Parishes around the world are emptying, ageing, sleeping and dying. According to Fr James Mallon, it does not have to be this way. Mallon, a Canadian priest, last week spoke to New Zealand’s diocesan priests in Christchurch to explore what he calls “Divine Renovation.” The present century demands new models of ministry and new ways Read more
Father Harry Costello was ordained 60 years ago, at the age of 25. Costello and three others will have their decades of service celebrated in a Jubilarians’ Mass at St Mary’s Church in Whanganui on September 18. Continue reading
The Auckland Diocese has gone to court to evict a group occupying the grounds of Auckland’s Hato Pētera College. The college, Auckland’s last Māori Catholic boarding school, closed in August after its roll dwindled to just one student. Continue reading
Intimate partner violence is driving women to suicide and self-harm say Women’s Refuge. Shocking stories from 1,250 women, told during a month-long online survey, were released on Monday: Almost half of the respondents considered taking their own life at least once Most had self-harmed The majority of the women linked their self-harming to their experiences Read more
Former Police Association President, Labour Party backbench MP and St Patrick’s College old boy, Greg O’Connor, got a stern telling off from the PM on Monday night. The Ohariu electorate MP received a phone call from the Prime Minister after he criticised, on NewstalkZB, Ms Adern’s handling of Clare Curran’s resignation. “Yeah, it could have been Read more
Dunedin’s Bishop, Michael Dooley met with Pope Francis in Rome on Saturday. Bishop Dooley (top left) is among the 74 newly-appointed bishops from 34 countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America including those as diverse as Algeria, Myanmar, Cameroon and Indonesia attending a 12-day seminar learning about the roles and responsibilities of bishops. Bishop Read more
A Hamilton McDonald’s worker has been told by her manager not to speak Māori in the restaurant. The 19-year-old Māori speaker says she was shocked and saddened at the directive as she was keen to celebrate Māori Language Week. Janine Eru-Taueki has been working at McDonald’s for six months and was told last Thursday by a Read more
Rotorua’s St Michael’s Catholic School was blessed, Sunday, by Fr Eamon Kennedy, principal Kristina Crouch posted on Facebook. “This blessing ensured that our school was prepared properly for the safe arrival of our tamariki and their whānau,” she wrote. Crouch said pupils and parents were given the opportunity to come together with staff and the board Read more
Across New Zealand, 58 regional, district and city councils start their meetings with some sort of blessing, 18 do not. Among those who use some form of blessing, 13 pray, 26 say a karakia, 19 use a mix of both or another blessing and 18 don’t use anything. Massey University’s Professor Peter Lineham, whose research Read more
Doctor Lance O’Sullivan wants to shift the Vanguard military school on to the vacant Hato Petera College site. He has also proposed that the Hato Petera site should be used for a hostel for Māori students attending other schools in the area, on the model of Auckland Grammar School’s InZone hostel in Epsom. He said Read more