Just Compassion: A priest's quest for human rights

Wally Dethlefs is no ordinary Christian. Ordained into the post-Vatican II church of the 1960s, full of hope and activism, he soon turned to work with students and workers, and to take up the cause of those flung out to the margins of society. Join Wally on his spiritual journey, and his sensitisation as a social activist, liberation theology devotee, and champion of Brisbane’s vulnerable youth. From his deadpan accounts of managing Kedron Lodge as a youth refuge, to his term as chaplain in Boggo Road prison, Wally’s story is illuminated by moments of grace, by his special blend of compassion and indignation, and by his call for justice for the disadvantaged in our society in the name of Jesus. 

As soon as I started reading it, I knew I had a contemporary spiritual classic in my hands. Just Compassion is an honest-to-God, rough-as-guts, bloody-good autobiography introducing the theology of liberation to Australia through one man’s pains-taking, heart-breaking struggle to do justice to the battered and abused young people in our country who deserve better. 

Just Compassion is for all those who want to find a way to engage our world with integrity, dignity and grace—and a wicked sense of humour. 

Dave Andrews - community worker, activist and author of Christi-Anarchy,  Not Religion but Love and Plan Be