In the face of accusations that the Family Court system is “broken” and “brutal”, the Government has rejected pleas for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the court system by advocates who say urgent reform is needed. Their view is backed by a United Nations women’s rights committee which, in 2018, recommended that New Zealand Read more
Catholic bishops have appealed to Pakistan’s government to stop the imposition of a revised school curriculum making Islamic instruction a significant part of compulsory subjects, including languages and social sciences. The Catholic Bishop’s National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) expressed its concerns about the Islamic content in textbooks under the country’s Single National Curriculum Read more
An immigration expert is rubbishing the Government’s newly-created visa category designed to attract high-value investors to New Zealand. The Active Investor Plus visa, announced by the Government on Wednesday, includes a minimum $5 million “active” investment, while the minimum amount of money required for indirect investments is $15 million. Investors would also need to spend Read more
As Europe faces record high temperatures and summer wildfires, Pope Francis has pointed out that the poor suffer the most from heat waves, drought and other environmental extremes. In a message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, the Pope said it is “the poorest among us who are crying out.” Read more
China’s persecution of Catholics has escalated, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This comes even as one Vatican official said the two sides are talking about opening a representative office in Beijing. According to spokesperson Joanne Ou, the Vatican has been requesting China’s permission for a representative office to be established since 1999. Yet, Read more
A Canadian woman experiencing ongoing Covid symptoms more than two years after catching the virus has applied for voluntary euthanasia. Due to her enduring illness and lack of financial support, Tracey Thompson, a Toronto resident in her 50s, told CTV News she had begun the process of applying for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), a Read more
Ivana Trump, the glamorous businesswoman and ex-wife of former President Donald Trump, was remembered as “a force of nature” and “the embodiment of the American dream” at her funeral in Manhattan on Wednesday. “She had brains; she had beauty,” her son Eric Trump said in a speech at the historic St Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church Read more
One of the two Catholic priests abducted by bandits last week, Rev Father John Mark Cheitnum, has been found dead. The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Joseph John Hayab, confirmed the development in a statement on Tuesday. Armed bandits had last Friday abducted Cheitnum and Rev Fr Donatus Cleopas from the Read more
It’s been a three-and-a-half year wait, but it’s finally happening. Tauranga’s medical mission ship, the MV YWAM KOHA, will soon be departing the Port of Tauranga on her maiden deployment to Fiji. On board the ship will be a minimal crew of about 16 for the voyage to the outer islands of Fiji. They leave Read more
Pope Francis cracked down July 16 on the spread of the old Latin Mass, reversing one of Pope Benedict XVI’s signature decisions in a major challenge to traditionalist Catholics who immediately decried it as an attack on them and the ancient liturgy. Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass that Benedict had relaxed in Read more