Passing on extra vegetables grown in the garden to people in need, and sharing what food we have, were suggestions that students at St Teresa’s School in Karori gave today to help overcome hunger and food insecurity in New Zealand. The students were talking to Catholic Archbishop of Wellington John Dew over lunch, prior to Read more
It is true that we often speak of “sacred” vestments, books and objects but sacredness is not contained in the objects themselves. For centuries these were not blessed and churches were not consecrated because what makes objects sacred is what they are used for; the iPad is no exception says Liturgy professor, Mgr. Giulio Viviani, who was Read more
New Zealand’s Catholic Bishops have expressed disappointment after the Definition of Marriage Bill, allowing for same sex marriage, passed its first reading by 78 to 40 on a conscience vote with no abstentions on Wednesday. “To propose any alternative definition will have implications in law, and in society, but also for education and the family structure Read more
Media in Australia and New Zealand have been reporting that Fiji is considering setting up a euthanasia clinic. They did so on the strength of information provided by Dr Philip Nitschke, a prominent Australian euthanasia advocate, without checking out his story with the Fiji Government. A spokesperson for the Fiji government, Permanent secretary for Information Read more
A special general meeting of the Diocesan Car Fund Trust, held in Wellington on Thursday, approved the trustees’ recomendation to wind up the trust. Around 60 people attended the meeting held in Connolly Hall to hear Trust Chairman, Brother Pat Lynch, Mr Michael Burrows, an independent lawyer from Burrows and Associates, and the Trust’s appointed Read more
St Mary of the Angels church in central Wellington is one of about 470 buildings in the city that have been declared earthquake prone, which means they rate at less than 34 per cent compliance with the building code. The City Council has given the parish a 2027 deadline to carry out strengthening work. The Read more
New Zealanders are so happy the Valerie Adams has got her Gold. Some of them are angry about the cheating. One high profile commentator has even got himself into trouble for an “expletive-laden tweet calling for Olympics drug cheat Nadzeya Ostapchuk to hand over her shot put gold medal.” Was Ostapchuk just unlucky? The former Read more
Over thirty projects have already received help from the Christchurch Diocese’s Earthquake Recovery Fund. Most recently assistance has been provided to the Parish of St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral for a project to identify and support parishioners who have been disadvantaged by the earthquakes and to continue to facilitate a sense of community post parish amalgamation and Read more
Louisa Wall says much of the opposition to the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill was down to inaccurate “scaremongering” such as claims churches would be forced to marry gay couples. But according to Family First’s Bob McCoskrie experience shows that those assurances are shallow promises. To support his contention McCoskrie sites the following facts: Canada: A court has ruled that Read more
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand workers Tara D’Sousa and Nick Borthwick have recently returned from a visit to Afghanistan. While there they were accompanied on some of their field visits by representatives of the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). “We are distressed that such tragedy should befall 8 of their members, and the ambushed Afghan Read more