June 2026
Let me begin with the words of the Apostle Paul as found in his letter to the Galatians 3: 26-29. Scholars opine that Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus (in modern day Türkiye) in about 53 CE to the members of the congregation he had founded in the territory of Galatia, in Asia Minor.
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Last year, 2025, was the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, convened by Emperor Constantine in 325 CE. (Ancient Nicaea is now the city of Iznik, Türkiye, about 500 kilometres northeast of Ephesus). This Council led to the creation of the Nicene Creed. The creed begins with this sentence:
“We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.”
Putting that credal statement and Paul’s letter together gives us an important reminder: humans are the same the world over regardless of colour or creed. We Christians are from Abraham’s seed which seed is common to the three great monotheistic faiths: Judaism 4,000 years old; Christianity 2,000 years old (together with 1,000 years of the Orthodox branch that split from the Catholic church in the great schism of 1054); Islam 1,400 years old. Over half of the world’s population is associated with these three faiths. We share common beliefs in prophets. We share many biblical figures such as Abraham, Moses, and Noah, and their stories are retold in Islam’s Quran (with some variations).
We have a common heritage regarding moral principles. Judaism and Christianity share the commandment to “love your neighbour as yourself” from the Hebrew Bible, while Islam stresses compassion and kindness towards all people, especially the stranger, sometimes referred to as “covenant love.”
Our communities are richly multifaith. In the 2021 census, 61% of Australians declared a religious affiliation, with 44% nominating Christianity. The other major faiths included Islam (3.2%), Hinduism (2.7%) and Buddhism (2.4%). We have another census this year (on August 11 to be precise). It will be interesting to observe the shifts over the last five years.
An article appeared in The Australian by political commentator Paul Kelly around Christmas last year. Paul looked at the current challenges to modern Australian multiculturalism. He reminded readers that a third of Australians were born overseas (far higher than the USA or any European country).
I was reminded this week that in Australia’s 26-man FIFA Men’s World Cup squad there are at least fifteen different cultural and ethnic backgrounds represented. Players hail from (or have heritage tied to) nations across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
But Paul Kelly says that while multiculturalism is strong on the surface, it is weak underneath. One need only watch the rise of One Nation and the support given to its policy of limiting immigration to recognise that weakness.
In 2024 a Mapping Social Cohesion report by the Scanlon Foundation reported that 80% of Australians agree that multiculturalism has been good for Australia, but in 2025 only a third agreed that government assistance should be given to ethnic and religious minorities to maintain their customs and traditions. This points to a growing rejection of a core multiculturalism principle.
Let me express my confidence that multiculturalism (in partnership with multifaith celebrations) is entrenched in the lifeblood of modern Australian successes including economic, educational, scientific, social and political successes and should remain so. Thus I am concerned about the anti-immigration marches that I have witnessed in Australia over the past twelve months. True, there is a housing crisis. But immigration is not the cause. Indeed, new arrival numbers are falling (net overseas migration has been decreasing since its peak in the 2022-23 period, with government budgets projecting net migration to continue to fall throughout 2026). Even if one is worried about the numbers of immigrants each year (379,870 net permanent and long-term arrivals in the year to August 2025) experts tell us that immigration is only one factor in relation to housing shortages.
I am worried (and suspect) that the supporters of the One Nation policy referred to above have more fear of the ‘other’ (especially Islamic migrants and Asian migrants) than any fear of a housing shortage.
Julian Leeser, Liberal Federal MP and a man of Jewish heritage, reminds us that there are three strands to our Australian identity: our Indigenous heritage, our British foundation and our multicultural character. He is of the view that our social and religious cohesion rests and relies upon these strands. His is an important observation.
Columnist Nikki Gemmel (writing in The Australian Magazine in November 2025) offers, similarly, that the Australian character should be “about interconnectedness. Of living for the good, not just yourself …[using] words that encourage us to live among others not merely alongside them.”
Some have claimed that other threats to our social cohesion have come from a decline in moral teachings. But I have a teacher friend who tells me that one need only visit a suburban primary school in Adelaide to witness something quite different. Moral messages adorn his and others’ rooms. They remind children of the importance of respectful relationships, social justice, compassion, true friendship, religious tolerance and multicultural harmony. He tells me that teachers and students build wellbeing networks which notice fear, sadness, loneliness and disadvantage and seek to alleviate them.
These students, I am confident, will develop an appreciation for wisdom, openness, kindness and empathy. These attributes are reinforced in our multifaith heritage and should be celebrated. Indeed I am of the view that diminishing faith in multiculturalism or a lack of tolerance in religious beliefs will threaten our social cohesion.
Let us remind ourselves of the words found in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 165: 3(d) and (e) (accepted by World Conference in 2013)
d. Be not consumed with concern about variety in human types and characteristics as you see them. Be passionately concerned about forming inclusive communities of love, oneness, and equality that reveal divine nature.
e. Oneness and equality in Christ do not mean uniformity. They mean Unity in Diversity and relating in Christ-like love to the circumstances of others as if they were one’s own. They also mean full opportunity for people to experience human worth and related rights, including expressing God-given giftedness in the church and society.
To me that says it all.
Rick Sarre