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Friday 8 May, 2020
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Friday 8th May 2020 • £1.50 €2.00 thecatholicuniverse.com
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Boycott concerns CAFOD issues
appeal to help
the world’s
over virus vaccine
poorest fight
coronavirus
Catholic aid charity CAFOD has warned
that a coronavirus ‘tsunami’ could kill
as many as three million people in the
world’s poorest countries as it launched
Researchers’ use of
aborted foetus cells
At this distance, I can hear your confession – just ... a major emergency appeal to provide
urgently needed aid.
As Europe begins to edge out of the
offers potential ethical lockdown and ease restrictions caused
dilemma for Catholics by Covid-19, attention has turned to
countries across Africa, the Middle
Simon Caldwell and Nick Benson East and Asia where reports suggest
An ethical row looks likely to break the spread of the virus is accelerating.
out after scientists working on a po- The concern is, if Europe, with its
tential Covid-19 vaccine admitted they sophisticated and expensive healthcare
were using cells derived from aborted systems was nearly overwhelmed by
foetuses. the virus, what impact will it have on
While no vaccine currently exists poor countries with few intensive care
for the deadly virus, many possibilities beds, ventilators – and no PPE for
are being researched and some re- frontline health staff?
searchers are using a cell-line derived “Millions of poor communities have
from an unborn child aborted many nothing to protect themselves from
years ago. its devastating impacts,” said Christine
A researcher from a Catholic Allen, CAFOD’s director as she
bioethics institute has said there would launched the appeal.
be “no absolute duty” to boycott such “The potential scale of the pandemic
a vaccine but the Society for the Pro- across Africa, Asia, Latin America and
tection of Unborn Children (SPUC) the Middle East – as well as among
has requested that the Government refugee and displaced populations in
make available vaccines that are not places such as Syria, South Sudan and
Confession matters: Fr Paddy McCafferty resumed
made using cell lines derived from hearing Confessions while observing social distancing the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh –
the tissue of aborted unborn children. though the locked gates of Corpus Christi Church in is truly frightening.”
Some of the vaccine teams do not Ballymurphy, West Belfast. Full story - see pg 4 The World Health Organisation has
use cells at all and others use plant or Photo: Niall Carson/PA pinpointed Yemen – still in a state of
animal cells. civil war – as being a country of major
However, scientists at the University concern; while few cases of Covid-19
of Oxford have said they are using and that a path be taken which re- lished for the centre, which serves the abuses, and some will feel, whether have been reported so far, a lack of
cell lines from an aborted foetus. They spects those with concerns of con- Church in the UK and Ireland. rightly or wrongly, called to a boycott medical equipment and channels to
are now conducting human trials of science in this area. Its use would be a matter of indi- even if no alternative vaccine is avail- inform the public of how to respond
a possible vaccine against the coron- However, in a briefing paper issued vidual conscience for Catholics, al- able to them”. mean that if the virus were to take
avirus in the hope that it could be on 27th April, Helen Watt, a senior though they should strive to obtain But when judging the researchers, hold, it would be near impossible to
made ready for use by September. research fellow with the Anscombe alternative vaccines, made without Watt continued, it was important to control.
If this vaccine were successful it Bioethics Centre, Oxford, said it was foetal cells, once such vaccines arrive consider the wider implications of And in Afghanistan, 500 random
could present an ethical dilemma for not always wrong to use vaccines pro- on the market. such a move on society, and always coronavirus tests in Kabul came back
Catholics and all opposed to abortion. duced via cell lines even if they were “The moral onus is certainly on the bear in mind that we have to live with positive, raising fears of widespread
In a letter to Jo Churchill, the Par- from aborted foetuses. person to do this as a witness to the previous injustices in many of the undetected infections.
liamentary Under-Secretary at the De- “Boycotting a Covid-19 vaccine in value of human life and life-respecting things we do today. “These are vulnerable families who
partment of Health and Social Care, the absence of an alternative is a se- research,” she said. “Remember that we when we walk are unprepared to fight this virus and
SPUC urges her to make sure that rious action that should be carefully But she said boycotting a foetus- in Rome we do so on paving laid by are being pushed to the brink of
vaccines developed without using considered because of its potentially derived vaccine may be counter-pro- slaves…we live in countries that our hunger and poverty,” said Allen.
foetal cell-lines be supported in the grave risks both for the person and ductive: “Boycotts are often a means ancestors unjustly invaded”. CAFOD appeal:
fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, for others,” she said in the paper pub- of achieving change by highlighting Continued on page 3 See World - pg 16
02 For extra news go to www.thecatholicuniverse.com
News Follow the Catholic Universe on twitter @ukcatholicpress
Irish faith
leaders unite Talks open with Government
in plea to end
the closures over reopening our churches
The five metropolitan archbishops of of the Mass and the other sacraments.
Church leaders in Ireland have
called for restrictions to be relaxed England and Wales have revealed that ‘Every bishop and priest recognises
in order to allow churches to re-open planning is underway for the re-open- the pain of Catholics who, at present,
for ‘individual visits and private ing of Catholic churches when lock- cannot pray in church or receive the
prayer’ where it can be done safely down restrictions are eased, and that sacraments. This weighs heavily.’
with social distancing measures. discussions with the statutory public However, the archbishops also write
The leaders of the country’s main health agencies and Government rep- of the need to act in solidarity for the
Churches, including the Catholic resentatives are ongoing. common good. ‘It is right that the
Primate of All-Ireland and Archbish- The revelation comes after Cardinal Catholic community fulfils its role in
op of Armagh, Eamon Martin, made Nichols insisted that people’s spiritual contributing to the common good of
the call following a video conference needs are “essential” and churches society. This must continue until the
meeting on Friday 1st May. are prepared to reopen but only when restrictions applied by the Government
The faith leaders considered the “the time is right”. are lifted.’
possibilities of re-opening for collec- The five metropolitan archbishops – Cardinal Nichols told Sky News:
tive worship and private personal Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop “The spiritual needs of people are es-
prayer. of Westminster; Archbishop Malcolm sential,” pointing out that for many,
In the joint statement, signed by McMahon OP, Archbishop of Liver- their spiritual needs are “right at the
the leaders of the Roman Catholic pool; Archbishop Bernard Longley, essence of their understanding of life”.
Church, Church of Ireland, Archbishop of Birmingham; Archbish- A woman prays Addressing the re-opening of
Methodist Church in Ireland, Pres- op George Stack, Archbishop of Cardiff; at the closed door churches, he said: “When it’s possible
byterian Church in Ireland and the Archbishop John Wilson, Archbishop of Westminister we’re ready.”
