The Catholic Leader Flipbook - Issue 5594 - March 22

3 / 32

3
The Catholic Leader, March 22, 2020
News
Catholic
Charities 4 Church 1
Our Living Faith
With your regular gift, you join a dedicated group of donors
expanding and enhancing the good works of the Church.
You become part of the Living Faith Society.
No matter the size, your donation helps put the mission of
the Church into action where it’s needed most.You prepare
seminarians for the priesthood.You provide a Catholic education
for kids in financial and emotional need.You take care of our
elderly and unwell priests in retirement and you support people
and families experiencing hardship.
• HOLY SPIRIT SEMINARY • THE PRIESTS FOUNDATION
• CENTACARE • MARY MACKILLOP FUND
G IFT S OVER $2
ARE TAX
DEDUCTIBLE
POST: Living Faith Society,
GPO Box 282, Brisbane, Qld 4001
VISIT:
CALL: 07 3324 3200
By Mark Bowling
AS medical experts are calling for
social isolation to stop the spread of
COVID-19, how can each of us play
our part?
After all, we now realise that individuals who
ignore the calls can make the spread worse for
others.
“The responsible thing is to do your part in the
collective strategy,” Australian Catholic
University Philosopher associate pro-
fessor Stephanie Collins said.
“For Australians, that means
taking personal responsibility for
following government advice.”
Melbourne-based Dr Collins
(pictured) studies collective
action and group ethics and says
the spread of COVID-19 chal-
lenged the “individualistic” way
we were accustomed to thinking and
acting.
“This approach (collective action) is very
different from an approach that thinks only about
your own individual self-interest,” she said.
“That latter approach might lead to panic-
buying, for example.
“But if you have enough groceries for a few
days, then your part of Australia’s collective
strategy is to socially distance yourself.
“The advice we’re hearing from Australian
medical authorities is to avoid crowded areas.
“Running errands for older people is another
way you can help.”
In her 2019 book, Group Duties: Their Exist-
ence and Their Implications for Individuals, Dr
Collins wrote that moral duties were regularly at-
tributed to groups – we might hear that the United
Kingdom had a duty to defend human rights, that
environmentalists had a duty to push for global
systemic reform, or that humanity had a duty to
eradicate poverty.
But COVID-19 is already stretching the bound-
aries in the way groups behave – including entire
nations – as they try to limit the virus spread.
Terms such as “social distancing” and “self
quarantining” are new to most people, and require
measured explanation.
“I do think our leaders could be doing more to
calm people and to clarify what exactly is
required for ‘social distancing’,” she
said.
“A lot of policies are being im-
plemented suddenly, such as the
14-day quarantine for incoming
arrivals from overseas.
“This is completely under-
standable, but it leaves people
feeling anxious and confused.
“That anxiety needs to be ad-
dressed.”
As a society, Dr Collins said there
would be ethical lessons to be learnt about what
we valued and where we placed our priorities.
“I hope we will look back and say ‘We came
together as a society’ – not physically coming to-
gether, obviously – but psychologically, emotion-
ally, and spiritually coming together,” she said.
“Thinking as one team rather than the more in-
dividualistic way we are accustomed to thinking.
“I hope we will learn to value and prioritise the
most vulnerable people – people who are unwell,
unhoused, and who do not have a reliable income.
“I hope that we will prioritise putting in long-
term systems to protect these people from risks to
their lives and livelihoods.”
Learning to value and prioritise the most vulnerable people
Call for collective action in crisis
Blessing alone: Standing in the window of the library of the Apostolic Palace overlooking an
empty St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis blesses the city of Rome March 15, still under lockdown
to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Photo: CNS
PRIME Minister Scott Morrison warned the
country was in for six months of chaos as an
influx of COVID-19 cases and an historic rout in
the share market has pinned Australia between a
pandemic and an economic crisis.
There were 375 Australian COVID-19 cases
at time of publication.
These numbers were expected to inflate over
coming days and weeks.
Overseas, Italy and other European Union
countries remained in lockdown.
Pope Francis has been regularly posting online
Masses for people stuck in isolation and he
visited two churches on Monday.
“I would like to pray today for pastors who
need to accompany the people of God during
this crisis,” the pope said on Twitter.
“May the Lord grant them the strength and the
ability to choose the best ways to help.”
Enforced isolation and quarantine measures
were being enforced in Queensland, with fines
up to $13,000 to those who did not comply.
At time of publication, Masses and sacraments
were still available, but precautionary measures
were in place on liturgical practices.
For those in isolation, Masses will still be
available to watch online via Brisbane archdio-
cese’s website with full instructions on Page 10.
Panic buying has ramped up as supermarkets
like Coles and Woolworths have introduced item
limits, special shopping hours for the elderly and
conditions on delivery orders.
While the supermarkets saw a surge in sales,
other businesses were struggling to cope with the
prospect of casual staff at home in isolation or
customers unwilling or unable to venture out.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told Sky
News people would lose their jobs and business-
es would close as coronavirus wreaked havoc on
the economy.
He said the government wanted to ensure they
had support though.
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s cash rate was
already close to zero and had limited conven-
tional options to accelerate the economy.
ANZAC Day services were cancelled for the
first time in 100 years and joined a growing list
of events like music festivals and sports matches
scrapped under a “social distancing” scheme.
The pilgrimage of the relics of St Therese and
her parents had been halted too.
“Our priority is always the safety and wellbe-
ing of our supporters and the faithful who intend
to take part in the pilgrimage,” National Director
of Catholic Mission Fr Brian Lucas said.
“With that in mind and following the advice
today of the federal government and health
officials, we have jointly made this difficult
decision.”
– Joe Higgins
Coronavirus hitting nation hard
Empty shelves: Panic buying has ramped up as supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths have
introduced item limits, special shopping hours for the elderly and conditions on delivery orders.