| We acknowledge the important service of the Australian Catholic Social Service Council ( www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au ) and the excellent work of Sr Helen Kearins RSC in preparing this resource . Some Marist dates may also be included. |
| December |
| 1 | First Sunday of Advent World AIDS Day |
| 2 | International Day for Abolition of Slavery |
| 3 | UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities 1874: Battle of the Eureka Stockade |
| 4 | |
| 5 | International Volunteer Day for Economic & Social Development Hanukkah ends |
| 6 | St Nicholas (Santa Claus) |
| 7 | UN International Civil Aviation Day 1965: Vatican II Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes |
| 8 | Second Sunday of Advent |
| 9 | UN International Anti-Corruption Day |
| 10 | UN Human Rights Day 1948: Adoption of United Nations Declaration of Human Rights 1968: Death of Thomas Merton 1992: Redfern Speech by Prime Minister Paul Keating, at launch of International Year of the World's Indigenous People |
| 11 | International Mountain Day |
| 12 | 1831: Sisters of Mercy founded by Catherine McAuley |
| 13 | |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Third Sunday of Advent |
| 16 | |
| 17 | |
| 18 | International Migrants Day 1894: South Australia becomes the first state in Australia to give women the right to vote |
| 19 | UN International Day for South-South Cooperation |
| 20 | UN International Human Solidarity Day |
| 21 | 1991: Dissolution of the USSR and the founding of Commonwealth of Independent States including Russia 1993: Native Title Bill passed by the Australian Senate |
| 22 | Fourth Sunday of Advent |
| 23 | 1901: Immigration Restriction Act (White Australia Policy) enacted 1996: Wik High Court decision |
| 24 | Christmas Eve |
| 25 | Christmas Day |
| 26 | |
| 27 | |
| 28 | |
| 29 | Feast of the Holy Family |
| 30 | 1987: Pope John Paul II's encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis |
| 31 | 1946: Paid annual leave granted to workers in Australia |
| November |
| 1 | All Saints Day |
| 2 | Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed |
| 3 | Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict International Week for Science and Peace |
| 7 | |
| 8 | 1907: Justice Higgins hands down minimum wage judgment in Harvester case |
| 9 | 1989: Berlin Wall opened |
| 10 | Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time World Science Day for Peace and Development 1995: Nine Nigerian environmentalists and human rights activists hanged Restorative Justice Week commences |
| 11 | Remembrance (Armistice) Day, commemorating the end of World War I in 1918 |
| 12 | 1991: Dili massacre, Timor-Leste: more than 271 people killed |
| 13 | |
| 14 | World Diabetes Day |
| 15 | 1875: Death of Fr Colin |
| 16 | International Day for Tolerance 1989: Six Jesuit priests and co-workers murdered in El Salvador |
| 17 | Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 18 | |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Universal Children's Day 1959: UN adopts the Declaration of Rights of the Child |
| 21 | World Philosophy Day World Television Day |
| 22 | |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Christ the King |
| 25 | International Day for the elimination of Violence Against Women 1981: Declaration of the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief |
| 26 | |
| 27 | 1998: First Sydney Peace Prize awarded to Muhammad Yunus |
| 28 | First Day of Hanukkah (Jewish Feast of Dedication) |
| 29 | International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 1980: Death of Dorothy Day, Founder of Catholic Worker Movement |
| 30 | 1971: Synod of Bishops Statement Justice in the World |
| October |
| 1 | International Day of Older Persons 2005 Bali bombings: 20 people killed and more than 100 injured |
| 2 | International Day of Non-Violence 1869: birth of Mahatma Ghandi |
| 3 | Day of Jewish and Christian Dialogue |
| 4 | Feast of St Francis of Assisi World Animal Welfare Day World Space Week commences 1957: First Sputnik launched by the Soviet Union |
| 5 | UN World Teachers Day |
| 6 | Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 7 | World Habitat Day |
| 8 | |
| 9 | World Post Day |
| 10 | World Mental Health Day World Sight Day 1967: Treaty on the Exploration and Use of Outer Space |
| 11 | International Day of the Girl Child 1962: Opening Session of Vatican Council II Anti-Poverty Week begins |
| 12 | 2002 Bali bombings: 202 people killed and 240 injured |
| 13 | Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction |
| 14 | |
| 15 | UN International Day of Rural Women |
| 16 | World Food Day |
| 17 | International for the Eradication of Poverty |
| 18 | |
| 19 | 2001: Sinking of SIEV X |
| 20 | Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time World Mission Sunday |
| 21 | |
| 22 | |
| 23 | |
| 24 | United Nations Day World Development Information Day Disarmament Week begins |