Irish Council of Churches, they of Southwark – note: ‘As the restrictions Cathedral while However, the cardinal also stressed
lament that congregations are un- are relaxed, we look forward to open- Easter Mass was the importance of taking any risks.
able to gather together in person for ing our churches and resuming our taking place inside “I think it’s very important that we
worship but acknowledge that ‘it is liturgical, spiritual, catechetical and take profoundly seriously the risks
important we all continue to adhere pastoral life step by step.’ involved and make all the necessary
to government advice on social dis- They point out that this will also sacraments. Until then, we are con- Church. ‘None of us would want to preparations open to inspection so
tancing and other measures. The help those beyond the Church who tinuing to pray and prepare.’ be in the situation in which we find that we can be confident that in en-
current restrictions are for the com- depend on the charitable activity and The archbishops also point to the ourselves,’ they write. ‘While the live- couraging people to come to that sa-
mon good of everyone on the island.’ outreach shared by so many volunteers risen Lord as a beacon of hope in streaming of Mass is playing an im- cred space which corresponds to
They accept that it is not currently from Church communities. these challenging times, and recognise portant part in maintaining the life what’s inside of them, that we’re doing
appropriate to consider a full return ‘Together with Catholics across Eng- that live-streamed Mass and other of faith, there is no substitute for it safely and contributing, I think to
to such gatherings, but do ask that land and Wales, we desire the opening devotions, although faith-affirming, Catholics being able to physically at- the overall health of the nation,” he
‘the issue is kept under regular re- of our churches and access to the are second-best to worshipping in tend and participate in the celebration said.
view, so that when it is safe to do so
there can be an easing of these re-
strictions,’ they say.
However, the leaders point out
‘Solution is to look at everything in a different light’
that the issue of church buildings The Catholic Church in Scotland to draw up a strategy that would finances. “Our diocese, we are okay “From the moment our churches
being permitted to open for individ- has confirmed that it too is drawing allow the churches to re-open. for the first part of the year but the were closed we’ve been thinking
ual visits and private prayer is ‘a dif- up plans for the phased re-opening “We are not going to ask for our longer it goes on the tougher it will how they might look when we
ferent and a separate matter’. of churches including social churches to be open when we don’t get,” he said. reopen,” Mr Horan told STV News.
‘Where the advice indicates that distancing measures. think it is safe,” the bishop said. “Most Catholics still want to give Scotland’s First Minister Nicola
this limited step is possible, we The plans, to be shared with the “One priest in a big church money to the Church.” Sturgeon has encouraged
would urge the Executive to consid- Scottish Government, include looked at social distancing – he had Anthony Horan, director of the organisations to be innovative
er easing this particular restriction blocking off of pews, the removal of a church of 500 and he said that the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary when looking towards the easing of
sooner rather than later,’ they say. holy water fonts, and the maximum you could get in was 60, Office, said the Church is already restrictions and Mr Horan noted
‘We have seen the vast majority of withdrawal of hymn books. maybe two to a bench for instance.” prepared with certain aspects of re- that this is something the Church
the people embracing these chal- The Bishop of Paisley, John Bishop Keenan said the opening, as some potential measures should be looking into. “We’re
lenging restrictions and making Keenan, said that an independent lockdown and church closures had were already in place shortly before saying, ‘how is that going to look?
them work for the benefit of all.’ working group is being established also had an impact on parishes’ churches closed. about everything’,” he said.
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Bishop tells of his ‘shame’
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Media are a fast-growing, independent media agency based in Nick Benson Thatcher, told The Catholic Universe “When the announcement of
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pealing to Catholic bishops to re-open more responses” after the video was of a sense of frustration and helpless-
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For further information, rates and packages, please contact: The video, titled ‘Please Open Our our churches to be closed and deny thing productive, so together with
Churches’ was sent to all British the faithful access to the Blessed Sacra- Ben and Sarah we decided to create a
Josh Stewart Head of Sales for BMM Catholic bishops last month and is ment’,” she said. video. The video wasn’t borne out of
e: sales@bluemarketmedia.co.uk also available to view on YouTube. “Another replied: ‘Thank you for self-pity, but rather from a deep yearn-
It includes pleas from a number of making this poignant video appeal. ing for the sacraments.”
T: 0203 538 9753 It breaks my heart that churches are Ms Vaughan-Spruce also pointed
Catholics to re-open churches, with
one woman quoting Pope Francis, closed... we will press for our churches out that the video wasn’t simply a
warning that “the forced isolation is to be re-opened at the earliest op- plea for the laity but for priests, too.
New and existing Catholic advertisers, presenting the danger of people living portunity’.” “I know of priests who are no longer
please contact Catherine Kelly on the faith only for themselves detached Ms Vaughan-Spruce said it some- celebrating even a private Mass be-
e: catherine.kelly@thecatholicuniverse.com from the sacraments, the Church and times takes a crisis to make people cause they feel so detached from the
the people of God”. evaluate their priorities and during Church. It reminds me that priests
T. 0161 820 5722 or 07538 830350 Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, who pro- the pandemic she also became aware need the people almost as much as
duced the film with Ben and Sarah of other people’s priorities too. we need our priests.”
The Catholic Universe | Friday 8th May 2020 03
News
Brother Chris Priest surgeon
critical of care
is happy to be home policies
Simon Caldwell
Elderly people are being left to die in
back in scrubs Britain’s nursing homes instead of being
offered care in hospitals, a priest and
former surgeon has claimed.
Fr Patrick Pullicino volunteered to re-
to fight virus turn to the NHS to work at the Nightingale
Hospital in London – one of seven tem-
porary hospitals to provide extra capacity
for the NHS. But they have treated very
few patients as NHS bed capacity has
Michael Kelly (CNS) “I never wavered and once the back- remained above Covid-19 demands.
An Irish Dominican brother who ing came, I was happy to go for it,” he Fr Pullicino said that the excess beds
trained as a doctor is back treating said. can be explained by a policy of returning
patients with Covid-19. “My skills are quite limited in com- elderly patients from hospitals to care
Br Chris Gault, who has been study- parison to a lot of the colleagues I am homes even if they have Covid-19.
ing for the priesthood with the Do- working with but they’ve been so “If somebody in a nursing home gets
minicans, has returned to his native welcoming. They have been on the Covid, you don’t leave them there. Monitor
Belfast and donned surgical scrubs front line now; their training is better them, and if they get to a certain point
to be part of the fight against the virus than mine. you bring them into hospital. You don’t
in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital “I will be looking to support them. leave them to die with hypoxia and pneu-
where he once served. They are true heroes. I have a great monia and put them on palliative care
He graduated from Queen’s Uni- admiration for them.” in a nursing home,” he said.
versity in 2013 and completed foun- The North Belfast man said it was Department of Health guidance advised
dation training as a doctor, but he “pretty strange” being back in scrubs. the NHS to transfer elderly Covid patients
left medical life behind when he de- While admitting there is a learning from their own homes into nursing homes
cided to answer a call to enter the curve, he said the training “comes rather than allow them in a hospital.
priesthood. back to you”. Fr Pullicino said this policy was so
He joined the Order of Preachers, “It is rusty, so I am very much in a misguided that it should be the subject
making a profession of vows in 2018, support position until I get back up of a public inquiry. He said the “mortality
and moved to Dublin to study phi- to speed and I can help in a more among the elderly in care homes has
losophy as part of his formation. concrete way.” been terrible”.
