2009

+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
27 Dec 2009

Does God flex his muscles once in a while, when we are becoming too big for our boots?

There was a wonderful irony as early unseasonal snow storms in Europe and North America covered Copenhagen at the conclusion of the huge jamboree on global warming.  After being rebuffed and outpointed by the Chinese, President Obama had to leave early so that he could land before the storms closed the U.S. airports.

Everyone was disappointed except the sceptics who are unsure direct links have been established between human activity and climate change.

On a happier note all Australians received a wonderful Christmas present with the Vatican news that a second miracle for Mary MacKillop had been approved.  This clears the way for Pope Benedict to canonize St. Mary of the Cross.  We hope it will be later rather than earlier next year so that appropriate celebrations can be organized.

2009 also saw Australia escape recession, one of only a few Western countries to achieve this.  The huge stimulus package has worked, while the fact that the economy enjoyed very little growth in the last quarter seemed to justify claims the package was not too big, as critics were suggesting.

The leaders of the St. Vincent de Paul Society told me of an increase in requests for help, some from people outside the predictable quarters.  More people are hurting despite our comparative good fortune.  I hope their Christmas celebrations were not too constrained.

Every primary school in Australia, including the Catholic schools, is receiving new school buildings in the B.E.R. programme.  By any standards this is a big help and one unusual consequence is that in the Sydney archdiocese the bishops face the prospect of an extra 150 school blessing ceremonies in the next eighteen months!  One archdiocesan school hall is already complete.  Was this the first in Australia?

2009 began with terrible bushfires in Victoria and floods in Queensland, which is not an unusual pattern in Australian history.  The water storages of all capital cities except Melbourne are now adequate, but drought continues in much of country N.S.W. and the Murray-Darling river system is a disaster.

The dust storms in September reminded us that the summer could bring, not surprises, but unpleasant developments.

Nonetheless prospects for 2010 look good as Australia does not have crippling debts like Britain and the United States.

Happy New Year to all.