| 25 | |
| 26 | 1985: Uluru returned to traditional owners, the Anangu people |
| 27 | Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 28 | |
| 29 | |
| 30 | |
| 31 |
| September |
| 1 | Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 2 | National Child Protection Week commences National Landcare Week commences 1991: Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act passed by Parliament |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | Rosh ha-Shanah (Jewish New Year) 1997: Death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta |
| 6 | |
| 7 | National Threatened Species Day 1936: Death in Hobart Zoo of the last Tasmanian tiger in captivity |
| 8 | Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time International Literacy Day Child Protection Sunday |
| 9 | |
| 10 | World Suicide Prevention Day |
| 11 | 2001: Terrorist attacks on World Trade Centre, New York, and on Washington DC |
| 12 | 1977: Death of anti-apartheid activist Steve Bilko Solemnity of Holy Name of Mary, patronal feast of Society of Mary |
| 13 | 2007: UN General Assembly adopts Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples |
| 14 | Yom Kippur (Jewish Day of Atonement) 1981: Pope John Paul II's encyclical Laborem Exercens |
| 15 | Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time UN International Day of Democracy |
| 16 | International Day for Prevention of the Ozone Layer |
| 17 | |
| 18 | 1961: Death of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold |
| 19 | |
| 20 | 1938: Foundation of Australian Province of Marist Fathers |
| 21 | International Day of Peace |
| 22 | Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 23 | 1959: Australian Consumers Association launched |
| 24 | 1836: First Marist professions and election of Jean-Claude Colin as first Superior General |
| 25 | |
| 26 | World Maritime Day |
| 27 | Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul 1988: Aung San Suu Kyi forms Burma's National League for Democracy |
| 28 | 1983: Death of John Pat in Roeburne Prison WA, prompting the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Green Consumer Day |
| 29 | Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Social Justice Sunday |
| 30 | 1975: Australia's Racial Discrimination Act proclaimed |
| August |
| 1 | 2010: Convention on Cluster Munitions comes into effect |
| 2 | 1965: First Indochinese refugees allowed to settle in Australia |
| 3 | |
| 4 | Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time National Aboriginal and Islander Children's Day National Vocations Awareness Week begins |
| 5 | National Homeless Persons Week begins |
| 6 | 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima |
| 7 | 1790: Birth of Jean-Claude Colin |
| 8 | St Mary MacKillop Eid al-Fittr, the Muslim Breaking of the Fast |
| 9 | 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 12 | International Youth Day |
| 13 | |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Assumption of Mary |
| 16 | 1975: Wave Hill Station, NT, returned to the Gurindji People |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Vietnam Veterans Day |
| 19 | World Humanitarian Day 2007: Beginning of protests led by Buddhist monks in Burma |
| 20 | |
| 21 | |
| 22 | |
| 23 | International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time Refugee and Migrant Sunday |
| 26 | 2001: MV Tampa rescues 433 asylum seekers from a sinking vessel. Australian Government sends troops to prevent disembarkation |
| 27 | 1999: Death of Dom Helder Camara |
| 28 | |
| 29 | International Day Against Nuclear Tests |
| 30 | International Day of the Victims of Forced Disappearances 1999: East Timorese people voted in favour of independence |
| 31 |
| TOP |
| July |
| 1 | 2012: The Fair Work Amendment (TCF Industry) Act 2011 commenced, ensuring fair pay and conditions for outworkers in the garment industry Tartan Day |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | 1935: Birth of Dalai Lama - awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 |
| 6 | International Day of Cooperatives |
| 7 | Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday NAIDOC Week begins 195: Blessed Peter To Rot - killed in Papua New Guinea, recognised as a martyr |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Ramadan commences |
| 10 | 1985: Sinking of Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland |
| 11 | World Population Day |
| 12 | 1971: Aboriginal Flag first flown in Adelaide |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Apostleship of the Sea 1995: Aboriginal Flag and Torres Strait Islander Flag proclaimed official flags of Australia |
| 15 | |
| 16 | 1945: First Atomic bomb detonated in New Mexico |
| 17 | |
| 18 | 1918: Birth of Nelson Mandela |
| 19 | |
| 20 | 1969: First moon landing accomplished by Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins |
| 21 | Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 22 | St Mary Magdalene |
