New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Interfaith Relations 18 March 2019 Dear brothers and sisters in Aotearoa New Zealand, It is with profound sadness that we grieve for the deaths and injury of Muslims in Christchurch through the violence of extremists. We grieve too for the loss of a sense of safety and peace for Read more
New Zealand
Mosque attacks: The youngest victim — a 3-year-old boy — ran toward the gunman
Monday, March 18th, 2019When the gunman stormed into the mosque and started spraying bullets indiscriminately around the men’s section, little Mucad appeared to think it was a scene from the kind of video game his older brothers liked to play. He ran toward the gunman. Amid the chaos, his father and brother ran in different directions. Read more
College to remove a photo of ex-rector who abused boys
Monday, March 18th, 2019A Wellington Catholic high school has agreed to remove a photo in its auditorium of a proven sex abuser of multiple boys. It has been on display till now, despite the Marists in 2009 upholding a complaint from an ex-student that Father Durning sexually assaulted him. Read more
Cardinal confirms, no one to appoint as Parish Priest
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
The lack of vocations to the priesthood is the reason Ohariu Catholic parish no longer has a resident parish priest. “I simply do not have anyone suitable to appoint as Parish Priest”, the Archbishop of Wellington told a 400 strong crowd, meeting at the Uniting Church, Dr Taylor Tce in Johnsonville. The Archbishop apologised for Read more
Cardinal supports students’ climate change protest – “Listen to them”
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
In New Zealand this Friday, young people are taking part in the worldwide college student protest about the slow pace of international action on climate change. The Catholic Archbishop of Wellington, Cardinal John Dew, is supporting their efforts. “We all need to listen to young people about climate change,” he said. Dew acknowledged that opinions Read more
New executive officer for the NZ Bishops’ Conference
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC) has announced the appointment of Siobhan Dilly as its new executive officer. Siobhan comes to the role with a strong background in business management. She is currently the Policy Analyst and Projects Manager for the New Zealand Catholic Education Office, after working in organisational management and executive support Read more
Hindu man’s beef with Blenheim supermarket
Thursday, March 14th, 2019A Hindu man who ate beef labelled as lamb wants a supermarket giant to pay for his trip so he can go home to cleanse. Jaswinder Paul, bought a package labelled as lamb roast from Countdown Blenheim at the end of September, then cooked and ate the contents before discovering the meat was beef Read more
Another Latter-Day Saints buildings hit by suspicious fire
Thursday, March 14th, 2019A fire in Greymouth on Wednesday morning was the second suspicious blaze at a Latter Day Saints church building in as many days. Firefighters were called about 2.15am to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Main South Rd, Greymouth, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesman Mau Barbara said. Read more
College boys lock themselves in cage at Hastings clocktower
Thursday, March 14th, 2019James Barr and Ishan Parmar, Year 11 students from St John’s Hastings, locked themselves in a cage for four hours, from 10am to 2pm, to protest against poor living conditions for those in New Zealand prisons. Both students were part of a young enterprise team at their school that had delved into the subject. Read Read more
National Office of Professional Standards launches website
Monday, March 11th, 2019
The website for the New Zealand Catholic Church’s National Office of Professional Standards (NOPS) has just gone live. The website provides a platform for information on reporting abuse, safeguarding information and any related policies or documents. NOPS Director, Virginia Noonan, says “the website provides another channel for reporting abuse and providing information on safeguarding in the Read more