The Catholic Weekly 9 August 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 5 9, August, 2020 NEWS Serving the Sydney community since 1892 Our experienced Funeral Directors are committed to providing a personalised and meaningful service for your loved one. Prepaid funerals available. Newtown | Chatswood | Parramatta | Miranda 9519 5344 | wnbull.com.au THE FEAST OF MARY MACKILLOP On the Feast Day of Mary MacKillop Saturday 8th August 2020, Mary MacKillop Place will be CLOSED. IMPORTANT NOTICE This decision has been made in the light of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Melbourne, the increasing number of cases in Sydney and the unpredictability of the spread of the virus, particularly where large groups gather in a confined space like the Chapel. With the usual number of pilgrims visiting on the Feast Day up to 5000, it is important that we act responsibly in the interests of community health and take every precaution to avoid any spread of the virus. PRAYER REFLECTIONS suitable for prayer at home will also be posted on the website for three days 6th, 7th and 8th August. The Chapel is open for private prayer only from 9am-1pm Monday to Friday. It remains closed on Saturday and Sunday until further notice. Mary MacKillop knew what it was like to face unknown and unpredictable times in her life. May she companion us as we live through this pandemic which is affecting all aspects of our family, work and community life. I thank you for your cooperation in accepting these unprecedented changes and leave you with Mary MacKillop’s words – God is good and has brought light and help when all was very dark. 1899 Sincerely yours Colleen Keeble rsj Director Mary MacKillop Place MASS IN THE MARY MACKILLOP MEMORIAL CHAPEL WILL BE LIVESTREAMED AT 10.00AM 8th AUGUST FOLLOWED BY A TIME OF PRAYER AT THE TOMB The details will be posted on the website marymackillopplace.org.au For Catholic jobs go to www.catholicjobsonline.com.au against the law to discrimi- nate against someone on the basis of their religious belief.” Mark Latham MLC intro- duced the proposed legisla- tion to parliament in May. Is an amendment to the Stand up for freedom ARCHBISHOP ANTHONY Fisher OP is calling on Catho- lics and other people of faith to stand up for religious free- domprotections inNSWamid a parliamentary inquiry into the state’s anti-discrimination laws. The committee inquiring into the Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Free- doms and Equality) Bill 2020 is inviting members of the general public to fill out a sim- ple online survey responding to the proposed protections. People with specialist knowledge are invited to make more detailed submis- sions. Archbishop Fisher hopes Catholics will build on the success of the Archdiocese of Sydney’s ‘open our churches campaign’ which saw Premier Gladys Berejiklian scrap un- fair COVID-19 restrictions on places of worship after 20,000 Catholics signed a petition in less than two days. “There is another opportunity to defend religious freedom in NSW,” he wrote in a public let- ter last week. “It may come as a surprise to you that currently, it is not state’s anti-discrimination laws and would make dis- crimination on the ground of a person’s religious beliefs or activities unlawful. Submissions to the Joint Standing Committee inquiry are open until 5pm on Friday, 21 August. “Our inquiry will consider whether the objectives of the Bill are valid and, if so, wheth- er the terms of the Bill are ap- propriate for securing its ob- jectives,” said the committee chair Gabrielle Upton MP. Legal experts have previ- ously backed the bill includ- ing Professor Michael Quin- lan, dean of the University of Notre Dame Australia’s School of Law in Sydney. He believes it should at- ¾ ¾ Marilyn Rodrigues Amazing: in NSW it’s perfectly lawful to discriminate against those of faith. Archbishop urges Catholics, Christians to lobby government to right glaring ommission in NSW law tract bi-partisan support as it contains “sound principals” reflecting the international recognition of a fundamental human right and address- es the omission of religious belief in anti-discrimination law. “[It] is an obvious step which ought to have been tak- en long ago,” he said. Bishop Richard Umbers, member of the Australian Catholic bishops’ committee for life, family and public en- gagement, said that it is “fun- damentally just and neces- sary” to freely express and live one’s own religious beliefs. “Holding a religious be- lief should never be used by others as a form of manipula- tion,” he said. “I welcome the intention of this bill and the protections it seeks to ensure.” For details of the bill and the two options for making a submission see www.parlia- ment.nsw.gov.au/commit- tees. It may come as a surprise to you that cur- rently, it is not against the law to discriminate against someone on the basis of their religious belief.” Archbishop Fisher OP