A health leader has blasted anti-vax church leaders for spreading harmful messages. Māori and Pacific health executive director Hector Matthews made his views clear at a hui discussing Māori vaccination efforts. The hui in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) included Māori health agencies, the Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare and other government officials on Tuesday. Matthews said some Read more
A Catholic emergency housing provider says Government decisions are making it harder to find homes for families. The number of homeless waiting for accommodation has ballooned during the COVID-19 lockdown, says Auckland Diocese’s Monte Cecilia Trust. A spokesperson says the shortage is a result of the Government scrapping ‘redirect’ contracts. These contracts saw community housing Read more
New Zealand’s only Legionaries of Christ priest, Simon Cleary told CathNews that he is sorry if the media coverage has caused distress in New Zealand. He is very concerned that New Zealand and international reporting around the Pandora Papers has painted a picture that is untrue, and while he is no longer in New Zealand Read more
Framing for the new $1million St Mary’s Church in Pleasant Point is going up. The former 1889 historic church on the site was demolished in July after it was closed in 2011 due to earthquake damage. Opihi Parish finance chairman Mark Robins said the new church would seat 70 but would not have a steeple Read more
New Zealanders can expect things to start getting a bit pricier with rising prices on many items predicted. The consumer price index, a measure of inflation, jumped to 3.3 per cent in the year to June, the biggest increase in nearly 10 years. It had run at an annual rate of 1.5 per cent for Read more
Church leaders across the country are facing a vax dilemma regarding unvaccinated church members. What do they do about having them in their congregations? It’s a question many are considering. The conversation around mandatory vaccinations is heating up. Last week, the Government announced digital vaccination certificates, which should be introduced by November. They will be Read more
The Vatican has ordered a further investigation into the behaviour of Fr Fivins Chittilappilly. Chittilappilly had been working in New Zealand as an assistant priest in Mercy Parish South Dunedin since January 2020. However, following a complaint of sexual harassment from an adult woman, towards the end of last year, he was stood down from Read more
Stuff reports Cardinal John Dew is seeking the Vatican’s permission to investigate the way a Catholic bishop responded to complaints of a sexual nature against former priest Sateki Raass. Dew, who is the Metropolitan Archbishop of New Zealand, addressed the letter to the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, which oversees ‘mission territories’, including New Read more
With the introduction of medical abortion and fewer restrictions on who can provide them, it is now simpler and easier for New Zealanders to receive an abortion. On Saturday, Labour’s Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced the medications can now be prescribed by primary care practitioners, including GPs, midwives, and nurse practitioners. She Read more
Judge Coral Shaw, Friday released a statement expressing her sadness of the sexual abuse with the Catholic Church in France She notes, “with immense sadness, the vast scale of abuse against children by clergy in the French Catholic Church since 1950, which was revealed by an independent inquiry in France. “It is deeply unsettling to Read more