Top academic success at St Joseph’s Māori Girls College is being put down to a cellphone ban. This year the college features in the 2018 top 10 schools achieving University Entrance. With 66% of students boarders, the Hawkes Bay school’s policy is strict. “Literally they [the cellphones] are taken off them and not given back”, Read more
“The Church loves science. To be close to the universe is to be close to God” says Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory. He has been visiting New Zealand on a lecture tour been sponsored by Catholic Discovery (formerly the Catholic Enquiry Centre). Consolmagno made this remark after students at Hamilton’s St John College challenged him Read more
A church in Gisborne is tackling its local housing shortage. It is the driving force behind a plan to build module eco homes for families in need. The Ahuru Mowai Housing Project has the twofold aim of increasing ownership of energy-efficient homes and boosting employment. Ahuru Mowai plans to build seven module homes in Ida Read more
The vicar general of the Auckland diocese, Monsignor Bernard Kiely, told a gathering in Auckland to speak out when terrorist attacks occur. He was giving the homily at a service to remember the victims of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka. “Speak out and be very clear that the extremists and the terrorists do Read more
As fire devastates the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, the building is as much a symbol of the recent history of the Catholic Church in Europe as it once was a symbol of the Church’s power and cultural supremacy. The church had been in disrepair for decades. Calls for its restoration went mostly ignored Read more
The Archbishop of Wellington cardinal John Dew wants to go further than just combining parishes and reducing the number of church buildings. He is calling for a more mission-focused church. In an extended interview, posted on Stuff about two recent memos he has recently circulated, Dew said there should be “fewer conversations about ‘the colour Read more
In his recent Newsletter, the Archbishop of Wellington drew attention to an article written by a priest from France, Jean-Pierre Roche, entitled “Stop calling me Father.” In his article, Roche says that priests may be able to make some small changes to overcome clericalism if they gave up expecting to be called “Father.” “In August last Read more
Sir Anand Satyanand offered to withdraw as head of the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and Care in Faith-Based Institutions. Some have expressed concern about a perceived conflict of interest because of his Catholic faith. Documents obtained by Stuff show Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin rejected his offer. Instead, she asked Satyanand Read more
A new Catholic Cathedral in Christchurch could be built on a site beside the Avon River, a new four-minute documentary suggests. The documentary begins with filmmaker Gerard Smyth telling Paul Martin, the Catholic bishop of Christchurch, that he has heard “rumours” that the cathedral might be moving. To which Martin replies “It is very interesting Read more
Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa as Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand and Apostolic Delegate to the countries of the Pacific. Archbishop Rugambwa was born in Bukoba, Tanzania in 1957, ordained a priest in 1986 and Archbishop in 2010. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1991 and has served in Read more