There was a standing ovation for a ninety-year-old Compassion Sister, Loyola Galvin, after a documentary film about her life had premiered at the NZ International Film Festival in the Embassy Theatre in Wellington. The theatre was packed to see the world premiere of the Wellington documentary Gardening with Soul. Director Jess Feast called the festival Read more
The iconic central-city Wellington Church, St Mary of the Angels Church is closed for up to 18 months. The closure is as a result of a series of recent Wellington earthquakes, the largest registering a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter Scale. “The safety of our parishioners and Church users is paramount, and therefore we Read more
This photograph, taken by a Mexican Marist priest, shows that New Zealand is literally showing the flag at the World Youth Day. There are close to 50 kiwi pilgrims, representing all the dioceses in New Zealand, making the 19 day World Youth Day pilgrimage. It began with 5 days in Santiago, Chile, where the pilgrims were Read more
On Sunday Wellington’s earthquake brought the 5pm Sunday Mass in St Mary of the Angels to a premature halt. After the 6.5 quake hit at 5.09pm, the biggest of a swarm of more than 230 that have struck the upper South Island and lower and central North Island since Friday, the celebrant Fr Tom O’Connor Read more
The spokesman for Papua New Guinea’s bishops has condemned a proposal, introduced in parliament, by the governor of one of the Papua New Guinea’s 22 provinces, to ban non Christian religions. Last Friday, Hela province governor, Anderson Agiru, moved a motion to carry out a nationwide consultation on the question of religious freedom and whether to Read more
A Blenheim woman says her GP refused to give her the birth control pill because she had not yet done her “reproductive job”. Melissa Pont, 23, said her family practitioner, Dr Joseph Lee, would not renew her pill prescription, instead lecturing her on a baby’s right to live and on using the rhythm method. Lee is Read more
His Excellency Archbishop Martin Krebs, apostolic nuncio to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, arrived in Wellington on Thursday (11 July). Krebs was born in Essen, Germany, in 1956. He was ordained priest in 1983 and Bishop in 2008. He joined the Vatican’s diplomatic corps in 1991. He has been described as “possessed of what’s Read more
Dr Lance O’Sullivan, a former pupil of Hato Petera College, was honoured with a Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award at the Auckland Town Hall last week. Earlier this year he was awarded Supreme Maori of the Year by current affairs show Marae Investigates. Sir Peter Blake Trust chief executive Shelley Campbell praises O’Sullivan’s dedication to eradicating child poverty. Read more
A Wellington priest has made a submission to the Select Committee considering the the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and Related Legislation Amendment Bill. Monsignor Gerard Burns said his deepest concern about this bill is that it shakes the relationship of trust between the State and the citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand. “Because a healthy society Read more
In Christchurch, New Zealand, the Sisters of Nazareth have released plans for an ambitious development on their 8-hectare Brougham St site. The plans include an 80-bed care hospital and rest home, plus a dementia unit, convent and chapel, and a 62-unit retirement village. The new facilities will replace the ones destroyed by the Christchurch earthquake. “This is Read more