As the year ends, 30-year-old pastor Patrick Donohoe singles out one ‘cool’ part of COVID: ‘you can’t avoid the hard conversations that Australians love to avoid’. michaelfowler08 Christmas2021 CovidChristmas religion Christianity
As a young man of faith, Patrick Donohoe thrives on the shared energy of a church service.
This Christmas represents a chance to reflect on how the suffering inflicted by the pandemic has shored up many Christians’ faith, he says. “In this sort of crisis, where you see so many sick people, it challenges you to do two things. One is to access the presence of God within yourself,” says Professor Thien, who describes himself as a Catholic with a broad spiritual perspective.
In Victoria, the proportion of Catholics dropped from 26.7 per cent in 2011 to 23.2 per cent in 2016 but it was the state’s most popular active faith with almost 1.4 million adherents. “But I have always thought COVID has not only been a thing of change but also one of revelation. It has revealed to us where our circumstances are. Even where there is great difficulty, strains and stresses, we have this gift of hope into our world that is of Jesus Christ.”
The next federal election, due by May next year, opens up questions about Australia’s purpose and what sort of society it wants to be, Archbishop Freier says.
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