| 23 | 1816: Promise at Fourviere to form the Society of Mary |
| 24 | |
| 25 | |
| 26 | 1833: Emancipation Bill approved, abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire Schools Tree Day |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time National Tree Day National Missing Persons Week begins |
| 29 | |
| 30 | International Day of Friendship |
| 31 |
| TOP |
| June |
| 1 | |
| 2 | Corpus Christi (The Body and Blood of Christ) |
| 3 | Day of Prayer for Catholic and Anglican Reconciliation 1992: High Court hands down decision in Mabo Case 1886: Catholic and Anglican Martyrs of Uganda |
| 4 | International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression 1989: Tiananmen Square Massacre |
| 5 | World Environment Day |
| 6 | 1840: Death of St Marcellin Champagnat |
| 7 | Sacred Heart of Jesus |
| 8 | World Oceans Day |
| 9 | Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 10 | 1838: Myall Creek Massacre 1935: Alcoholics Anonymous established in New York |
| 11 | 1971: Neville Bonner first Aboriginal Australian to hold a seat in Federal Parliament 1975: Australia ratifies the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination |
| 12 | World Day Against Child Labour 1988: Barunga Statement presented to Prime Minister Bob Hawke by Aboriginal leaders |
| 13 | |
| 14 | |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time International Day of the African Child National Refugee Week commences |
| 17 | |
| 18 | 1945: Birth of Aung San Suu Kyi 1969: Arbitration Commission affirms principle of equal pay for women performing equal work |
| 19 | World Refugee Day |
| 20 | |
| 21 | |
| 22 | 1989: Destruction of the Berlin Wall |
| 23 | Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time UN Public Service Day |
| 24 | The Nativity of John the Baptist |
| 25 | |
| 26 | International Day in Support of Victims of Torture International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking |
| 27 | |
| 28 | |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 1945: Introduction of unemployment benefits in Australia |
| TOP |
| May |
| 1 | St Joseph the Worker International Workers Day 1991: Pope John Paul II's encyclical Centesimus Annus |
| 2 | |
| 3 | World Press Freedom Day |
| 4 | Fair Trade Fortnight begins |
| 5 | Sixth Sunday of Easter Blessed Edmund Rice |
| 6 | 1992: Introduction of mandatory detention for asylum seekers in Australia |
| 7 | |
| 8 | World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day 1945: War ends in Europe 1970: First Moratorium March against the Vietnam War in Australian cities |
| 9 | |
| 10 | 1994: Nelson Mandela's Inaugural Address as President of South Africa |
| 11 | World Fair Trade Day |
| 12 | Ascension International Nurses' Day Mothers' Day |
| 13 | International Conscientious Objectors Day |
| 14 | 1971: Pope Paul VI's Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens |
| 15 | UN International Day of Families 1891: Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum 1931: Pope Pius XI's encyclical Quadragesimo Anno 1961: Pope John XXIII's encyclical Mater et Magistra |
| 16 | World Debt Day |
| 17 | World Telecommunications and Information Society Day 2005: Death of Fr Ted Kennedy |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Pentecost Sunday Jubilee Sunday |
| 20 | |
| 21 | World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development |
| 22 | International Day for Biological Diversity |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Mary Help of Christians, Patron of Australia 1948: Foundation of World Council of Churches |
| 25 | Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non Self-Governing Territories commences Africa Day |
| 26 | Trinity Sunday 1997: Bringing Them Home Report tabled in Parliament National Sorry Day |
| 27 | National Reconciliation Week begins Week of Prayer for Reconciliation begins 1967: Referendum changes articles in the Australian Constitution that discriminates against Indigenous people |
| 28 | |
| 29 | International Day of UN Peacekeepers 1992: Torres Strait Islander flag launched |
| 30 | |
| 31 | World No Tobacco Day |
| TOP |
| April |
| 1 | Easter Monday 1999: International Treaty to Ban Landmines becomes effective |
| 2 | UN World Autism Awareness Day 2005: Death of Pope John Paul II |
| 3 | |
| 4 | International Day for Mine Awareness |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 | Second Sunday of Easter World Health Day Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Rwandan Genocide |
| 8 | The Annunciation Yom h-Shoah, Holocaust Memorial Day |
| 9 | |
| 10 | 1972: 120 nations sign treaty banning biological warfare |
| 11 | 1963: Pope John XXIII's encyclical Pacem in Terris |
| 12 | 1845: First Marist priests arrive in Australia |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Third Sunday of Easter 2002: Xanana Gusmao elected as first President of East Timor |
