New Zealand

His dad’s a Mongrel Mob member, he is a doctor Comments 0

doctor

Growing-up around the gang – his father and several uncles were members – was a “normal” part of his childhood says Jordan Tewhaiti-Smith (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngā Puhi). He was one of 39 Māori medical graduands who took part in a pre-graduation ceremony last Friday at the University of Otago. He is about to Read more

Graduation at Māori university Comments 0

graduation

Graduation took place at Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Ōtaki, on Saturday 7th December. 350 students graduated. There are about 4.500 students enrolled at the University. While Te Wānanga o Raukawa is based in Ōtaki, most of the students enrolled are from other districts. Students at Graduation came from near (for example Porirua, Levin) and far Read more

Analysis and Comment

Christmas tree Comments 0

At Mass, on the first day of Advent, a friend gave me some rosary beads. I had three sets of rosary beads at home, but they are made of plastic.  These are different, made of wood, warm to the touch. Instantly, they connected with my hand in a new way and spoke of two lives. Read more

With Tagle to Rome, Francis signals more changes to come in Vatican posts Comments 0

As Francis did last month when he appointed a fellow Jesuit, Fr. Juan Guerrero Alves, to take charge at the Secretariat for the Economy, the pope is filling a high-level Vatican post with a known friend and supporter of his reform agenda. And some observers wonder if this is the start of a trend that Read more

A.I. could bring a sea change in how people experience religious faith Comments 0

The Michigan-based company Covenant Eyes markets itself to Christians who want to stop viewing pornography. Its software takes screenshots of a user’s screen activity, uses A.I. to scan it for pornographic imagery, and then sends regular reports to the user and a designated “ally” who has agreed to hold him accountable. The company’s name comes Read more

Royal Commission or royal mess? Comments 0

This should have been a heroic first year for the $80 million inquiry. It wasn’t, unfortunately, and there were rather a few too many occasions when it seemed as if – adapting the words of the 18th century English essayist Horace Walpole – everything has been at sea except the fleet. While striving to get Read more

Human sexuality education in Aotearoa. A new framing document Comments 0

sexuality education

The National Centre for Religious Studies has produced a new framing document for Catholic Schools and the wider Aotearoa Catholic community on human sexuality education. The document is titled He Anga Whakamārama – Te Mātauranga Hōkakatanga: He puka ārahi mā ngā hapori Katorika o Aotearoa (Framing Document – Human Sexuality Education: A guide for Catholic Read more

  • Oddly

    • Alpacas pretending to be camels stars of Auckland church’s nativity scene

      A pair of alpacas have become unlikely stars in Massey Presbyterian Church’s annual Christmas Drive-Through. Casting the animal participants in live nativity scenes has always been a challenge in New Zealand, where there are no camels to accompany the wise men who made the trek to Bethlehem. But over the 16 years the Auckland event Read more

  • World

  • People before buildings, says Cardinal Tagle Comments 0

    People and how they are shaped in faith and not buildings make up the strength of the Catholic Church says Cardinal Luis Tagle. Those with the gift of listening are the biggest gift of all, he said. Tagle, the newly appointed congregation head for the Evangelisation of Peoples was speaking with clergy and laity at Read more

  • Nativity displays Jesus, Mary and Joseph as refugees separated at border Comments 0

    A Southern California church’s nativity scene this year presents Jesus, Mary and Joseph as refugees detained and separated at the border. Each figure is isolated in its own chain-link cage with a barbed-wire top. The nativity scene is drawing mixed reactions for the way it presents the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt in the context Read more

  • Vatican archbishop would comfort during assisted suicide Comments 0

    A Vatican archbishop says he would “hold the hand” of someone dying from assisted suicide, even though he considers it wrong. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia says he would offer this comfort because “no one is abandoned” by the Church. Paglia, who heads the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, explained his views during the presentation of an Read more

  • Religious freedom significantly strengthened in Australia Comments 0

    The position of Australian churches, faith-based schools and charities to select staff based on their beliefs has been strengthened by a raft of changes to Prime Minister, Scott Morrison’s religious freedom bill. The changes came after faith-based organisations, business leaders and LGBTTIQ+ groups were highly critical of the initial draft. A second draft, Morrison is Read more

  • Cardinal Zen targets Vatican silence on China, Hong Kong Comments 0

    Cardinal Joseph Zen has taken aim at the Vatican for its silence on Hong Kong, the Uyghur concentration camps in Xinjiang and growing religious repression in mainland China. The city’s cardinal emeritus, who has been politically active in protests against any encroaching power by Beijing, used international media to take aim at the Holy See Read more