St Matthew's gospel is quite clear: whenever we visit the imprisoned, welcome strangers, call on the sick, ultimately it is Jesus we encounter. "I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me" Mt 25:40.

In direct response to the injunction, Centacare Pastoral Ministries reach out to people who are hospitalised, imprisoned (in cells or in bodies or in mind) to seafarers from afar and to Indigenous Australians.

Many Centacare Pastoral Ministries, in liaison with sister churches and like-minded community organisations, advocate change in systems and practices. As such they seek to further enhance Centacare's values of respect for the human dignity of each individual as brothers and sisters and as particupants rather than mere recipients within a network of sacred and social relationships.

Fr John Chalmers, Director of Centacare Pastoral Ministries, oversees pastoral ministries.