholic Church internationally and will link up with church people around the country, particularly Catholics. He will help us with the development of theology.”

 

Professor Haire says the ACCC’s mission is “public theology. The ACCC is a national ecumenical centre that encourages dialogue and cooperation amongst Christian churches and between Christianity and other faiths, as well as exploring issues relating to reconciliation in Australia and the interface between Christian faith and Australian culture.”