However, when he heard calls for He said if he had to give people a “It is not just a mistake - maybe it was
any available medics to return to the message, “it would be one of hope”. a mistake - but there is no feeling for
front line to help in the fight against “Staff here are committed to beating these people. The NHS has abandoned a
the coronavirus, he decided he had this thing and they are committed lot of these elderly sick,” he said.
to help. with the help of God. I have no doubt Brother Chris Gault poses in the
“I talked to my superiors and they that there is great hope.” chapel at Mater Misericordiae
were happy and encouraging,” he said. “I would rather be living my religious Hospital in Belfast. Staff he works YOUR EASTERTIDE GIFT TO OUR RISEN CHRIST
life in my monastery, praying with
“I just volunteered. The trust and
the health service (are) undergoing a my brothers, but this was a response
with are committed to beating the
coronavirus, he said.
HELP TRAIN A YOUNG MAN FOR
lot of change. They are adapting to a
lot of change in these current circum-
at a time of need,” he added. “It is ex-
traordinary and it is temporary. While Photo: Mal McCann, courtesy Irish
The Little Way
Association THE MISSIONARY PRIESTHOOD
stances. it is needed, I am here to help.” Catholic Each year THE LITTLE WAY ASSOCIATION
receives numerous requests from Religious
Orders in mission lands for help to train their
Boycott concerns over possible vaccine
seminarians.
It costs approximately £84 a month
(£1,000 per year) to feed, clothe and
Continued from page 1 create the rubella component of the educate a student for the priesthood
A scientist checks quality control
However, Dr Anthony McCarthy, of Covid-19 vaccine vials at the MMR vaccine, which was developed The great majority of
SPUC’s director of research, stresses using products of abortion. young men who come
Clinical Biomanufacturing forward to offer their
that a vaccine that is acceptable to all Facility in Oxford. Dr McCarthy argues that it is ‘clearly
lives to God, and His
must be made available. Photo: Sean Elias in the interests of all’ that a vaccine people, come from
Dr McCarthy points out that con- acceptable to everyone is supported poor families. Their
tentious foetal cell lines originate in and made available. parents do not have the
tissue sourced from abortions and ‘We are writing to ask that any non- means to support them
one such cell-line used in the Covid- foetally developed vaccines be made financially.
19 vaccine research is the HEK 293 generously available to all.’ The cost of educating and maintaining seminarians is often a MISSIONARIES
cell-line derived from foetal tissue ‘Society needs to respect the con- heavy burden on the Religious Orders. It costs NEED YOUR MASS
from an abortion in the 1970s, while sciences of its members who uphold approximately £84 a month (£1,000 per year) to feed, clothe OFFERINGS
another is the PER C6 cell-line from the inviolability of human life from and educate a student for the priesthood. We appeal
wholeheartedly, this Eastertide, to all readers to help train ! $
an 18-week old unborn child aborted conception and who do not wish to
and support a candidate for the priesthood.
in 1985. be involved in anything they may see #
He explains that while using such as complicit with the unjust taking of Any donation you can send will be most gratefully
bond,’ writes Dr McCarthy. ‘Even those received, and will be sent without deduction,
a cell-line is not the same as using such life. to help to train a young man for the priesthood. We like to send a
foetal tissue itself, which involves not opposed to all abortion may well ‘It is disappointing that in the past, minimum of £5 or
close liaison with the abortion provider have moral concerns over practices ethically developed vaccines have not Crossed POs and cheques should be sent and made more for each Mass.
on the part of those collecting the tis- which seem to treat opportunistically been available to those who have payable to: THE LITTLE WAY ASSOCIATION
the remains of an aborted unborn Sacred Heart House, 119 Cedars Rd, Clapham Common, WELLS NEEDED
sue and making it available, the use needed them, even when such alter- $
child. London SW4 0PR (Registered Charity No. 235703)
of foetal cell-lines created from such native vaccines existed as in many $
U/08/05
Tel. 020 7622 0466. www.littlewayassociation.com
tissue can nonetheless pose problems ‘With existing vaccines for condi- cases they do for various conditions. "
I enclose £ ..................................to be allocated for:- !
of conscience for those who may even- tions like rubella, a non-foetal alter- ‘Many people have serious objec-
" "
tually be offered the vaccine. native normally exists but is some- tions to the use of vaccines developed £............. TRAINING YOUNG MEN FOR THE PRIESTHOOD
‘For those of us who see the original times difficult for people to access. from procedures which undermine £............. NEEDS OF MISSIONARIES $
In addition to the request concerning £............. WELLS AND WATER ! "
abortion as the unjustified taking of the ethical practice of medicine.’ Please tick if you would
£............. MASS STIPENDS (please state no. ) "
the life of the unborn child, such use a Covid-19 vaccine, SPUC is asking The letter concludes: ‘We look for- like an acknowledgement
£............. LITTLE WAY ADMIN. EXPENSES # ! $
of the products of abortion, even a that such existing alternatives be made ward to hearing from you at this dif- Name (Rev. Mr. Mrs. Miss) $ "
cell line derived from the original tis- available for these other conditions. ficult time when we are all seeking (Block letters please)
Address
sue, risks sending out a harmful social Dr McCarthy said that several faith life-saving options and would be hap- Can you help to
provide a well?
message concerning the value of early groups have raised concerns in the py to discuss these issues further ! $ $
human life and of the mother-child past over the use of foetal tissue to should you wish.’ To donate online go to: tinyurl.com/lwadonations " "
04 For extra news go to www.thecatholicuniverse.com
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Socially distanced queues as New support
for domestic
abuse victims
Fr Paddy holds open air Mass The Domestic Abuse Group of the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Eng-
land and Wales has issued guidance
There were socially-distanced queues on how Catholic parishes can support
at a west Belfast church last weekend victims of domestic abuse during the
as a Catholic priest heard confessions. Covid-19 pandemic.