| 15 | 1991: Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Royal Commission Final Report signe |
| 16 | |
| 17 | |
| 18 | World Heritage Day 1955: Death of Albert Einstein |
| 19 | 2005: Pope Benedict XVI elected |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Fourth Sunday of Easter World Day of Prayer for Vocations |
| 22 | International Mother Earth Day |
| 23 | World Book and Copyright Day |
| 24 | 1945: First United Nations Conference opens with 45 nations attending |
| 25 | Anzac Day |
| 26 | 1998: Bishop Gerardi murdered in Guatemala |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Fifth Sunday of Easter 1841: St Peter Chanel, pioneer Marist missionary and first martyr of Oceania, martyred in Futuna, Western Pacific |
| 29 | 1836: Approbation of Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) |
| 30 |
| TOP |
| March |
| 1 | International Death Penalty Abolition Day Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day 1999: International Treaty to Ban Landmines becomes effective World Day of Prayer: I was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me. (France) |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Third Sunday of Lent Clean up Australia Day |
| 4 | 1979: Pope John Paul II's encyclical Redemptor Hominis |
| 5 | 1970: International Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons |
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 | International Women's Day |
| 9 | 1822: Pope Pius VII writes encouraging establishment of the Society of Mary 100th anniversary of the founding of Canberra |
| 10 | Fourth Sunday of Lent |
| 11 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | |
| 15 | World Consumer Rights Day |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Fifth Sunday of Lent St Patrick |
| 18 | |
| 19 | St Joseph, husband of Mary 2003: US and allies invade Iraq |
| 20 | |
| 21 | UN International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination World Down Syndrome Day World Poetry Day World Forestry Day UN Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling Against Racism and Racial Discrimination begins National Harmony Day (Australia) National 'Close the Gap' Day |
| 22 | |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Palm Sunday World Tuberculosis Day (WHO) Day of the Unborn Child 1980: Assassinations of Archbishop Oscar Romero |
| 25 | UN International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery 1877: Death of Caroline Chisholm |
| 26 | |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Holy Thursday |
| 29 | Good Friday |
| 30 | Holy Saturday |
| 31 | Easter Sunday Neighbour Day |
| TOP |
| February |
| 1 | |
| 2 | Presentation of Jesus World Wetlands Day |
| 3 | Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life 1788: First Christian service in Australia |
| 4 | |
| 5 | 1996: Cape York Peninsula Heads of Agreement signed |
| 6 | Waitangi Day, Aotearoa New Zealand |
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
| 11 | World Day of Prayer for the Sick 1990: Nelson Mandela released from prison |
| 12 | 1965: The Freedom Ride commenced in Australia 2005: Sr Dorothy Stang murdered in Brazil |
| 13 | Ash Wednesday 2008: Apology to Stolen Generations by Australian Government |
| 14 | |
| 15 | |
| 16 | |
| 17 | First Sunday of Lent |
| 18 | |
| 19 | |
| 20 | UN World Day of Social Justice |
| 21 | UN International Mother Language Day |
| 22 | |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Second Sunday of Lent |
| 25 | |
| 26 | |
| 27 | |
| 28 | 1873: Approval of Society of Mary's constitutions |
| TOP |
| January |
| 1 | Mary, Mother of God World Day of Prayer for Peace. Theme: 'Blessed are the peacemakers' 1901: Foundation of Commonwealth of Australia 1994: Native Title Act commence operation |
| 2 | |
| 3 | 1977: First loans by Grameen Bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh |
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | The Epiphany of Jesus |
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 | 1836: Oceania mission confided to the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) 1946: First UN General Assembly opens with 51 nations represented |
| 11 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Baptism of the lord |
| 14 | |
| 15 | 1842: Mary MacKillop born in Fitzroy, Victoria 1929: Martin Luther king Jr born in Atlanta USA |
| 16 | |
| 17 | |
| 18 | |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Second Sunday in Ordinary Time World Day of Prayer for Migrants and Refugees |
| 21 | |
| 22 | |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Feast of St Francis de Sales, patront saint of journalism |
| 25 | 1959: Pope John XXIII announces his intention to convoke the Second Vatican Council |
| 26 | Australia Day / Survival Day 1972: Aboriginal Tent Embassy established in Canberra |
| 27 | Third Sunday in Ordinary Time UN International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust |
| 28 | |
| 29 | |
| 30 | |
| 31 |
| TOP |