WHO ARE WE?
The Australian Catholic Students’ Association (ACSA) is the national organisation of Catholic students, committed to witnessing to the Gospel message of hope as proclaimed by the Magisterium and Tradition of the Catholic Church. It joins itself with the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council when they said:
“I entrust your journey to Mary, Sedes Sapientiæ, whose image I entrust to you today, so that she may be welcomed as a teacher and a pilgrim…Mary supported the Apostles with her prayer at the dawn of the evangelisation; may she also help you.”
Universities Need Credible Witnesses to Christ, 25 August 2000
The official motto of ACSA is Via Veritas Vita (The Way, The Truth, The Life) an allusion to Christ’s witness about our mission and life in the Trinity:
“Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe in me also. In my Father's house there be many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, and prepare you a place: I come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you also may be. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” Thomas saith to him: ‘Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?’ Jesus saith to him: ‘I am the way, and the verity, and the life. No man cometh to the Father; but by me. If ye had known me, my Father also certes you had known: and from henceforth you shall know him, and you have seen him.’
“Philip saith to him: ‘Lord shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.’ Jesus saith to him: ‘So long time I am with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth me, seeth the Father also. How sayest thou, Shew us the Father? Dost thou not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you, of myself I speak not. But my Father that abideth in me, he doth the works.’”
The Gospel of St. John
“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men and women. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation, which is meant for every person. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds.”
Preface, Gaudium et Spes
ACSA entrusts itself to Holy Mary, Mother of God under the title «Sedes Sapientiæ» (Seat of Wisdom), as assigned by Pope St John Paul II as a gift to students in the Great Jubilee Year of 2000.
Our Mission
witnessing to Jesus Christ in charity through Mary;
supporting and encouraging Catholic students in their spiritual, intellectual, pastoral, and human development of their faith, in seeking to build a Catholic culture to live in truth and charity;
supporting the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church, and joyfully expressing our fidelity to the Magisterium and the Holy Father, through active participation in the life and the mission of the Church and its new evangelisation; and
joyfully and enthusiastically promoting and propagating the social teaching of the Church.
The members of ACSA are committed to:
HOW IT STARTED
Rosemary Goldie, Edward Cardinal Cassidy, and Pope St John Paul II. Photo: The Catholic Weekly
Between 1942 and 1950, the organisation—then known as the University Catholic Federation Australia (UCFA)—was run by university graduates who volunteered for positions of secretariat over the years. This was usually in the state in which the conference was being held that year. In 1950, it was decided to employ a part-time worker for the movement, although there was recognition of the need for a full-time worker and greater funding. Nothing was done about this until 1976 when the movement received its first grant from the Australian Episcopal Conference (AEC). This funding body later became the Australian Catholic Bishops Committee for the Laity (ABCL).
In 1968, the movement was restructured and its focus moved from social activities to community building and social justice issues. In 1974, it was decided to re-structure the movement to make it more relevant to university students at the time and it was renamed the Tertiary Catholic Federation Australia (TCFA). The Movement then went through another restructuring period in 1990 when it was renamed the International Movement of Catholic Students Australia (IMCSA).
In 2001, after several years of having been reduced in its funding and activities, ACSA began a new revival and its annual conferences have grown each year since. In 2007, over 350 delegates attended the Towards2008 Congress in Canberra. Since then, ACSA has held annual conferences and has worked towards achieving and living out its mission.
Rosemary Goldie was commissioned to bring the International Movement of Catholic Students to Australia in 1938 by General Secretary Rudi Salat. This led to the affiliation of the Sydney University Newman Society in 1938 at the 18th Congress of Pax Romana—from this, 1940 was set as the year for the first national conference. However, due to the outbreak of the Second World War, this was not able to take place. Little happened until 1942 when the inaugural conference took place on January the 24th and 25th in Sydney. Those who attended decided to start the University Catholic Federation of Australia, which was the first title under which the movement was known.
The founding members of the movement were Mr T Burke (Secretary), Rosemary Goldie (Assistant Secretary), Dr John Eccles, and Mr TA Herbert. At this conference, the first constitution was drafted and thus began the National Movement of Catholic Students in Australia.