Fr Paddy McCafferty of Corpus Since the lockdown began on 23rd
Christi in Ballymurphy was kept busy March, there has been a 49 per cent
for an hour on Saturday, 2nd May as increase in calls and online requests
parishioners waited in line. for help relating to domestic abuse.
He sat in front of the church behind This guidance includes information
the gates while those making their about how parishes can raise aware-
confessions stood about two metres ness of the issue including a list of
in front of him. helplines and information about how
“I started hearing confessions at to safely get help. These include: the
11.40 and I was kept busy for about Freephone National Domestic Abuse
an hour with a constant stream of Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 200
people, with everybody observing so- 0247; the Live Fear Free helpline
cial distancing,” he said. “As they came (Wales), on 0808 80 10 800; and the
to me outside the church, there was a Men’s Advice Line on 0808 801 0327,
two-metre distance, maybe more. as well as many others.
“There was no one close to them The guidance advises those ‘in im-
to hear what they were saying and it mediate danger’ to call 999 and those
was easy for me to hear what they ‘in danger and unable to talk on the
were saying. phone’ to call 999 and listen to the
“Everything was observed, the sanc- questions from the operator and if
tity and privacy as well as protecting possible, respond by coughing or tap-
people from the virus. I intend to do ping the head set. Then, if prompted,
it again until we are able to get people press 55 to make yourself heard and
back into the church again.” this will transfer the call to the police.
Fr McCafferty said previously he However, pressing 55 only works on
had been hearing confessions by ap- mobiles and does not allow police to
pointment, meeting parishioners out- track your location.
side the church at a safe distance. When 999 calls are made from land-
“Before Easter I did the same, I was lines, information about your location
outside the church and people were should be automatically available to
coming but I decided to stop that as the call handlers to help respond.
we went into Holy Week because the The guidance also includes a step-
worry at that time was the virus was by-step starter guide for how parishes
going to peak, so I didn’t want anyone can work to support their local do-
at all leaving the house unnecessarily,” mestic abuse services with donations.
he said. Bishop John Sherrington, who chairs
“There is nothing to stop you hear- the Domestic Abuse Group, said:
ing confessions from people provided “Every person has a right to live their
you observe all the precautions. life free from abuse. Catholic parishes
“I am aware of other priests who can play an important role in the
are doing it too. We are not breaching fighting domestic abuse, especially
any of the safety mechanisms and it Fr Paddy McCafferty hears confessions while observing social during the Covid-19 pandemic where
does help people. Many were very distancing though the locked gates of Corpus Christi Church we are seeing some shocking statistics
moved to be able to do it, and we in Ballymurphy, West Belfast. Photo: Niall Carson/PA from leading domestic abuse organi-
have to comfort people and strengthen sations. My thanks go to those working
them in every way possible. can't comfort them in the way you “It is what it is, we can’t do anything in an open top car offering benediction so hard to ensure that people suffering
“They are deprived of the Eucharist would normally comfort a person, by about it, we just have to make the with the Blessed Sacrament. domestic abuse can live safe lives.
at the moment, so to be able to give putting your arm around them or try- best and hope and trust the pandemic He described the feedback after “I hope that Catholics and parishes
any comfort and strength to people ing to console them,” he said. will pass. In the meanwhile we have that as “overwhelmingly positive”. will be inspired to take this up in their
is so important.” “At funerals, it is desperately painful to try and help people.” “People were greatly comforted and local area.
Fr McCafferty described the pan- because we have to stand back, it’s Mass services are being streamed that was the purpose, to comfort peo- See: www.cbcew.org.uk/home/our-
demic as a challenging time. just awful and it’s heartbreaking for online and on Sunday, 26th April Fr ple where they are, in their homes, at work/health-social-care/coronavirus
“When people are upset and you them and everyone involved. McCafferty drove around the parish their gates, at their doors,” he added. -guidelines/domestic-abuse/
Food bank demand soars as people run out of cash
The coronavirus crisis has sparked a times higher than this time last year. The coalition called on the Gov- network are seeing steep rises in need the JRF, added: “It’s simply not right
huge increase in people using food A coalition of charities – including ernment to provide a Covid-19 emer- for emergency food parcels as the that so many more people are having
banks for essential supplies, according the Trussell Trust, IFAN, Child Poverty gency income support scheme that consequences of Covid-19 take hold. to turn to food banks because they
to charities. Action Group (CPAG), Children’s So- helps individuals and families who “The solution is not in trying to are unable to meet their basic costs.
The Trussell Trust said its network ciety, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, are already facing or at serious risk of distribute more food parcels but in “We all want to help each other
had seen its busiest-ever period, with StepChange and Turn2us – is urging financial hardship. providing sufficient income to the weather this storm, but families with
81 per cent more emergency food the Government to do more to help Emma Revie, chief executive of the huge numbers of people impacted by children are being particularly hard
parcels being given out in the last two protect people from being “swept into Trussell Trust, said: “Like a tidal wave this crisis and the poverty that pre- hit and do not have the lifeline they
weeks of March. destitution” amid a huge rise in ap- gathering pace, an economic crisis is ceded it.” need to stay afloat.”
People struggling with the income plications for Universal Credit in recent sweeping towards us, but we don’t all Alison Garnham, chief executive of Luke Pollard, shadow secretary of
they were receiving from working or weeks. have lifeboats. the CPAG, said: “We need targeted state for environment, food and rural
benefits was the main reason for the Demand for emergency food parcels “It’s not right that this has meant support for children if we are to shield affairs, said: “There is more than
increase, the trust said. had been soaring over the past five some of us don’t have enough money them from poverty. Raising the level enough food in our supply chains to
The Independent Food Aid Network years, with research showing that for essentials and are being pushed of all benefits for children would be make sure that everyone has enough
(IFAN) also reported a record level of households referred to food banks to food banks.” the most effective way of getting sup- to eat. This is now not a crisis of food
need, with an average 59 per cent in- are, on average, left with just £50 per Sabine Goodwin, of IFAN, said: “In- port to families quickly.” supply, it’s a crisis of poverty. People
crease from February to March - 17 week after housing costs. dependent food bank teams in our Helen Barnard, acting director of simply do not have enough money.”
