The Catholic Church is in its most challenging condition since the Reformation. The claim is made by in Abuse and Cover-Up Refounding the Catholic Church in Trauma, a new book by New Zealand born anthropologist, theologian and international scholar, Fr Gerald Arbuckle SM. Using the psalmist’s image, Arbuckle says the Church was once a “strong Read more
Religious leaders from a number of New Zealand’s faith traditions have written a joint letter to members of Parliament expressing their grave concerns about passing the End of Life Choice Bill. The bill, due for its third and final reading next Wednesday, 13 November, “gives people with a terminal illness the option of requesting assisted Read more
American and British publications, including Britain’s Daily Express and New York’s Daily News, have been chasing the story of sister Johanna Penn after the Carmelite sister turned amateur sleuth to recover two stolen statues. A large statue of the Sacred Heart along with a Little Infant of Prague statue, were seen being carried out of Read more
The outgoing chair of the royal commission investigating abuse in state and faith-based care, Sir Anand Satyanand, says the witnesses appearing over the two weeks of public hearings represent the main issues the royal commission was investigating. “At the end of the two-week period, the public will have a picture of what the Royal Commission Read more
St Gerard’s Church and Monastery is at once a landmark, a childhood memory, and a workplace, housing up to 50 Catholic missionaries at a time. The buildings are hard to miss; the image is scored into road barriers and postcards around Wellington, and their bulk is plainly visible on the Roseneath hill overlooking Oriental Bay. Read more
Harpreet and Jaswinder Singh were employed by Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Papatoetoe, Auckland, from October 2017 to May last year. But for half a year’s work, Harpreet Singh was paid only $2000 in cash and Jaswinder Singh $1000. So the pair took the temple to the Employment Relations Authority earlier this year. Read more
75 years ago 732 Polish refugees – most of them orphans – arrived by boat from Iran after the second world war to make their home in New Zealand. Today most of the remaining former refugees are in their 80s and 90s. But last weekend many of them met in Wellington and in Pahīatua with Read more
Suzanne Aubert is one more step on the road to sainthood. A plausible miracle attributed to her has been referred to Vatican doctors for scrutiny. New Zealand Catholic bishops, in Rome for a pilgrimage and a meeting with Pope Francis last week, discussed the possible canonisation of Suzanne Aubert with the Congregation for the Causes Read more
The Christchurch Catholic diocese has spent more than $15 million on several blocks of riverside Christchurch land. The purchases are likely to be the first stakes in a larger site for a complex which may include a new cathedral. Property and company records reveal the Catholic diocese has bought 10 vacant properties in the central city block bordered by Read more
Paul Mooney is celebrating 40 years of winemaking at Mission Estate, making him one of New Zealand’s most experienced winemakers. When Paul started, a block was planted on Mission Estate’s Taradale vineyard. The grapes from that block have been used to create Paul’s 40th vintage – an old vine Semillon wine with complex and sweet Read more