Aotearoa New Zealand’s Catholic bishops are seeking an artist to create artwork commemorating Bishop Jean-Baptiste Pompallier’s 1838 dedication of the country to Mary the Mother of Jesus. The bishops’ National Liturgy Office has begun advertising for an artist who will create a work incorporating Mary for a special commemoration next August 15, the Feast Day Read more
Thousands of migrant workers caught out in New Zealand by the spread of Covid-19 have found themselves in challenging circumstances. On Sunday, the Catholic bishops of New Zealand want Catholic communities to reflect on the plight of these migrant workers. 21 June, is the annual Day of Prayer for Refugees and Migrants and the theme Read more
Michael Gielen was ordained and installed as auxiliary bishop of Auckland on Saturday. More than 3,000 filled the Vodafone Events Centre. The events centre was needed because so many people wanted to attend, the cathedral was not big enough. Bishop Michael was ordained to be his long-needed assistant by Bishop Pat Dunn, Bishop of Auckland. Read more
Our unborn babies will lose their legal rights if Parliament passes the Abortion Legislation Bill in the form proposed by a select committee, New Zealand’s Catholic bishops say. Their existing rights are already tenuous, the bishops note. The legislation offers infants with foetal disabilities even less protection than they have under the current law. Speaking Read more
Last month I joined with Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) to speak at a series of public forums around the country to discuss the future for asylum seekers who remain in limbo in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. So far I have spoken in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart and Launceston, Adelaide, Perth and Benalla in Read more
The final requiem mass for Bishop Len Boyle was celebrated in St Mary’s Basilica in Invercargill last Thursday. It was attended by A crowd of several hundred people – many of whom spilled out into the foyer. Clergy from throughout Southland, Otago, New Zealand and Australia were in attendance at the mass, as was Invercargill Read more
Dunedin’s St Joseph Cathedral was packed with people paying respects to Emeritus Bishop Len Boyle. Boyle, who was the fifth bishop of the diocese of Dunedin, died on June 1. A requiem mass – held at St Joseph Cathedral – featured Catholic bishops from around New Zealand. The Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, the former Read more
New Zealand’s bishops have produced a pastoral letter on Mercy in which Catholics are asked to give themselves generously to the sacrament of Reconciliation. The letter, titled, “Be Merciful“, notes the interest in the jubilee Year of Mercy throughout the Catholic world. The bishops state that “as a way of life, mercy directs our outlook Read more