The Catholic Universe | Friday 8th May 2020 05
News
‘The sick experience Christ Bishop backs
call for ‘leave
in those who care for them’ to remain’
The lead Catholic bishop for migration
and asylum has joined over 20 organ-
isations working with asylum seekers
The Bishop of Arundel & Brighton the 6th Chapter of John’s Gospel, Bish- Death and Resurrection makes pos- the one in they serve: ‘Insofar as you and refugees in calling for a grant of
has reminded the faithful that ‘Christ op Moth pointed out that Jesus speaks sible something that is truly wonder- did this to the least of these, you did a period of ‘leave to remain’ to those
Jesus is with you and in you in all you of Himself as the Bread of Life. ful. We see Him in others. In our hos- if for me.’ The one who is sick is ex- with insecure immigration status.
do’. “He is always with us, walking with pitals and care homes, in our houses periencing the person of Christ in A joint letter drafted by Jesuit
Celebrating the second Mass for us,” he said. “We see Him truly present where the sick are in our care, there those who care.” Refugee Service UK calls on the Prime
Carers, which was livestreamed from in the Eucharist and he feeds us, sus- lies a capacity for a wonderful en- Bishop Moth went on to say: “We Minister to protect public health and
Arundel Cathedral on Thursday, 30th taining us on our journey. counter. grapple with the reality of illness and the welfare by granting a period of
April, Bishop Richard Moth applauded “The presence of Christ, all that He “The carer, the healthcare worker, suffering in all their forms. Death is ‘leave to remain’ to those awaiting
all those who care for the sick in hos- has done for the world in his Passion, the parent cares for Jesus Himself in sometimes seen as failure. Thoughts decisions from the Home Office, those
pitals and care homes, as well as family and questions are, I suggest, a reaching who have been refused asylum and
members who care for loved ones at out, a searching, even a prayer – even those who are undocumented.
home and all those who support com- though the answers may not always Such a period of leave is a vital step
munities, parishes and schools at this be very clear to us.” to protect public health during the
difficult time. The Mass from Arundel Cathedral pandemic, they said. People with in-
“Our presence on the streets is a was offered for NHS and Social Care secure immigration status face mul-
very effective expression of solidarity workers, those who are sick and their tiple barriers to accessing support,
and this Mass is the offering of the families. housing and healthcare, and allowing
greatest prayer that we have for them,” This Mass was the second in a series people to regularise their status is the
he said. of special services to be celebrated most effective way of ensuring they
At this “challenging moment” for by a different bishop, in a different get the support they need, thereby
the whole word, the bishop reflected Cathedral, each Thursday at 7pm. protecting UK society as a whole.
that “such a time prompts fundamen- “I fully support this call to protect
tal questions: How can I best support The current schedule is: asylum seekers and refugees,” said
my family? Is my job at risk – or where Thursday 14th May – Bishop Robert Bishop Paul McAleenan, chair of the
next for those who have lost jobs? Byrne CO, Newcastle Cathedral Catholic bishops’ Office for Migration
Why has all this happened? Where is Thursday 21st May – Bishop Mark Policy. “In this crisis everyone without
God in all of this? Why is a loved one Davies, Shrewsbury Cathedral exception is given the right to protect
sick? Why has a loved one died? Thursday 28th May – Bishop Terence themselves from Covid-19 and to re-
“For those working at the front line Drainey, Middlesbrough Cathedral ceive medical treatment if necessary.
in our hospitals, care homes and com- “Those without permanent status
munities, there may be little time for The Bishop of Arundel and should be given the opportunity and
reflection, but the worries and fears
Brighton, Richard Moth, means to do so, to social distance, to
during the Mass for Carers. self isolate, to access healthcare and
will, I am sure, be there – resurfacing • Links for the live-streaming of
(Screenshot taken by The
in the occasional quieter times.” these Masses can be found by so lessen the possibility of jeopardising
Catholic Universe).
Reflecting on the day’s Gospel, from visiting the cathedrals’ webpages. public health,” he added.
06 For extra news go to www.thecatholicuniverse.com
Comment
The Universe
– Comment – Relevance beyond the crisis: New
The re-opening of
churches soon?
pressures to curb individual rights
By now we have all started to come David Alton
to terms with the fact that COVID-19
has completely changed the world In 1947, Albert Camus published his
as we know it. From when it was first existential novel, The Plague. Set in
identified as a novel strain of coron- the Algerian city of Oran, one of its
avirus on New Year’s Eve, the world central characters is a doctor who
has been plunged into an unprece- treats the first victim, quickly coming
dented and uncharted upheaval. to see the scale of the threat.
For we Catholics to be deprived so He warns the lethargic authorities
suddenly and completely of partici- that they must urgently act. In re-
pation in the Sacraments was also sponse, the civil authorities imposes
both traumatic, and bewildering. martial law and curfews, and cur-
As the UK government begins the tailed human rights – banning funer-
dangerous and difficult process of al rites – demoralising the populace.
restarting social and commercial There are uncomfortable parallels
life, there is also hope that we can with contemporary events. Oran was
begin the process of resuming the locked down and quarantined, stir-
communal practice of our faith. ring and unleashing baser instincts of
The re-opening of our churches exploitation, criminality, violence
will have to be a slow and careful and looting.
process, and the demands on us all In 2020, the surreal, dystopian na-
will be varied and challenging. ture of the coronavirus pandemic is
This will be especially so for our stranger than fiction. Thousands of
clergy, who will not only have to re- people die each day, while civic
sume their normal ministry, but will buildings and conference centers are
need to cope with numerous highly being repurposed as hospitals.
sensitive and stressful situations. Distinguished scientists, epidemi-
It is at times like these when a ologists and public health experts ar- Controversial control: Police have been
parish community is needed most, gue over the numbers of anticipated criticised for using drones to restrict
and is at its Christian best. fatalities, the closing down of public behaviour and movements
Over recent weeks we’ve already economies, the locking down of com- during the COVID-19 pandemic.
seen countless examples of Catholic munities and the self-isolation of the
individuals and groups doing re- vulnerable while we ask ourselves ployment of French soldiers in the in- to take and to retain powers
markable and practical things to when will it end; what will the long- terior of Morocco – and with the Lon- which, in normal times, would
keep society together – from supply- term implications be? don Evening Standard stirring the have otherwise been denied it,
ing and running food deliveries, to Camus’ novel poses some of the populace with headlines about end- and those laws remained en-
manning support phone lines and same serious questions – about what less Balkan uprisings, the British Par- trenched for decades.
volunteering where possible in their it means to be human, about the ef- liament passed the Official Secrets Two world wars, which saw
local communities. fects on the trajectory of our destiny Act. Some of the Act’s legislation re- mass internment, vast move-
We’ve had priests saying Masses and progress, and how quickly, under mains in force to this day. ments of peoples, and domestic
in car parks, hearing Confessions the cover of darkness, we will see the Parliament enacted the legislation provisions like the removal of
through parish railings, and even erosion of gains – democratic, social, in less than 30 minutes. In a pell-mell signposts to confuse an invad-
nuns singing on the high street. communal and personal. rush, it created far-reaching offences ing enemy, all existed in a world
Our Catholic charities too have As we try to focus on developing ostensibly relating to espionage. But where national security de-
continued to serve the most vulner- road maps out of lockdown and on Section 1 of the new law applied to manded newspaper censorship
able during this pandemic, both at the phenomenal economic and so- anyone deemed to be working “for and tight lips.
