Surrounding the church with landmines does not surprise Frank Bird (pictured). The New Zealand priest has just returned from the Myanmar-Thai border. Landmines surround a Catholic church in Myanmar. Before mining it, the military had been using the church as a kitchen. The military junta’s mining of the Mother of God church in Mobye, a Read more
Toast Electric, Aotearoa-New Zealand’s first not-for-profit power company, opened its doors in Wellington on Thursday. It is an initiative of a registered charity, the Sustainability Trust. Toast’s aim is to reduce energy hardship. Its fair energy manager, Phil Squire, says Toast is addressing a desperate need within the community. “Energy hardship is a real big Read more
Everybody loses when politics tries to poison church life and when church members use the logic of politics, an Italian cardinal says. “To poison ecclesial relations with the logic of politics is making trouble,” says Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the president of the Italian bishops’ conference. This isn’t just a problem in Italy, he adds. It Read more
Hundreds of Catholic schools in Australia have been asked not to help children undertake gender transition. In a rare intervention, Australia’s Catholic bishops told the schools that sex is not a social construct but a “physical, biological reality.” Society has “widely adopted the belief that each person’s innermost concept of themselves determines their gender identity,” Read more
Caritas Pakistan will benefit from a solidarity grant of NZ$10,000 from Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand. The money is to help with humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan. At least three million people have been directly affected by devastating floods, which have left over a third of the country under water. More than 1,200 people are known Read more
A New Zealand liturgical theologian is sad the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference National Synodal Synthesis is calling for a new English translation of the Roman Missal. Dr Joe Grayland makes the comment in a comment and analysis piece in today’s CathNews. The National synodal synthesis calls for “liturgical language that is welcoming, inclusive, less misogynistic, Read more
Participants in Germany’s “synodal way” will vote next month on a controversial proposal. If passed, the proposal would create a powerful permanent “synodal council” to oversee the local Church. Fourteen papers will be put to a vote at the synodal way’s fourth plenary assembly next week. One, “Sustainable strengthening of Synodality: A Synodal Council for Read more
The Roman Curia looks likely to be reformed when the world’s cardinals meet in Rome tomorrow. Vatican commentator Thomas Reece says after Pope Francis creates 17 new cardinals, he wants to discuss his plans for reforming the Curia. The Curia is the bureaucracy the pope uses to help him exercise his pastoral office and universal Read more
Former Cabinet minister Chris Finlayson, a practicing Catholic, is also unsparing in his critiques of the Catholic Church. Finlayson says he has vigorously chided church leaders who try to intervene in politics. On one occasion the Archbishop of Wellington, Cardinal John Dew, invited him to a picnic on Parliament’s lawn. Finlayson says Dew wanted to Read more
St Joseph’s Home of Compassion elder care facility will close in four months. Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy labels the closure as “catastrophic.” Guppy said he attended a packed meeting of family members at the home’s chapel on Wednesday night. “It was a bolt from the blue. “People were obviously sad and wondering what was Read more