Anthropologist Fr Gerald Arbuckle SM (left, pictured with ACU Chancellor, the Honourable Martin Daubney AM KC,) has been awarded Australian Catholic University’s top honour. He is now a Doctor of the University; this is the highest honour a university can bestow. His honorary degree citation says Arbuckle’s doctorate recognises his “contribution to the academic tradition Read more
Misleading news about a clergy sex abuse report is drawing a US Catholic archbishop’s ire. Many articles don’t “provide a full or completely accurate picture” says Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore (pictured). They overlook the Archdiocese’s accountability and enforcement efforts over the past 30 years. The Maryland Attorney General’s 454-report says 156 people from the Read more
When Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky went to the Vatican last week, the Pope stole a march on him. Francis went to the door to greet him rather than wait for formal introductions. They spent 40 minutes speaking privately in their first face-to-face meeting since the war began. They discussed “the humanitarian and political situation in Read more
The former head of Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church’s charitable arm, has accused the Vatican of a “brutal power grab” in an open letter published just days before the organisation’s General Assembly. Aloysius John, who was removed from his position as secretary-general in November 2022, alleged that his ousting was a result of the “deliberate Read more
The Vatican, Friday, announced Cardinal John Dew’s resignation as Archbishop of Wellington last Friday. Dew (pictured right) explains “Canon law requires that bishops offer their resignation to the Holy Father when they reach 75 years of age, and yesterday I reached that age.” Pope Francis has accepted his resignation. “It is with sadness that I Read more
Following a legal challenge to the Vatican, Archbishop of Wellington, Cardinal John Dew has withdrawn the decree of deconsecration of St Anthony of Padua Church, Martinborough. The news of deconsecration withdrawal came in a letter to Wairarapa Parish Priest Fr Bruce England and was distributed to the Martinborough community parishioners. With Dew recovering from an Read more
CCTV helped identify a man who, on Thursday, set fire to the Day Chapel in the Palmerston North Cathedral. According to the Cathedral Parish Priest, Fr Joseph Grayland, the man was caught on camera lighting the fire. Grayland says the fire shocked everyone. The alarm was raised by a man who is in Palmerston North Read more
New Zealand’s National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS) looks forward to hearing from either the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (pictured) or the Dicastery for Evangelisation regarding a new sex abuse memorandum. On 21 April the heads of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the Dicastery for Evangelisation signed Read more
It seems no sooner than all Covid restrictions have been lifted from Catholic churches – the sneeze-proof face mask, the empty holy water stoup, the contactless signs of peace, that a selection of lurgies have made themselves known. The rising number of Covid cases, hospitalisations and deaths suggest we could be in for another rough Read more
The pastoral care of Filipino migrant bus drivers who responded to an international recruitment campaign is being questioned. The article highlighting their plight has been pulled from the NZ Herald’s website. On Wednesday, Wellington NZ Herald reporter, Georgina Campbell, reported that migrant bus drivers have been brought to the Capital and are being put up Read more