home and overseas. Your continued cial challenges, they look daunting. any purpose prejudicial to the safety Introduced in 1912, Defence
generosity is now more vital to them How will we manage the conse- or interests of the State.” and Security Media Advisory
than ever, so please do offer what quences of fractured bonds in insti- In 1962, the British Law Lords de- Notices – official requests to
you can to those organisations who tutions like the European Union; the termined that Section 1 could also be newspaper editors not to pub-
advertise within these pages. exposure of glaring and disfiguring applied to anyone involved in sabo- lish or broadcast items where
A huge thank you also to you, our inequality in society, especially in the tage and other acts of physical inter- national security might be
readers. We have been genuinely United States; the urgent need to re- ference. And it did not end there. compromised – are still in use
humbled by your kind words of en- calibrate our naive relationship with During the Cold War, campaigners in the UK.
couragement – it is what keeps us the hostile Chinese Communist Party for freedom of information pointed In 1945, at the end of World War II, As Lord Jonathan Sumption, a re-
faithful to our mission. (CCP)? With only limited public out that if a parent wanted to find out Cabinet Minister Herbert Morrison, cently retired Supreme Court Judge,
health support services available to how best, in the event of a nuclear who served as the Lord President of has warned, the powers that the
Keep safe, and keep the faith! them, how will developing nations war, to look after their children, they the Council, wrote that “We have British government has taken are
respond to the looming COVID-19 were prohibited from doing so be- learned much during the war, and “frankly disgraceful.” Referring to the
decision of the Derbyshire police “to
The Universe catastrophe?
In relighting “the lamps going out
cause it was an official secret.
Nor could they establish what poi-
there should be no return to the old
timidity and reticence.” shame people from using their un-
all over Europe” – a phrase used by sonous gases were being emitted He urged the disavowal of restric- doubted right to travel to take exer-
Editor: Joseph Kelly Sir Edward Grey at the outset of from the factory chimney opposite tions on free speech which, in peace- cise in the country and wrecking
Email: joseph.kelly@ World War I – we will be faced by the their home, because that too was an time, could be used to undermine a beauty spots so that people don’t
thecatholicuniverse.com worst levels of unemployment, bank- official secret. These down-the-rab- free and democratic society. want to go there,” he said, “This is
ruptcy and economic decline since bit-hole, Alice-in-Wonderland meas- However, it proved far more diffi- what a police state is like.”
Universe Media Group Limited, the Great Depression. We will also be ures, were peacetime laws enacted in cult to eliminate government powers While accepting that powers are
2nd Floor, Oakland House, faced with the age-old temptation to a climate of fear and panic. than for the government to take needed to control the spread of the
76 Talbot Road, Manchester M16 0PQ keep emergency legislation in place. Reformers also pointed out that them. Until the rapidly enacted 2020 virus, he questioned whether we
All too easily our freedoms and lib- these powers made it an offence for Emergency Powers Act – put through have the right to “put our population
News items: erties can slip through our fingers. the Queen’s gardeners (as employees both houses of the British Parliament into house imprisonment.”
We must be insistent that powers of the Palace) to reveal the secrets of at breakneck speed – most of us were Some might call this the power of
pool@thecatholicuniverse.com
seized by governments are quickly re- the Queen’s compost heap or her blissfully unaware of the sweeping mass arrest.
All enquiries: turned to parliaments and people. It herb garden; or, more seriously, the powers in the obscure Public Health I doubt that this was the intention
too easily suits authorities to make governance and workings of a whole (Control of Disease) Act 1984. of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who
Tel: 0161 820 5722 permanent those powers taken “tem- raft of civil organisations and public Together, these laws provide pow- is recovering from his own battle with
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The Catholic Universe | Friday 8th May 2020 07
For extra news go to www.thecatholicuniverse.com News
clear how quickly a local police chief to be used by other organisations is a distinguished lawyers Martin Lee QC
can take on the appearance of an clear breach of civil liberties and the and Margaret Ng, who were among
Hard challenges ahead
overzealous Stasi operative. right to privacy. Take it to its logical the 15 pro-democracy leaders recent-
In Scotland, under the cloak of try- conclusion and violators will be sent ly arrested under the cover of COVID-
ing to protect citizens from COVID- to a reeducation center in Xinjiang. 19. Instead of sleepwalking, we need
for our Western powers
19, Nicola Sturgeon’s government Ask the Uighurs, Falun Gong, or oth- to be far more alert to the danger of
tried to suspend jury trials for 18 er religious and political dissenters. totalitarianism.
months. Senior lawyers warned that It is the job of parliaments to insist Authoritarians come in carpet slip-
once jury trials were ended, they that liberty and the rule of law do not pers – now bearing face masks and
would not be reinstated. become casualties of this epidemic ventilators – as well as in Type 99 Chi- William Kelly
The right to a jury trial, established In China, the coronavirus pandem- nese battle tanks.
in 1215 in Article 39 of Magna Carta, ic has produced heroes as well as vil- Yet many seem oblivious to the The news of China crushing
is a cornerstone of the British legal lains. One of the greatest heroes was dangers, distracted and over- opposition is nothing new
system and should be jealously ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, who whelmed by the pandemic. One in Western conversation.
guarded. In 1798, Thomas Jefferson tried to warn the world of the im- British newspaper poll suggested that Still, in the wake of the
told Thomas Paine that “I consider pending disaster. 86 percent of British people would be COVID-19 pandemic, some
trial by jury as the only anchor ever willing to give up civil liberties to political leaders around the
‘‘
yet imagined by man, by which a help beat coronavirus. world with authoritarian
government can be held to the prin- But there is a difference between ambitions have been handed
ciples of its constitution.” In 2020, are altruistically loaning the state powers a golden opportunity.
we really willing to kick away this that the people had wrested away
bedrock of our judicial system with-
There is a difference over centuries through great sacri-
Whilst stories of
Cantonese independence
out serious consideration for the between altruistically fice, and handing them back perma- advocates being arrested is
kind of society this would create? nently. Such powers restrict liberties
Of course, this is not the Reich or
loaning the state and freedoms bought with blood and
nothing new to us,
authoritarianism is now
Communist China. But the CCP powers that the people toil since the promulgation of Magna solidifying itself much
sneers at our liberal democracies and Carta.
tells us we must learn to be like them.
had wrested away over In The Plague, Albert Camus ex-
closer to home.
The Prime Minister of
To achieve that, it has a clear ideol- centuries through plored the effects of lockdown and Hungary, Viktor Orban,
ogy and strategy – everything from martial law on a grieving and demor-
controlling the World Health Organi-
great sacrifice, and alized population. That was fiction.
