Family First New Zealand has won a battle over its charity status. In a decision released on Thursday morning, the Court of Appeal set aside a Charities Registration Board decision in 2017 to deregister Family First as a charity. “This decision is a win for the freedom of speech and belief in New Zealand,” says Read more
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Limited (MCK) and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch have announced that they have reached an agreement for the sale of MCK’s land at 776 Colombo Street, Christchurch, the site of the former Copthorne Hotel Christchurch Central. The terms of the sale are confidential to the parties and settlement Read more
The Royal Commission into Abuse in Care has published documents giving the details of its investigation into the Catholic Church. They include the Church’s part in faith-based redress for survivors – which will form part of the commission’s Inquiry into the historic abuse of children in the state and faith-based care. Cardinal John Dew, Vice-President Read more
New Zealand Catholic bishops have condemned a fake news statement circulated online claiming they had endorsed the New Conservative Party. They say they are seriously concerned about claims they are urging Catholics to vote for the party. The bishops have reported the false statement to the Electoral Commission and told all parishes and the New Read more
The Catholic Church is selling “the Eucharist” and people short and is making a mistake by turning Mass into a YouTube experience. The comments are from Thomas O’Loughlin, emeritus professor of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham and Director of Studia Traditionis Theologiae. “There are some things Zoom and YouTube just won’t do because Read more
Parents who are saving up to get their child into a private school should be aware that state-integrated schools might give them better bangs for their bucks. This the conclusion policy analyst Joel Hernandez comes to in a report he prepared for The New Zealand Initiative. Many parents want their kids to go to private Read more
Catholic Archbishop of Wellington Cardinal John Dew will bless construction workers, and the city’s Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in a ceremony at 10 am on Friday to mark the start of the cathedral project restoring and strengthening the Category I historic building. The classical-style cathedral in Hill St, Thorndon – designed by Dunedin Read more
Joseph Auga Matamata, 28 July, was sentenced in the Napier High Court to eleven years in jail after being found guilty of ten charges in human trafficking and thirteen charges in dealing in slaves. “Modern slavery is not something that happens ‘over there’ that we don’t have to think about,” Grace Forest, co-founder of Walk Read more
The Catholic Diocese of Christchurch will be applying to disinter three bishops who are buried in the earthquake-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Bishop Grimes, Bishop Edward Joyce, Bishop John Cunneen, are buried under the floor of a side chapel of the cathedral. Grimes, the first bishop of Christchurch, was the driving force behind the Read more
The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Wellington is to receive $8.5 million in Government funding from the “shovel ready” infrastructure fund. The cathedral in Hill St, Thorndon, has been closed since 2018, and the money will go towards restoring and earthquake strengthening the building. The $8.5 funding will create almost 300 construction jobs. The Read more