News Shorts

On retirement Francis won’t live in Vatican nor be called emeritus Pope

Thursday, July 14th, 2022

Pope Francis said he would not live in the Vatican nor return to his native Argentina if and when he ever retires, but would instead like to find a church in Rome where he could continue hearing confessions. “I’m the bishop of Rome, in this case, the emeritus bishop of Rome,” Francis said in an Read more

Catholic education convention postponed

Thursday, July 14th, 2022

It is with regret that NZCEO (NZ Catholic Education Office) wishes to inform our stakeholders that the National Catholic Convention scheduled for June 2023 has been postponed until 2024. NZCEO has undertaken extensive consultation with our various stakeholder groups including our school principal executives and in the main there is a strong feeling that the Read more

Pope Francis considers it an ‘incoherence’ that President Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights

Thursday, July 14th, 2022

Pope Francis has described it as an “incoherence” that President Joe Biden, a Catholic, is in favour of legal abortion. During an interview with Univisión and Televisa broadcast July 12, Pope Francis spoke about abortion and Biden’s position, after being asked whether to admit politicians who promote legal abortion to Holy Communion. The Holy Father Read more

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh mocked at dinner

Monday, July 11th, 2022

Following reports that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh left Morton’s DC steakhouse early on Wednesday night amid protests outside, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York took issue with media coverage of the incident. “Poor guy. He left before his soufflé because he decided half the country should risk death if they have an ectopic Read more

Shinzo Abe remembered for ‘great respect’ shown Catholic Church

Monday, July 11th, 2022

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was remembered, after his assassination on Friday, as a man who showed “great respect to the Catholic Church, particularly to the Holy See”. “Though we Catholic Bishops of Japan and the late Prime Minister had great differences in opinion over several issues including nuclear disarmament, nuclear energy policy and Read more

Schools with mask mandates saw fewer student absences than average in term 2

Monday, July 11th, 2022

Auckland schools that decided to keep mask mandates during term 2 saw higher student attendance than those that dropped them. Heading into term 2, the Government made the controversial call to remove nationwide school mask mandates instead leaving it up to individual schools to make their own rules. The decision sparked disagreement from the disability Read more

Religious minorities face growing digital persecution

Monday, July 11th, 2022

A report from the charity Open Doors has warned that religious minorities face an “Orwellian existence” under growing digital persecution. It says that surveillance technology and states’ monitoring of social media has been combined with censorship and disinformation on digital platforms to target religious minorities. Open Doors, which campaigns for persecuted Christians worldwide, published the Read more

Parents reading to children helps the most vulnerable

Monday, July 11th, 2022

A new study has found that parents who read to their children at least once a day from 9 months of age improved their child’s developmental outcomes. The measure was associated with ‘higher language ability, cognition and social-emotional competence’ once the child reached its first birthday. The study, which drew on data from the highly Read more

Biden signs abortion executive order: ‘Right to choose’ is ‘esssential’

Monday, July 11th, 2022

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday aimed at protecting abortion access in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade. “This is a choice,” he said before signing the order on July 8. “A moment to restore the rights that have been taken away from us, and the moment Read more

Emeritus Pope Benedict physically frail

Thursday, July 7th, 2022

Emeritus Pope Benedict is a very old man and physically frail. While alert and wide-awake his voice is becoming increasingly low and incomprehensible, says Archbishop Georg Gänswein. Gänswein is currently the prefect of the papal household and has been Benedict’s personal secretary since 2003. “The last few years have sapped his strength,” the Archbishop told Read more