Joe Biden, the vice president of the United States, has made a fleeting visit to New Zealand. He is the first Catholic vice president of the United States. Biden is more comfortable than most politicians in talking about how his Catholicism has affected his life and his views. In his campaign book in 2008 Biden Read more
Donald Trump’s promise to build a wall across all of the southern border is a distraction says Fr Tony O’Connor. Fr Tony is an expatriate New Zealand priest working in the parish of San Filipe de Jesus in a town on the border between Texas and Mexico. “This distracts from what is actually going on the border, especially Read more
There are more than 27,000 registered charities in New Zealand which are overseen by Charities Services and the Charities Registration Board. The Charities Board decides whether or not an organisation is qualified to be registered as a charity on the basis of whether it is established and maintained exclusively for “charitable purposes”. Charitable purposes includes Read more
A Muslim woman’s employment hopes were dashed when a prospective manager told her not to bother applying for a jewellery store job because of her headscarf. The second such incident within nine months at a store run by James Pascoe Group has led to its head office issuing a stern warning to staff that discrimination, Read more
Where the aisles once stood, people will now pray as the old Naenae New World supermarket is transformed into the largest Sikh temple in the lower North Island. The 980-square-metre building was bought in August last year from Foodstuffs, which ran the New World store until 2014. Wellington Sikh Society treasurer Kulbir Singh said location, location, location was behind the purchase of the Read more
New research suggests New Zealanders appear to have a less tolerant of sexist or racist content. It also shows some New Zealanders now have a more tolernat of bad language and nudity than was found in previous years. Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) chief executive Belinda Moffat said the research “indicates these changes are strongly influenced Read more
Two formerly homeless men have become stars in a fundraising video for the Auckland City Mission that lets viewers see the world through the eyes of a rough sleeper. Rob Smith and Richard Turipa, both 36, were picked to make the film because they are members of the Mission’s Hobson Street Theatre Company. “It was Read more
The Government could pay for a minimum standard of protection for school technology, Waikato Principals’ Association president, and principal of Marian Catholic Primary School, John Coulam says. Coulam’s comments are in response to news that 36 New Zealand schools were hacked in a global operation that saw cyber thieves sell passwords and other entry methods to 70,000 servers on the black Read more
The Urlich family live in a piece of history 135 years in the making. They have spent the past decade converting what was St John’s Presbyterian Church in Cromwell into a home. Respect for the former users of the building and those who worked so hard to construct and maintain it underlines the sympathetic makeover. Continue Read more
A proposed memorial wall at one of the country’s oldest Catholic churches would remember those shut out of its cemetery. The St Patrick’s Church in Panmure is the official burial ground for clergy of the Auckland Catholic Diocese. Kathy Haughey has been a parishioner at the church since 1949 and says for decades parishioners have Read more