The Catholic Weekly 14 June 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 6 NEWS 14, June, 2020 NOT EVERYONE can be on the front line like our priests, doctors, and nurses helping those affected by COVID-19, but the faith-community at Our Lady of Rosary Parish, Fairfield, took it upon them- selves to respond to the need they saw in their parish and wider community. When the People of God were wandering in the de- sert, God responded by giving them food fromHeaven to eat which they called ‘manna’ (Exodus 16:31). Inspired by this, when it saw families struggling due to COVID-19, and in need of food and prayer, this generous parish community responded with its monthly Manna Food Box Project. During May 20 parishion- ers, parish staff, a priest and a seminarian, from Fairfield and neighbouring parishes gave their time to pack and deliver essential food items to the doorsteps of 18 struggling families many with parents left jobless as result of the pandemic. “I pray that this form of Fairfield love shines Parish finds ways to help struggling families and parishioners in pandemic Parish Priest Fr Micael de Stoop, second from left, with parish volunteers. pastoral outreach will enable us as a worshipping commu- nity to provide Christian wit- ness in accord with the disci- ples in the early Church who ‘shared their food gladly and generously’,” said parish priest Fr Michael de Stoop. ¾ ¾ Laurence Klein Churches opening CHURCHES IN Chi- na were able to open in time for the Feast of the Holy Trinity after being closed for more than four months because of COV- ID-19, AsiaNews has re- ported. The Chinese gov- ernment released the opening permit docu- ment from 2 June, stat- ing that the opening of churchesmust respond to the concerns of the pro- vincial government, im- plementing all of the so- cial distancing directives. In brief The Manna Food Box Pro- ject is fully funded by the par- ish. It gives the volunteers an opportunity to play their part in lending a helping hand to those struggling from the pandemic. Following social distanc- ing regulations, wearing gloves, and sanitising their hands, the volunteers packed about 20 essential food items, per family, into boxes which they delivered to peo- ple’s homes. The families were hand- picked, nominated by priests, parish staff, parish- ioners and non-parishioners living in Fairfield. Teachers and staff at Our Lady of The Rosary Catholic Primary School also nomi- nated some families. Volun- teers were also encouraged to pray for the family that they were feeding. Each recipient was given a prayer pack including a collection of various prayer cards and Rosary bracelets picked by each volunteer for their family. This initiative has been so successful that it will contin- ue on a monthly basis until the elderly no longer feel the need to self-isolate and the unemployed find work again. ‘Catholic clarity for complex times’ Listen to our Podcast every Thursday Ordinary Catholics having a relaxed, informal and searching conversation To subscribe go to https://www.thiscatholiclife.com.au HIGHLIGHTS Episode 45: Parenting - Hard Mode Episode 44: Sharing our Faith Episode 43: Freedom Call Steve (02) 9390 5404 or Paul (02) 9390 5406 THE MARKET PLACE For all your Business, Trades & Events see PG 22 Your Business Directory Mass still suspended CATHOLICS IN the In- dian state of Kerala have been told they can return to church, but they cannot receive Holy Commun- ion. Archbishop Antony Kariyil, metropolitan vic- ar of Ernakulam Angam- aly, the largest arch-epar- chy of Kerala, said he has concluded that it is better for his diocese not to re- sume liturgical services. Fake emails warning THE CATHOLIC Church in Australia has denounced ma- licious emails being circulat- ed to random recipients from fake addresses claiming to be Catholic parishes, dioceses and other organisations. The emails that have been sent mention one or more of the following: Cardinal George Pell, the complainant in his criminal trial, COVID-19 and most recently the upcom- ing Eden-Monaro by-election. “The small number of emails that have been for- warded to us are offensive, un- Christian and, in some cases, defamatory,” said Fr Stephen ¾ ¾ David Ryan Hackett MSC, general secre- tary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. “The views expressed in the emails we have seen do not in any way reflect the views of the Catholic Church, nor the or- ganisations that are purported to have sent them.” Information technology ex- perts say the technique being used is call “spoofing”, which sees the attackers create fake email addresses using legiti- mate or seemingly legitimate domain names. “This has been described as the equivalent of someone sending a letter in the post that is ‘signed’ in someone else’s name and contains a fake return address,” Fr Hack- ett said. “Just as a letter of that kind would be hard to spot as fraudulent, some of the email addresses used appear to be legitimate and many people have contacted various Catho- lic organisations after receiv- ing the messages.” Organisations that are known to have been attacked have taken steps to limit the sending and receipt of these emails. “It is deeply regretta- ble that a number of people are being maligned in these emails, which seem designed to attack Cardinal Pell, Wit- ness J, the Catholic Church, and now even politicians,” Fr Hackett said.