Pope Benedict has appointed Peter Loy Chong as the new Archbishop of Suva, Fiji, (population 1,297,683, Catholics 101,050, priests 81, religious 162). Fr Chong was born on January 30, 1961, at Korovou, Tailevu. He comes from a family of seven, three boys and four girls. He undertook his priestly formation at Pacific Regional Seminary. Ordained in 1992 Read more
Caritas Samoa is helping shelter more than 1000 people who have been made homeless by Cyclone Evan. They are being housed Caritas Samoa’s own basement hall and in three other centres in partnership with the Red Cross. Caritas Samoa has electricity generators for lighting, and is providing food and water at all the shelters. ‘As Read more
Powershop, a state owned enterprise, has entered the political arena by erecting a number of four-and-half-storey high billboards which suggest the Catholic Church is an example of how “large institutions can sometimes lose touch with their modern constituents.” The Pope is used as a symbol of “crusty utilities, many of whom remain resistant to the Read more
Archbishop John Dew of Wellington New Zealand says proposals for the future of the Archdiocese have been completed and will be presented for consultation early in the new year. In a circular distributed on 7 December Archbishop Dew wrote: “As you are aware, early last year I initiated a Focus Group to look at the future of the Archdiocese, and to Read more
The Bishop of Waikato has been appointed as the Anglican Church’s representative to the Catholic Church. Archbishop David Moxon is currently the Bishop of Waikato, Senior Bishop of the New Zealand Dioceses and an Archbishop of the Anglican Church in New Zealand and Polynesia. He will step down from these roles in April and expects Read more
An Anglican parish in Onewhero, Tuakau, has been seeking support for a British family who have been living in New Zealand for seven years, but face being deported because the father has a brain tumour and cannot work. Immigration NZ acting general manager Bruce Burrows said their application for residence was rejected because Paul Crystal Read more
New Zealand Catholic Bishops appeared before the New Zealand Government Administration Select Committee considering the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill on Wednesday to share their concerns over the future implications should it become law. Archbishop John Dew, Bishop Colin Campbell and Mrs Sue Devereux, representing the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, made a verbal submission Read more
The Families Commission has released a report Pacific families and Problem Debt which is based partly on discussions with members of Pacific communities and 25 agencies, such as budgeting services. Many of the service providers and informants stated that belonging to, and fully participating in, churches was important to their Pacific clients. This included making financial contributions to Read more
Doctors in Western Australia have expressed concern that sick pepople are rejecting conventional treatment in favour of “faith healing” from a well known New Zealand Catholic priest, Fr John Rea. Australian Medical Association WA president Richard Choong said belief was important but he was concerned someone might not seek treatment because they believed faith had Read more
The visit of Frederika Korain has opened up prospects for the further development of relationships between New Zealand and the Papuan people of Indonesian-governed West Papua. Frederika is a former staff member of the SKP (Justice and Peace) office of the Diocese of Jayapura, now studying in Australian National University in Canberra. She has been Read more