(pictured right), has this
week passed a ‘Coronavirus
zation and United Nations agencies handing them back Today, we can see the first signs of law’ that allows him to rule
to influencing and infiltrating nation- despondence, mental illness and
al assets such as universities. China
permanently. Such noncompliance. We see families
absolutely by decree.
What this means, when
owns British Steel, large swathes of powers restrict holed up in tenement blocks, without taking into account the
British industry and wants to control gardens, trying to cope with the con-
5G networks and the UK’s nuclear
liberties and freedoms finement of toddlers and young chil-
other checks and balances
he has also erased, is that
energy. bought with blood and dren. We see isolated elderly people, Viktor Orban is now effectively the ‘King of Hungary’.
China already owns 15 per cent of deprived of human contact without
the UK’s national debt, worth about
toil since the the tools of social media. They need
In theory this law could be repealed by the Hungarian Parliament,
but Orban’s party is in full control of the Parliament, so there is
267 billion pounds (a move from the promulgation of practical help, not the threat of fines actually no real possibility of loosening his grip on power.
same playbook of debt dependency it and jail; not the loss of precious hu-
is using to conquer and colonise
Magna Carta. man rights and liberties.
With Hungary being a member of the EU, this seismic shift could
have dire consequences across the rest of the union.
Africa). And look at how the Chinese Good governments may well be There is also a broader geopolitical crisis facing the traditional
used coronavirus to demonstrate He was forced to recant by the Chi- motivated to take bad powers in the Western powers. It has been claimed that Coronavirus in Asia has
their power and control of their pop- nese authorities and subsequently public interest. The danger for the fu- been contained, despite scientific warnings of a possible second wave.
ulation. died of COVID-19, along with three ture will be bad governments keeping Nations such as the Republic of China and South Korea have
We have not yet introduced China’s other doctors at his hospital in what they see as useful powers to ex- mercifully weathered the pandemic, and are in the same state of
Orwellian surveillance technology Wuhan. The CCP’s concealment, si- ert ever greater control of their own recovery as the People’s Republic of China (Taiwan) – and these
(although we helped develop it). lencing of opinion and dissent, and people. countries are now sending volunteers to more affected nations and
However, coming our way soon the repression of doctors trying to It is the job of parliaments – cur- are helping to fund research in the hopes of developing a vaccine.
will be the application that China re- save lives is a far more deadly disease rently missing in action – to insist But their fellow Western allies are still in limbo for the moment.
quires citizens to have on their than coronavirus itself. This is a that liberty and the rule of law do not As long as the lockdown in Europe and America persists the West
phones to be allowed to travel. lethal system and ideology which has become casualties of this epidemic: will be unable to respond to any new type of crisis that may develop.
The app is colour coded to show brought enormous suffering to the lost under the cloak of darkness. One prime recent example of our inability to respond to a ‘threat’
your medical condition. Without the world and, at last, all over the world, was the American NATO exercises that were scheduled for this March.
right code, citizens cannot use the from Left to Right, willful indifference • Professor the Lord Alton of Liver- It was to be the most massive troop deployment by the Americans
subway or enter many buildings. and naivety about the CCP is giving pool is an Independent Crossbench since the Cold War, consisting of 20,000 soldiers. The exercise was
Break the rule and the CCP will be way to a more hardheaded apprecia- Member of the House of Lords. cancelled in the wake of Europe’s lockdown. The actual presence of
sending their people to see you soon. tion of the dangers it poses. • This article first appeared on the troops in Europe wasn’t the aim of this deployment– the intention was
Giving the state the power to track We should be listening to Hong Geopolitical Intelligence Services to see how capable America was in deploying forces to support its
your location and enabling such data Kong’s pro-democracy protesters like website: www.gisreportsonline.com allies. The cancellation may have been due to exceptional
circumstances, but the fact remains American troops are in lockdown.
To some it may seem as if the West is faltering, but there is hope.
While we may not be able to force the People’s Republic of China to
stop its arrests of Western activists in Hong Kong, the Cantonese
people are doing well enough without our support. Even under the
emergency restrictions on free movement in Asia, protests have still
been staged – if not out in the streets of Hong Kong, then on the chat
rooms and online servers of the internet. The Cantonese may stand-
alone for now, but they are not without the West’s unwavering spirit to
fight against soul-destroying tyranny and despotic oppression.
Neither are the the people of Hungary without hope, as their
support for Viktor Orban comes from a desire to see their country
freed from EU rule. But Orban is walking a fine line. The parallels in
his political moves and rhetoric are uncannily similar to that of
another Hungarian dictator, Miklós Horthy.
The Hungarian people remember his name well, not for his
commitment to Hungary, but for his selling out to Hitler and the Nazi
Reich. We should also not forget that the spirit of liberty is strong in
Hungary – they were after all the first nation to break down the Iron
Curtain through their Pan-European Picnic, freeing themselves from
the enslavement of the Eastern Block to forge their own destiny.
But these lessons of history shouldn’t lull us into a false sense of
security. We are the ultimate safeguard of our principles, our families
and our future. If we so wish to preserve our way of life we must
stretch out the hand of liberty, to tell our fellow countrymen that it is
Wuhan, China: A citizen pays tribute to Dr Li Wenliang (inset) at Li’s hospital in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei the ambitions of insidious leaders that forsake a nation, not its people.
province on 7th February. Li, regarded a whistleblower on the pneumonia outbreak, had died of the novel coron-
avirus the previous night. (Image: © Shi Zhi/Utuku/Ropi via ZUMA Press)
08 For extra news go to www.thecatholicuniverse.com
Comment Follow the Catholic Universe on twitter @ukcatholicpress
Charitable
action? We must use virus’ legacy to
John
Battle
The Easter Alleluia hymn for
rebuild society for good of all
sit working on our respective lap-
morning prayer could not be more
tops, and I get my hour’s exercise on
prescient: ‘Then Life and Death
the newly installed treadmill.
together fought alleluia, each to a
We’re remarkably lucky and while
strange extreme were brought al-
we can’t guarantee that we won’t
leluia.’
Certainly the coronavirus pan-
Leon succumb, we count our blessings
demic is not allowing us to move Spence that our circumstances mean we are
less likely to than others.
too quickly through the Paschal
I’m certain that countless other
mysteries this year. Yet the Gospel
A few weeks ago, when it was first more fortunate people are contem-
message urges us to move forward.
announced that Prince Charles had plating their positions, too. Last
As scripture scholar Walter Bruegge-
contracted coronavirus, there was a week the world-renowned Eton Col-
mann reminds us in A Gospel of
predictable response in the media. lege revealed that it would be using
Hope: ‘The Easter miracles happen
Columnists and leader writers £100 million of its substantial chari-
here and there and the people of
opined that it was proof that the table endowment to help educate
God sign on for the mystery of
virus was ‘no respecter of privilege’, less advantaged children.
