New Zealand

St Mary’s College student assaulted at school Comments 0

St Mary’s College, Wellington, has put extra staff on duty after a student was assaulted in the school grounds last Thursday. The assault was carried out by a former St Mary’s student. Parents and caregivers were officially told about the incident through an email from the school last Friday afternoon. The email said the current Read more

Olive Leaf Church design stirs up Central Otago Comments 0

A proposed design for an Olive Leaf Church – so named because of its shape – has been rejected. The controversial design by Central Otago architect Fred Van Brandenburg will be decided by the pblic in May. The proposal has split the Central Otago town of Arrowtown, attracting 369 submissions last year. One-hundred-and-fifty opposed the Read more

Analysis and Comment

It is time to ask, formally, for married priests and woman deacons Comments 0

married priests

Pope Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation is only the beginning of the story. As church conservatives and progressives take to the internet and supposed neutral writers enter their own spins, everyone is forgetting about the forest and the trees. It is about the Amazon Basin, not about married priests or women deacons. Except it is. There Read more

Reconciling good and evil of Jean Vanier? Comments 0

Colleen Dulle

I keep a photo of Jean Vanier on my desk. It is painful to look at today. I’ve written almost completely uncritically about the founder of L’Arche several times at America: I called him a “revered spiritual master and prophetic voice” whose messages “always bear repeating” in a review of his last book; I wrote Read more

Democrats lost white Christians. Can they win them back? Comments 0

democrats

In the lead-up to the 2020 election, Democratic candidates and party officials have worked hard to counter the narrative that their party has a “religion problem.” They’ve hired faith outreach directors, met with religious activists and courted the votes of people of a wide range of faith groups throughout the Democratic primary season. But experts Read more

This Syrian Catholic priest was kidnapped and tortured by ISIS. He still has hope in humanity. Comments 0

isis

It became clear that I would need to follow the Rev. Jacques Mourad around all day. To the kitchen, where he was preparing kebab with eggplants or demonstrating how to cut onions just so or washing dishes. To the chapel, where he was picking away wax collecting on candle holders. To the classrooms, where he Read more

PNG urged to discuss Manus Island refugees with NZ govt Comments 0

Papua New Guinea (PNG) should discuss resettling Manus Island refugees in New Zealand, says the Catholic Church in PNG. The general secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG, Giorgio Licini, wrote to PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape in January about this. In the letter Licini reminded Marape of New Zealand’s long standing offer to Read more

  • Oddly

    • Police escort young man dressed like Jesus out of Mass

      After talking to the young man Gina Christian says: “I could only marvel at how closely the young man resembled popular depictions of Jesus. The long curls and beard; the large, expressive eyes; the earnest demeanour — all swirled into a nagging possibility at that late hour in the chapel: ‘Lord, is it really You?'”  Read more

  • World

  • L’Arche founder Jean Vanier accused of sex abuse Comments 0

    L’Arche founder Jean Vanier has been accused of sexual misconduct. The allegations follow months of investigation into the man praised by popes and politicians for his humanitarian work in establishing a global network of institutions serving adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. The accusations involve six women of various “ages, geographic origin and status – Read more

  • Teen beatified, others canonised, martyred, heroically virtuous Comments 0

    A teen has been beatified, a martyr and a missionary will be canonised, a priest and two lay companions recognised as martyrs and three priests’ and an engineer’s heroic virtues as Servants of God have been approved. Venerable Carlo Acutis The teenager, computer geek and leukemia victim will be beatified. The Medical Council of the Read more

  • Coronavirus sees Catholics told not to touch Cross on Good Friday Comments 0

    Coronavirus concerns are seeing Catholics being told not to touch or kiss the Cross during veneration on Good Friday. In the Philippines, updated liturgical guidelines issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference and posted on Twitter step up the precautionary measures the Conference announced in January. With the addition of the latest decree – that during Read more

  • Australian bishops’ conference head in Rome before plenary council Comments 0

    The head of the Australian bishops’ conference, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, is in Rome for high-level discussions before the Church in Australia’s first plenary council since Vatican II. The plenary council is set to begin in Adelaide October. During his two-week trip to Rome, Coleridge will meet with senior curial figures and Pope Francis. They will Read more

  • Pius XII’s wartime archives on Holocaust opening Comments 0

    Pope Pius XII’s wartime archives will be opened, the Vatican has announced. This will enable scholars to probe accusations that Pius turned a blind eye to the Holocaust. They will find he helped Jews behind the scenes, Holy See officials say. “I don’t think you will find a smoking gun,” Father Norbert Hofmann, the top Read more