The Catholic Weekly 20 March 2022

catholicweekly.com.au 2 NEWS 20, March, 2022 Problem: it’s getting harder andharder tohelp those on themargins Price hikes hit our charities The cost of petrol is up by almost half - 40 per cent. This factor alone has a huge impact on the ability of charities to provide services assisting those most in need. PHOTO: PEXELS.COM I n this edition News Movies, books Archbishop’s homily Editorial & Letters 1-13 8-9 25 28-29 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Kenny (02) 9390 5348 EDITOR Peter Rosengren (02) 9390 5400 REPORTERS Marilyn Rodrigues (02) 9390 5410 Debbie Cramsie (02) 9390 5396 Adam Wesselinoff (02) 9390 5400 SUBSCRIPTIONS Rita Ng (02) 9390 5411 ADVERTISING AND MARKETING Steve Richards (02) 9390 5404 Katie Clarke (02) 9390 5402 DESIGNERS Renate Cassis Mathew De Sousa Faith in the trajectory of life catch it now at: thiscatholiclife.com.au Our story begins in 1839 with the Australasian Chronicle, continuing with the Freeman’s Journal in 1850. Level 13, Polding Centre, 133 Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Phone (02) 9390 5400 | Vol 73, No 5226. The Catholic Weekly is published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney ABN 60 471 267 587 and is printed by Spotpress Pty Ltd, 24-26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204. DOWNLOAD THE OUR FAITH OUR WORKS APP Your one-stop location for Mass and Confession times, spiritual reflections and meditations, podcasts, local Catholic news, the Go Make Disciples mission plan, and much more. To download the app visit ourfaithourworks.org/app or scan the QR Code. Celebrating loved ones for over 90 years Trevor Lee & Son is a family business that has helped families celebrate and remember their loved ones for over 90 years. ♦ Intimate and personal funeral services ♦ Professional, compassionate staff, available 24 hours a day ♦ On site or in the comfort of your own home ♦ Servicing all areas of Metropolitan Sydney and Country NSW ♦ Pre-Paid Funerals available Contact Bernadette (nee O’Hare), Trevor or Darren Lee on 9746 2949 to arrange an appointment. FROM PG1 volunteers and local support,” she said. “But I still spend a lot of time on securing funding to cover staffing and other daily operating costs. Usual inflation rises on top of that is something we must think about and will have to make work.” Ms Deane said that se- curing some COVID-relat- ed government funding had helped, particularly early in the pandemic but estimated that additional costs as a re- sult of COVID were in excess of $150,000. Marcel De Maria is chief executive officer of Gift of Bread. It supports dozens of fellow charities by supplying thousands of loaves of fresh bread each day rescued from supermarket chains and bak- eries, in partnership with a number of Sydney Catholic parishes. “We had a pandemic pay- out from the government in- itially but that money is now gone,” he said. Steep petrol costs are al- ready affecting them as well as a loss of around $20,000 in sponsorship over the last year due to knock-on effects of the pandemic on benefactors. “It costs us around $300 a week to keep the vans on the road in fuel alone,” Mr De Ma- ria said. “We’re fortunate to have generous benefactors and we are still going well and will continue to serve, but we do feel the effect both of rising costs and increased need due to the pandemic.” Brother Stephen Tran OFM Cap said that The Friars Van, an outreach of the Capuchin Friars with young adult vol- unteers based in Leichardt “could certainly do with some assistance” as it operates purely through the generosity of donors. “As a small operation the costs of running our ministry is relatively low,” Br Stephen said, but the petrol, registra- tion, insurance and mainte- nance costs of the vehicle “are noticeable”. Charbel Azzi is the chair- man of Maronites on Mission Australia which operates two weekly food van outreach programs in Sydney and Par- ramatta, as well as a home visit program and overseas missions. He said they are blessed with generous benefactors but as most are small busi- nesses and families, price hikes may have a ripple effect on what is donated. “There’s a limit to our re- sources and unfortunately we’re living in times when costs are going up. If dona- tions became more scarce that would that mean we can’t help as many people as we’d like to,” he said. “Thankfully a lot of our do- nors are donating food and that gives us a bit of protec- tion from these times.” PAYING MORE FOR BASICS SINCE LAST YEAR Petrol up by 40% Household energy up by 14.7% Food at home up by 7.4% Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data as of January 2022 UPCOMING FEATURES Published - Suppliers 27 March 2022 Published - Retreats 24 April 2022 For more information call Steve (02) 9390 5404