God’s transformative work. We
that ‘it just goes to show that anyone The school’s Headmaster, Simon
covet the moments when the
can succumb to this dreaded disease’. Henderson, said “Most private
power of death and injustice do
As with most things in life, such a school pupils will not see any signifi-
not prevail in the world. We bear
straightforward assertion seldom cant lasting harm from this crisis
witness to God's steadfast love’.
proves to be particularly accurate, and their academic trajectory will
Well before the pandemic broke
even when there is an element of continue, but that is not the case for
there was practical evidence of
truth to it. many children from less advantaged
that transformative work of Gospel
Inasmuch as any human can be and more vulnerable backgrounds,
action helping the homeless,
infected by coronavirus, of course it whose progress will flatline or
assisting asylum seekers and
is accurate to say it is ‘no respecter regress if they haven’t been in school
refugees, and providing support
of privilege’, but the same can also for many months, are living in
for food banks. Some of this work
be said of cancer or heart disease. cramped homes and don’t have ac-
was through traditional institutional
Where the statement finds itself cess to computers.”
charities such as the St Vincent De
departing from the real world is in As someone strongly against the
Paul Society. More often it was
the implication that we are all idea of ever bigger government and
through quiet, personal and gen-
equally at risk. The simple truth, and higher taxes, and someone who
erous action that kept these sup-
it is becoming more and more evident, would much prefer a levelling of the
portive services going. But the
is that we are not. playing field to come about through
necessary institutional support
Last week, data released by the personal responsibility and volun-
and funding in recent times of
Office for National Statistics revealed Artist Symon Mathieson stands next to a mural he painted in tribute tary contributions, it’s also abun-
austerity has proved difficult to to Captain Tom and the NHS on a garden shed in Dundee centre
that far from being an equal oppor- dantly clear that after this crisis is
sustain as charities and voluntary Photo: Jane Barlow/PA
tunity disease, you are far more over, a renewed focus on equality of
organisations have suffered from
likely to die from Coronavirus if you opportunity, if not outcome, is
lack of access to grants and core
live in a poorer area than a more af- will be the rate of increase that will Contrast that with families from needed throughout society.
funding. At times of increasing
fluent one. stand out. poorer backgrounds confined in There have been many compar-
need and demands, keeping going
As it stands at this point time, Without doing anything it’s per- small accommodation, or working isons between this crisis and the
has proved harder. The hollowing
there have been 25 deaths per fectly feasible that the ratio of in high risk, low pay public-facing Second World War, so let me make
out of local institutional commu-
100,000 of the population from deaths between poorer and wealth- jobs and you can see exactly where another one.
nity support with the demise of
coronavirus in more affluent areas. ier neighbourhoods could become 3 the disparity originates from. At the end of the Second World
community centres, tenants asso-
In poorer ones? The figure is more to 1, or even 4. The question has to be what, if War the country came together to
ciations and local charitable and
that doubled, at 55 deaths per Contemplate the reality. If you are anything, needs to be done to rem- rebuild, both physically and in the
voluntary organisations has often
100,000. wealthy you are much likely to be edy that difference and whose re- public services that we rely upon.
led to school and churches as the
Those numbers only serve to mir- able to comply fully with guidelines sponsibility is it? While the physical damage is in
only means of coming together.
ror the wider truth that death rates established for social distancing, for My own family isn’t particularly no way commensurate, we do need
Without doubt the personal re-
from all causes are much higher if keeping us safe. You’re much more wealthy but we are all acutely con- to consider how our society works
sponse to the coronavirus lock
you are poor. likely to be working in a white collar scious that there are a great many and how it can deliver for all; that
down crisis has been one of gener-
And the reality is that those fig- job which you can do at home, people wh are far worse off than us. needs to be the legacy of coron-
ous individual commitment.
ures, that divide, is only likely to you’re more likely to have your own We’re fortunate to have a decent-size avirus above all else.
Spontaneous food banks have
worsen. While as a discrete disease it private garden, or a cross trainer on home where we can live without be-
sprung up in place such as St Vin-
stands to reason that both the upper which you can exercise in your own ing on top of one another, my wife Leon is a writer, political
cent’s Centre in Leeds. Some local
and lower figure can only increase, it private gym. and I have never been busier as we commentator and charity trustee
councils have reorganised quickly,
setting up community hubs for
collection and distribution in con-
junction with local charities.
But these are temporary, quick
response stop gaps which do not
Do we really need to tell tales?
means test or assess need, and Last week it was revealed that since something of a top-up to try and those trips were to provide care and more than the recommended daily
which are not sustainable or restrictions commenced, 200,000 get the ‘stay at home’ message into support to vulnerable people. exercise for their mental health.
funded for the long term. In other calls have been made by members their brains! Right now, people are worried. Here’s a novel idea. Instead of
words, the generous individual re- of the public to the police, What that points to is an awful That’s an entirely understandable reporting your neighbours why not
sponse to calls for help are not a reporting our neighbours for lot of calls where neighbours are state of mind, and many are ask them if they need any help? If
substitute for the necessary longer transgressing. shopping each other to the police resorting to reporting neighbours you’re close enough to be keeping
term transformational action Reasons include neighbours for what are often trivial and when there is a perception that tabs on them, then you’re certainly
which requires the rebuilding of having parties, exercise being taken baseless transgression – for they are transgressing. close enough to shout an offer of
institutional frameworks of sup- too frequently or people going to example, there is no concept in the The question is, ‘should you really help over the garden fence!
port in local communities – and in work when their job isn’t regulations of an ‘essential’ or be phoning the police without Who knows, it might foster a
this is a role for parishes. ‘essential’. ‘non-essential’ job. talking to your neighbour first?’ better relationship with them
Things will not be the same as At the same time the police have Last week I heard of a care In all likelihood there is a rather than them wondering who
the pandemic subsides but nor issued only 9,000 fines, of which worker whose vehicle had been plausible explanation. The vast reported them to cops and you
should they be. We need to move half were to people who already vandalised because she had been majority of us are complying with constantly worrying about how they
from individual generosity to sus- have convictions for serious taking too many trips out. She was guidelines; many of those popping might try and get back at you.
tained structural supportive work. offences; in essence, many are new to the area, kept herself to out may be supporting elderly It’s sometimes easier, and is usually
being dished out to burglars as herself, and no one knew that all of relatives, others might be taking far more productive, just to talk.
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