New Zealand

SNAP wants in on Dunedin Diocese commercial agreement Comments 0

Two survivor groups are at acrimonious odds over the Dunedin diocese’s commercial agreement for helping abuse survivors. In March, the diocese struck a memorandum of understanding with the Male Survivors of Aotearoa (MSA) support group. The document details the process where abuse survivors are referred to MSA, which in turn will help survivors access counselling Read more

Abortion law rushed and undemocratic Comments 0

Andrew Little undemocratic behaviour

Submitters to the Parliamentary committee on abortion legislation are accusing Justice Minister, Andrew Little of undemocratic behaviour; rushing through liberalised abortion laws. They are angry their voices are denied a hearing by the special Select Committee taking public input on his Abortion Legislation Bill. Committee chair, Ruth Dyson, Wednesday, announced the committee would only hear Read more

Analysis and Comment

Women insist that equality should mean the right to vote Comments 0

Catholic women attending the summit of bishops at the Vatican on the Amazon region praised the climate of inclusivity and openness ushered in by Pope Francis but insisted that equality demands they also have a right to vote. “As many other religious women, we believe we have come to the point that our superior generals Read more

John Henry Newman: The harmony of difference Comments 0

John Henry Newman

When Pope Francis canonises Cardinal John Henry Newman tomorrow, the first Briton to be declared a saint in over forty years, it will be a cause of celebration not merely in the United Kingdom, and not merely for Catholics, but for all who cherish the values by which he was inspired. In the age when Read more

Australians ask NZ Bishops for help settling asylum seekers Comments 0

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

Amazon: One priest per 25,000 square kilometers Comments 0

Deep in the Amazon forest, young couples looking to wed or baptize children often turn to Sister Alba, who fills in where Catholic priests cannot be found. But in many remote areas, there are not even enough nuns to go around, and it is laywomen who play a key role in the evangelization of indigenous Read more

Big Sleep Out: Petone highlights homeless Comments 0

Big Sleep Out

People living on New Zealand streets are being spotlighted by New Zealand’s Big Sleep Out, hosted, December 7 in Petone. “The homelessness situation (in New Zealand) is a little different to what is happening overseas. “It’s people living in overcrowded houses, cars and garages – not so much people out on the streets (though) there’s plenty of Read more

  • World

  • Prosecutors respond to jailed George Pell’s appeal bid Comments 0

    Victoria’s Office of Public Prosecutions has filed a summary of their argument against jailed cardinal George Pell’s “special leave to appeal” application. The director of public prosecutions, Kerri Judd QC, has challenged Pell’s grounds to appeal to the High Court. Background December 2018: Pell found guilty in the County Court of Victoria on five charges Read more

  • To oppose the pope is to be outside the Church Comments 0

    People who oppose the pope put themselves outside the Church, says Cardinal Robert Sarah. “The truth is that the Church is represented on earth by the vicar of Christ, that is by the pope. “And whoever is against the pope is, ipso facto, outside the Church,”. In 2014 Francis appointed Sarah as prefect of the Read more

  • John Newman should be a Doctor of the Church Comments 0

    St John Henry Newman, who was canonised on Sunday along with four others, should be considered a Doctor of the Church. He should rank alongside early Christianity’s great thinkers, Cardinal Marc Ouellet says. Ouellet, who is the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and a respected theologian, told the 20,000-strong crowd at the canonistaion that Read more

  • The four women canonized with Newman Comments 0

    Four women were canonized on Sunday at the same time as St John Henry Newman. The four included stigmatists, a mystic, a Roman orphan and a Nobel Peace prize nominee. Mother Mariam Thresia (1876-1926) was an Indian mystic and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family. Her prayer life was characterized by frequent ecstasies Read more

  • Church ‘can’t sacralize, nor Satanize’ every indigenous practice Comments 0

    The Church “cannot sacralize every indigenous thing, nor can we Satanize it,” Brazilian Bishop Wilmar Santin said at a press conference about the synod on the Amazon. Other speakers included Colombian Bishop Medardo de Jesús Henao Del Río and Colombian Sister Gloria Liliana Franco Echeverri. Santin said many Amazon-region Catholics are defecting to other churches Read more