Labour Party leader David Cunliffe attended a Catholic Mass at Mangere in South Auckland on Sunday, where he addressed those present. He spoke at the Auckland Catholic Samoan Centre, at the Malaeola Community Centre in Mangere. Mr Cunliffe was accompanied by other south Auckland Labour MPs, including Louisa Wall who sponsored the same-sex marriage bill Read more
Otago priest Fr Brian Fenton has had the final say in a long battle with officialdom to be buried on his own land. Fr Fenton died on July 26 at the Little Sisters of the Poor Sacred Heart Home in Dunedin, aged 86. After a requiem Mass at Holy Family Church in Wanaka on August Read more
A Safe Church Programme is to be introduced to the Catholic Church in New Zealand and a person with education experience has been appointed to run it. Maria Noonan, who will develop and deliver the programme, was introduced at a Safe Church Training Day held in Wellington on July 30. She will work as part Read more
A long-running dispute between Napier City Council and the owners of Mission Estate Winery has been settled out of court. The dispute began when the council used the Public Works Act to take 1.5 hectares from the winery to realign a road. The council and Marist Holdings (Greenmeadows) fought a protracted battle over the valuation Read more
A Tuvalu family has won an appeal to stay in New Zealand after they claimed they would be affected by climate change if they went home. This is the first successful application for residency on humanitarian grounds in New Zealand that has featured climate change. The Immigration and Protection Tribunal said the family has strong Read more
Marlborough’s Catholics marked the end of an era on Sunday when the earthquake-damaged Ward church was formally decommissioned ahead of demolition. After singing, a reading, and a prayer at the site, the congregation took the church’s altar and sign and processed to St Peter’s Anglican church nearby, where the sign would be installed and the Read more
Joy Cowley’s book “Notes to a Friend” has been named as a finalist in the Ashton Wylie Book Awards. “Notes to a Friend” is a group of short letters around nine Christian themes and joins four other finalists in the “New mind, body, spirit” category. Ms Cowley’s motivation for writing the book came by way of her conducting retreats. She noticed that while most Read more
New Zealand non-government organisations (NGOs) are responding to the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Gaza has experienced an upsurge in violence and an increasing number of civilian casualties in recent weeks. Seven members of the NGO Disaster Relief Forum (NDRF) have launched or are about to launch appeals to raise funds that will Read more
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have asked Pope Francis to declare a global prayer vigil for peace in Gaza and the rest of the Holy Land. In a letter, the New Zealand bishops praise the Pope for his efforts to bring about peace. But the bishops pick up on a request from a Gaza priest, Fr Raed, Read more
Thousands of embryos, sperm and eggs frozen in New Zealand will be discarded in November as the legal limit for their storage expires. Institutions that don’t comply will face a $20,000 fine. A time limit was set by legislators 10 years ago. From November 21, institutions like fertility clinics will not be able to keep Read more