New Zealand

St John Paul’s NZ chair has a few secrets to keep Comments 0

CHAIR

A chair was especially constructed for St John Paul to use during his visit to New Zealand in 1986. The fact that a Protestant was the first person to use it is a source of quiet amusement for the man who constructed it. Upholsterer Colin Loach tells how he put the very large chair in Read more

Dumping: Just a few can’t tell a landfill from an Op Shop Comments 0

dumping

“It’s not all good, but there is a lot of good.” says Mike Rolton Hamilton’s St Vincent de Paul manager. It appears that while a few don’t know the difference between a landfill and a charity Op Shop, the Vinnies in Hamilton say the good outweighs the bad by a country mile. Last month TVNZ Read more

Pacific

Scores of Indonesian priests quit in protest Comments 0

Scores of Indonesian priests quit their posts after accusing a bishop on the Catholic majority island of Flores of embezzling more than US$100,000 of church funds for personal use. At least 69 priests from Ruteng Diocese submitted letters of resignation this week and demanded that Bishop Hubertus Leteng heed their calls for a complete overhaul Read more

Samoa’s status as Christian State has potential to increase tension Comments 0

christian state

The stated reason given for making Samoa a Christian state is to avoid religious tensions. But a political analyst, Grant Wyeth, says the change has the potential to actually create religious tensions. Samoa is no longer a secular state after its Parliament voted on bill which amends the Constitution to officially declare itself as a Christian nation. Read more

Opinion

Homelessness has many faces Comments 0

The first thing I noticed was his Mercedes. It was only when he got closer that I realised he was also wearing a pretty expensive-looking suit. We don’t see the likes of — well, let’s call him ‘John’ — coming Read more

Things the Book of Proverbs taught me about marriage Comments 0

I’ve only been married for four months, so I have a lot to learn about the sacrament. I’ve read countless blogs, listened to podcasts, watched videos and picked through my library’s section on marriage advice. I’ve dug into the Bible Read more

Mission Centre – school and parish administration in one shared building, Comments 0

On Sunday May 28th people from St Joseph’s school and parish in Hawera gathered for the opening of a new Mission Centre. The Mission Centre is a unique venture for the Diocese of Palmerston North. It combines the school and parish administration areas in one shared building. The school and parish secretaries work alongside each Read more


  • Features

  • Catholics in China: perseverance under Peter

    “We cannot command our final perseverance, but must ask it of God.” — St. Thomas Aquinas “St. Peter is the leader of the choir, the mouth of the apostles and the head of that tribe, the leader of the world, the foundation of the Church, and the ardent lover of Christ.” — St. John Chrysostom Few issues Read more

  • Would married priests fix the shortage?

    In 1970, there was one priest for every 800 Catholics in the United States. Today, that number has more than doubled, with one priest for every 1,800 Catholics. Globally, the situation is worse. The number of Catholics per priest increased from 1,895 in 1980 to 3,126 in 2012, according to a report from CARA at Read more

  • World

  • Four dubia cardinals publish text of letter to Pope Comments 6

    The four so-called dubia cardinals, who have been asking Pope Francis to clarify the doctrinal consequences of Amoris Laetitia, asked him for an audience in May. Francis has not answered their request or replied to the letter. They released a copy of their letter to the press. The letter was written by Cardinal Carlo Caffarra Read more

  • Social housing queue slower for Northern Ireland’s Catholics Comments 0

    Accessing social housing takes Catholics in Northern Ireland six months longer than Protestants, a newly released study  says. Where Protestants wait about nine months to be placed in social housing, Catholics wait 15 months on average, the report from the Equality Commission says. The report – ‘Statement on Key Inequalities in Housing and Communities in Read more

  • Gangs terrorising Catholics while cops look away Comments 0

    Gangs of youths are terrorising Catholics in north-east Vietnam and the police are turning a blind eye. Wearing red T-shirts with yellow stars and waving national flags, the gangs have been attacking Catholics and their property since the beginning of June. “The primary motivation behind the incidents is to pressurise local Catholics and the deanery Read more

  • Vatican’s auditor general quits suddenly Comments 0

    The Vatican’s first ever auditor general, Italian financier Libero Milone, has resigned. He has not given any reasons for his unexpected departure from the post, which he has held for just two years. His role was to help ensure transparency in the Vatican’s finances. In a statement, the Vatican said: “It is noted that Doctor Read more

  • V8s for vocations – Priest’s garage gang fundraiser Comments 0

    Doing up V8s started out as way of fundraising for seminary education. Then, somewhere amidst the spanners, “V8s for Vocations” became a unique form of evangelization. It all started when mechanic-turned-priest Father Matthew Keller gathered together a “Garage Gang” of classic car aficionados. Between them, they restored a “muscle car“, which they raffled in an Read more