Church in the World

Drought hits Palm Sunday

Australia

Australia's drought is depriving parishes in New South Wales of palms for Palm Sunday services and forcing them to come up with alternatives, such as making them out of paper, writes Mark Brolly.

The parish secretary of St Patrick's in Sutherland, Gayle Anderson, said the lack of palms from usual sources had helped bring home the seriousness of the drought to the parish, on Sydney's southern fringe.

Mrs Anderson said that checks with the neighbouring dioceses of Wollongong and Parramatta revealed shortages there, too. "We take it for granted that the palms will be there but it's a profound lesson for us all," Mrs Anderson said. She said the parish was considering asking parishioners to bring their own.

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