Posts Tagged ‘Social justice’

Rethinking social justice

Thursday, September 14th, 2023
Social justice

The recent Women’s Football World Cup, with its acting-out of the Enlightenment values of liberty, equality and fraternity, was a delightful patch of blue sky among more ominous dark clouds. The fires and floods in the Northern Hemisphere have emphasised the threat of climate change to people’s lives throughout the world. They foreshadow the future. Read more

Migrant exploitation shamefully exposed

Monday, September 4th, 2023
Migrant exploitation

Migrant exploitation and its prevention are current concerns for Immigration New Zealand (INZ). The concern follows media exposure of numerous shameful examples of migrant workers coming to New Zealand and finding themselves without work, money or suitable accommodation. On Monday, INZ said it had received 711 complaints against accredited employers, with 154 being investigated for Read more

Working for Families review – is this the best we can expect?

Monday, August 28th, 2023
Working for Families

For the last two decades critics have seen Working for Families (WFF) as discriminatory, poorly designed, far too complex and woefully ineffective in addressing the worst child poverty. In 2004, CPAG explained what was so wrong in a publication called Cut Price Kids and has been campaigning to fix WFF ever since. After the WEAG Read more

Parish housing trust born in midst of housing crisis

Monday, July 17th, 2023
St Joseph's parish

Born in the midst of a housing crisis, the St Joseph’s Parish Environment Justice and Peace Group founded The Upper Hutt Housing Trust. Starting with only $10 in the bank, the transformed Housing Trust now manages 31 rental spaces, housing 110 individuals across 41 households. It also owns its first property. Emboldened by their mission, Read more

Laudato Si’ deserves our attention

Thursday, May 25th, 2023
Laudato Si'

Perhaps you are wondering, “What is Laudato Si’ Week?” And for that matter, what does Laudato Si’ mean? Laudato Si’ is medieval Italian for “Praise be to you.” It is a quote from St. Francis of Assisi’s beautiful Canticle of the Creatures: “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains Read more

Lack of pastoral care for migrant bus drivers pushes credibility

Thursday, April 20th, 2023
migrant bus drivers

The pastoral care of Filipino migrant bus drivers who responded to an international recruitment campaign is being questioned. The article highlighting their plight has been pulled from the NZ Herald’s website. On Wednesday, Wellington NZ Herald reporter, Georgina Campbell, reported that migrant bus drivers have been brought to the Capital and are being put up Read more

Religion and hip-hop may seem like odd bedfellows

Monday, March 6th, 2023

Alejandro Nava, professor of Religious Studies at the University of Arizona,  says he is unsure if it was hip-hop or a curiosity for religious questions that first prompted his interest in human rights and social justice. Hip-hop has almost always prioritised the knowledge, experience and artistic expressions of the poor and disenfranchised, he says. Read Read more

Globally groundbreaking NZ bishops

Monday, October 17th, 2022

The new pastoral guidelines concerning gender and sexuality are “groundbreaking”, says New Ways Ministry’s Robert Shine. Primarily targeting Catholic educators, “Aroha and Diversity in Catholic Schools” is the opposite of so many policies which have harmed students and upset school communities in recent years, Shine comments. The document clearly shows the bishops’ core concern is Read more

Monte Cecilia’s CEO will be missed

Monday, August 15th, 2022
Monte Ceclilia's outgoing CEO

It’s time to farewell Monte Cecilia’s outgoing CEO Bernie Smith. Smith told CathNew he is leaving on Wednesday. The Catholic housing trust has been flooded with messages since Smith announced his resignation last month. It’s clear he’ll be missed. Big time. Smith is modest about his involvement with the Trust. “Empowering the disempowered, housing the Read more

Fledgling social justice movement connects young Catholics

Monday, July 4th, 2022
fledgling movement

A fledgling movement of social justice and environmentally conscious young Catholics is emerging in Europe. Among the movement is a group of doctoral students and young activists in Belgium. In common with young people in other countries, they’re concerned about the various crises the institutional Church is facing. It is also intended to oppose the Read more