The Catholic Weekly 20 June 2021

$2 20, June, 2021 CHARITIES 2021 HONOURS GO TO CATHOLICS P3 LIFTOUT INSIDE advertising supplement DONATENOW TORECEIVEYOUR TAXDEDUCTION BEFOREEOFY. St Canice’s Kitchen in Elizabeth Bay really does go the extra mile for those who need it. FOOD FOR THE MIND AND SOUL PHOTO:ALPHONSUS FOK Budget to boost NSW palliative care CATHOLIC HEALTH leaders and advocates have welcomed a promised boost to palliative care funding in next week’s NSW budget but saymore needs to be done to ensure it is avail- able for every personamid a renewedpush for legalising assisted suicide in the state. Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said that al- most $83 million will be added to the funding of palliative care services inNSWin thebudget to be released onTuesday. The government says the increased fund- ing would improve hospital-based palliative services inwesternSydney including inpatient beds, provide up to 120 additional palliative care workers, and increase care to boost pa- tient independence at home and additional carer support. Currently around$220million is spent each year in NSW on palliative care for people with a life-limiting illness. But palliative care providers in the state consistently report that funding is in- adequate to meet grow- ing demand, particularly in remote and regional areas. The often significant- l y - u n d e r - funded levels of palliative care around A u s t r a l i a have been a key driving force in the success of euthanasia legislation in several states, say palliative care advocates. The NSW boost comes as independent MP Alex Greenwich confirmed that in July he will release draft voluntary assisted dying legisla- tion based on theWesternAustralianmodel. Rebecca Burdick Davies, Director of Strat- egy and Mission at Catholic Health Australia, said it was pleasing to see the NSW state gov- ernment continue to invest in palliative care and recognise its importance in providing end of life care. “While the $83 million in additional fund- ing is a good start, we’d like to see the NSW Government go further andcommit toprovid- ing palliative care to every person who wants and needs it,”Ms BurdickDavies said. “Around the country our members have been pushing for more funds for high-quality accessiblepalliativecareas thecompassionate alternative to assisted suicide. “Before we even consider doing NSW a great disservice by allowing state-sanctioned suicide in this state we should invest in a world-class palliative care systemwhich could make a huge difference to the lives of those sufferingandtotheirfamilies.”ProfessorDavid CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 ¾ Marilyn Rodrigues P7 USpastor leads fellow evangelicals inprayer to theSacred Heart DURING A recent Friday night service, a pastor at NewLife Church, an evan- gelical Protestant mega- church in the US state of Colorado, reportedly led the congregation in some- thing you wouldn’t nor- mally expect: the Sign of the Cross and a prayer of a consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Redditer who goes by the pseudonym MarvelD- Cgoodwithme, who is Catholic, explained on the /r/Catholicism subreddit that his Protestant moth- er attends the church and thought the prayer sound- ed Catholic. She took pictures of a few of the slides with the prayer. Sure enough, it’s a prayer for consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1899. The slides also have a picture of the statue of St Peter in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican. “She said it happened after the sermon,” the red- diter explained in a pri- vate message. “The pastor presented the slides and asked the congregation to read the prayer and if they agreed with it to pray it with him. The pastor also closed his prayers with the sign of the cross.” New Life Church was founded in 1984 and has an estimated 10,000 members. - churchpop.com Before we consider doing a great disservice by allowing state-sanctioned suicide in this state we should invest in a world-class palliative care system.” Rebecca Burdick Davies A slide of the Prayer to the Sacred Heart prayed by the pastor and congregation during an evangelical ser- vice in Colorado Springs in the US recently.