New Zealand

Jewish organisations donate $1M to Mosque attack victims Comments 0

Jewish organisations donate

Jewish community leaders joined Muslim officials in Christchurch on Wednesday, to hand over 1.1 million dollars raised for the victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks. The Jewish community has asked that some of the donated money is used for interfaith activities to foster a greater connection between the Jewish and Muslim communities. “Our faith has Read more

The Holy Family Palestinian refugees says Green MP Comments 0

Holy Family Palestinian refugees

Green MP Golriz Ghahraman has expressed the opinion that Mary and her husband Joseph were Palestinian refugees. Last Thursday Ghahraman posted a tweet: “They were literally Palestinian refugees. “And she (Mary) normally had her hair covered because that’s what modesty looked like in her culture…but let’s keep fighting about what race mermaids are.” She had Read more

Analysis and Comment

Becoming during the first nine months Comments 0

Peter Cullinane

When you were conceived, there were millions of sperm competing to fertilize a waiting ovum. One did so. Every other combination of sperm and ovum would have been a different person. The one moment in the whole history of the universe when any of them could have come into existence passed at that moment. They Read more

Why Pope Francis’ focus on mission makes Catholics uncomfortable Comments 0

It is no secret that Pope Francis is getting pushback from certain corners of the church these days. The church in the United States has been infected by the same harshness and polarization that inflame our politics. Our faith is challenged by ongoing polemics between Catholics labeled progressive and conservative. The due reverence afforded the papacy Read more

Germany’s electric vehicles emit more Carbon Dioxide than diesel vehicles Comments 0

electric vehicle

A study by the IFO think tank in Munich found that electric vehicles in Germany emit 11 – 28 percent more carbon dioxide than their diesel counterparts. The study considered the production of batteries as well as the German electricity mix in making this determination. Germany spent thousands of euros on electric car subsidies per Read more

Why the euthanasia bill doesn’t go far enough Comments 0

euthanasia

Please don’t kill me. That was my first reaction to the End of Life Choice Bill that the polls show most of the population agrees with. Of course, although I’m in my mid-sixties, I’m reasonably hale and hearty and surrounded by people I know and love in a warm house by the sea. I am Read more

Kids in cages: You can help Comments 0

kids in cages

New Zealanders tend to think there is little they can do about the detention of “kids in cages” on the southern borders of the United States. “But there’s actually a bunch of things you can do, even from here. We need not feel powerless,” says Thalia Kehoe Rowden writing in The Spinoff. “Here are some Read more

  • Oddly

    • Killer not responsible because he smoked weed

      A Muslim man who killed his Jewish neighbour in Paris while shouting about Allah. He is probably not criminally responsible for his actions because he had smoked marijuana beforehand, a French judge ruled. Continue reading

  • World

  • Law passed to chemically castrate paedophiles Comments 0

    The Ukraine government has passed new sex abuse legislation that clears the way for paedophiles to be chemically castrated, jailed for lengthier periods and monitored for life. The castration process – which is confined to offenders aged between 18 and 65 – will involve “coercive chemical castration” by injecting anti-androgen drugs to reduce libido and Read more

  • Vatican’s green plastic revolution Comments 0

    In an effort to expand the Vatican’s green environmental stance, the city state has decided not to sell any single-use plastic items after its current supplies run out. Single-use plastic include bags, water bottles, cutlery, straws and balloons. The top five single-use plastic items polluting Europe are cigarette butts, bottles and caps, food packaging, cotton Read more

  • Church to build 5,000-plus solar power panel array Comments 0

    The largest independent social services agency in the District of Columbia (DC) region, Catholic Charities, is about to build DC’s biggest ground-based solar array. Once built, Catholic Charities says the 2-megawatt array will be the biggest project approved in DC. The project’s benefits look promising. Consisting of 5,000-plus panels, the array will provide enough renewable Read more

  • Facebook called out for St Augustine quote hate speech decision Comments 0

    Social media giant Facebook ran into determined opposition after describing a St Augustine quote as “hate speech” and removing it from its site. Domenico Bettinelli, a pro-life activist from Massachusetts, immediately wrote a blog post about Facebook taking down the Divine Office passage. Facebook had said it took it down because it violated Facebook’s “Community Read more

  • US and Iran tensions could catch Iraq in the middle Comments 0

    The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch is concerned rising tensions between the United States and Iran could see Iraq caught in the middle of a potential conflict. Cardinal Louis Sako says it has also made a proposed visit by Pope Francis to Iraq next year uncertain. Sako also says Iraq’s Christians are struggling. Their ancestral lands were Read more