I am a young Catholic writing to you from Melbourne, Australia about how coronavirus has impacted our lives here in the Land Down Under.

I have been reading your articles for a while now and have enjoyed your commentary on world affairs and the challenges faced by Christians in the west. I thought the Benedict Option was excellent, and am constantly recommending it to others. However, I initially felt you were excessive in your assessment of the danger posed by the coronavirus earlier this year, when the virus was largely contained to China. At the time when you were posting letters talking of Chinese people dying in the streets, Australia only had sporadic cases from people returning from overseas and it seemed like a distant problem that wouldn’t affect us. Certainly like many westerners, we assumed such an outbreak could never happen in a western country, considering how ‘good’ our health system and quarantine regimes are. How proud and arrogant we were!

Eventually, in early March, I started buying the occasional extra foodstuff when I went shopping, just in case ‘fearmongers’ like you were right. I think I started taking coronavirus seriously about a week before the rest of Australia, managing to stockpile enough spare food to last for two weeks. Soon enough, the realisation hit that Australia was losing control of the virus, as more cases popped up connected to people fleeing COVID-19 hot spots, followed by the first ‘community outbreak’ in Sydney. People began to panic buy toilet paper and other things, leading to empty shelves and anxiety about supply.

In mid-March, myself and my wife developed mild flu-like symptoms, and I was tested for coronavirus. We were told to self-isolate until my results came back. We feared for our health and quickly the realisation dawned on us of how fragile human life can be. Blessedly, the symptoms peaked at a mild level and disappeared fairly quickly. 

At that time results took 5-6 days to come back, as Australia scrambled to get on top of the flood of tests which began to come in around that time. We waited over a week to be told that my test sample was lost, which I was assured was ‘rare’. We self-isolated for a total of 2 weeks (lucky we had that stockpile of food!), and the world had changed dramatically when we came out. People were wearing masks at the shops, offices had switched to working from home, sports were played in front of empty stadiums (before being cancelled all together) and popular parks and beaches are shut. Australia was effectively in total lock down. Indeed, our government has mandated that you must be isolated for two weeks directly after entering the country and most states have similar rules for interstate travellers. Western Australia has even restricted travel between different regions of the state!

Luckily for Australia, our government placed restrictions on Chinese travellers very early (January), despite calls of racism from the Left (we also went through a phase where much of the coronavirus coverage focused on racism). They also implemented lock down measures with decent cooperation between state and federal governments just before things could have got really bad. Case numbers are dropping off and it seems like Australia has avoided that dangerous first wave that Europe and the US are experiencing. For this we are extremely grateful, especially as I am immuno-compromised (hence why I was quite worried about my sniffles and got tested for COVID!). The national conversation has now shifted to what happens from here, how the country can open up again without a second wave happening.

 

My wife and I now spend all day together, both working from home, longing for the time that we can see family and friends again. While we are still enjoying the relative novelty of marriage, tensions can flare from the stress of being around the same person 24/7 and no one else. Our morning and evening walks through our suburb provide us with a chance to wind down and stretch our legs. At times it feels these brief periods of exercise is all that is keeping us sane. 

 

Our social and religious calendars have had to adapt. We have already watched one friend’s wedding online and missed another. Our regular Sunday Mass attendance has switched to watching online after public Masses were cancelled (with the support of our Bishops – indeed Australia has not had any major religious leaders resist government orders to stop public religious services). Surprisingly, I have found online Mass to be quite spiritually fulfilling, almost as if I was there. Something about praying those familiar prayers and the rhythm of the liturgy is very grounding in this difficult time. Certainly, our smiles were beaming as the Gloria blasted from our TV on Easter Vigil and it was still a joyous moment for us. Christ is risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

Considering the effects on the Australian Catholic Church, I am quite optimistic. Sometimes it appears that our pews are full of heterodox ‘cultural’ Catholics, typically older as their children have abandoned the Church all together. Perhaps this time of upheaval will break the habits many of them have of attending Mass or parish activities and they will not return after this is over. While the loss of souls is sad, I think it may give more room within the Church for the faith to be preached in its fullness without the same resistance from within. Additionally, I am seeing people search for meaning in their life now that they are faced with a global catastrophe, so perhaps that flame will be re-lit for some of the lukewarm or the heterodox. Certainly, even for those more invested in their faith, the forced retreat they are on may lead to some kind of spiritual renewal. Finally, I am seeing so many parishes put a lot more effort into online resources, which of course cannot replace physical services but can be useful in supplementing it (for example, it may be impossible for me to attend daily Mass, but now I can listen to it online while I am at work).

Looking overseas, it is interesting to contrast how Australians have generally been willing to fall in line behind quite draconian measures in comparison to the stories we hear in the USA. Yes, there has been a bit of grumbling in Australia, certainly around arbitrary laws such as the criminalisation of ‘driving without direction’ (going for a drive just to get out of the house with no intention of getting out of the car is a breach of the lockdown laws), or the apparent inconsistencies of ‘boot camps’ and hairdressers being allowed to remain open whilst national parks are closed. However, both sides of politics have been fairly unified in their messaging and most people are taking the restrictions seriously even if some are reluctant. It’s fascinating to see the protests in Michigan (‘Operation Gridlock’) in reaction to a Stay Home order, the reluctance to close state borders or the partisan divide over how strict lockdown laws should be. Perhaps I do not understand the subtleties of the American situation, but I’d be interested to know if you think the American emphasis on personal independence and ‘freedom’ has exacerbated the crisis in the US in a way that perhaps has not happened elsewhere?

Please know that our prayers are with you all in America as well as other nations facing this catastrophe.