The Catholic Weekly 21 February 2021

$2 “This is the fourth time Fr Pedro has been nominated, maybe fourth time will be lucky” Fr Jan Chrzczonowicz IT MIGHT be 10,000km from theMadagascan capital of An- tananarivo, but one Sydney community has a special con- nection to Nobel nominee, Fr Pedro Opeka. The Catholic missionary priest has dedicated his life to building communities for the poorest families in one of the world’s poorest nations. A friend of Pope Francis, who once studied theology under the then-future pope in their native Argentina, Fr Opeka has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Sydney priest Jan Chrzczo- nowicz knows himwell. “This is the fourth time Fr Pedro has been nominated, maybe fourth time will be lucky,” he chuckles. Fr Jan is the chair of a local charitable organisation – Syd- ney French Roman Catholic Charities - which partners with Catholic Mission to support the priest’s work. Each year since 2011 the hard-working community has fundraised to help Fr Pedro with his endeavours for the people living on landfill on the outskirts of Antananarivo. In total, since it was estab- lished in the late 1980s to help support health and education projects in Mauritius, SFRCC has raisedmore than $1.3 mil- lion through a charity dinner held each October in the Liv- erpool parish hall. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Barracking for mate SydneyCatholicsoverjoyedasclerictheyhavesupportedfordecades is intherunningforprestigiousprize ¾ Marilyn Rodrigues 21, February, 2021 EXPERIENCING SEMINARY LIFE P14 Vincentian Father Pedro Opeka greets children who are housed in his Akamasoa “Community of Good Friends” in Madagascar in 2019. The ‘priest of the slums’ has been nominated for a fourth time for the Nobel Peace Prize and has a special link to Catholic supporters in Sydney. PHOTO: CNS, BAZ RATNER, REUTERS Jeannette Beaudoin and Sinisita Filitoga are delighted with the news of Fr Pedro’s nomination. PHOTO:ALPHONSUS FOK ENTER INTO THE DESERT IN LENT P9 SATURDAY, 13 MARCH MEN’S BREAKFAST L I F E , M A R R I A G E A N D F A M I L Y A R C H D I O C E S E O F S Y D N E Y The Holy Family with a Little Bird by MURILLO, BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBAN. Copyright ©Museo Nacional del Prado Online Bookings essential. For enquiries call 9567 3589. sydneycatholic.org/maximus1 INITIATIVE