The Catholic Weekly 12 April 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 4 NEWS 12, April, 2020 Helping build a brighter future for children and families in crisis. Dunlea Centre 35A Waratah Road Engadine NSW 2233 Phone 02 8508 3900 AUSTRALIA'S ORIGINAL BOYS' TOWN A place for change... www.dunleacentre.org.au Homeless at rising risk: JRS Homelessness on Sydney streets will worsen, says JRS. MORE THAN half a million people in Australia - including women and children - who are now at risk of homelessness because of COVID-19, accord- ing to Jesuit Refugee Services. “There are more than half a million women, children, and men in this country seeking protection who are at seri- ous risk of homelessness and destitution because they do not have access to any form of safety net if they lose jobs,” said Carolina Gottardo, direc- tor of Jesuit Refugee Services. “In the space of two weeks, we have seen a 100 per cent increase in demand for our services at JRS Australia’s community centres in West- ern Sydney including for food, medicines and emergency re- lief.” The majority of the vulner- able cannot access Govern- ment safety nets due to their residential status in Australia. Most cannot return home. “More people are in crisis than ever before,” says Katie Spi- roski, JRS Casework Manager. Along with 123 other organ- isations JRS Australia is urging Federal and State govern- ments to extend a vital safety nets regardless of visa status. “There is nothing in the government package at all for our clients,” says JRS Employ- ment co-ordinator Leonie Dyer. “I’mworried.” AT LEAST 30,000 people tuned into Archbishop An- thony Fisher OP’s Palm Sun- day Mass livestreamed from St Mary’s Cathedral on Sun- day morning, smashing pre- vious viewing figures, while many displayed palms and other branches on their front door at home. The numbers reflected the unique situation Catholics and Christians face around the nation with churches and cathedrals ordered shut by the federal government. On a normal weekend, two or three thousand normal- ly attend Cathedral services, with that number swelling to approximately 5000-6000 for the greatest events in the Christian year, Easter and Christmas. The numbers came as good news to the Archdiocese of Sydney, which had extensive- ly promoted the availability of the Mass as a livestreamed event in lieu of being physical- ly present. Meanwhile, the challenge for the Church and Catholics in the midst of a pandemic that has so far claimed 75,000 lives globally is be more pres- ent to the sick, the dying and the dead, Archbishop Fisher told Catholics in a message emphasising that God is pres- ent to everyone at this time. “They are there along- side Christ in Holy Week and He is with them right now,” the Archbishop told viewers across greater Sydney, the state and the nation. [The sick, the dying and the dead] are there alongside Christ in Holy Week and he is with them right now. Yet the Church is also chal- lenged to be present to more than just those suffering from coronavirus, he said. Healthcare workers, those providing pastoral care, “the isolated and anxious, elderly and vulnerable, ‘locked down’ in their homes, some feeling Kicking off HolyWeek, Catholics take advantage of technology to draw as close to Jesus as possible ¾ ¾ Peter Rosengren 30,000 view Mass online alone and afraid” are all with Christ in Holy Week and He is with them, the Archbishop assured an invisible audience. The same applied to es- sential service workers, civ- ic leaders and public health authorities who are charged with keeping the economy and civic order going while leading society to safety after the virus, he said. Christ is also present, he said, to those he described as “the ordinary folk, perhaps with livelihoods evaporating Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP stands outside St Mary’s Cathedral on Palm Sunday morning. An estimated 30,000 people tuned on to watch the livestreamed Mass. PHOTO: FR LEWI BARAKAT before their eyes, financially, emotionally or spiritually in- secure”. “The financially, emotion- ally and spiritually insecure, the ordinary and extraordi- nary Australians, all are there with Christ in Holy Week and He is with them now,” he said. Archbishop Fisher paid tribute to those he described as “the great pray-ers and do- ers of our community, who keep us spiritually on course, who amidst fear and sepa- ration build hope and con- nection, and in response to church closures have made their homes more truly ‘do- mestic churches’. These must reach out to both God and the community more than ever, he urged, not- ing also that “those who inter- cede and serve are there with Christ in Holy Week and He is with them here and now.” Archbishop Fisher rejected the notion that the coronavi- rus is an ‘act of God.’ “No, the acts of God right now are the acts He inspires in His faithful people and the wonders of protection and healing He grants at their in- tercession,” he said. The Archdiocese’s Good Friday service commemorat- ing Christ’s Passion at 3pm and Easter Sunday Mass at 10.30am will be national- ly broadcast on Channel 7, Prime 7 in regional areas, and live-streamed on 7plus. Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP celebrates the LIvestreamed Palm Sunday Mass. The financially, emotionally and spiritually insecure, the ordinary and extraordinary Australians, all are there with Christ in Holy Week and He is with them now.” Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP JRS Australia released a dis- cussion paper online raising four key concerns: l The combination of job loss- es and the absence of a safety net is increasing the number of people in homelessness and destitution. l It is harder for people who are homeless to self-isolate l Those without access to Medicare and subsidised medication are at higher risk of getting sick and may not be able to seek timely healthcare. l Women on temporary visas are particularly vulnerable to domestic/family violence dur- ing the pandemic. “COVID-19 does not dis- criminate, neither should we,” said Carolina. E