At least 15,000 Syrian children will be at risk of homelessness if the Lebanese government goes ahead with the planned demolition of “semi-permanent structures” built by refugees in eastern Lebanon, aid agencies warned on Tuesday. Save the Children, World Vision and Terre des Hommes Foundation said in a joint statement the government made a decision Read more
Last week the Australian bishop’ conference and Catholic Religious Australia adopted new Catholic safeguarding standards to combat the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults in the wake of a 2017 report on such abuse in the country’s institutions. The National Catholic Safeguarding Standards were adopted on May 30. “These National Catholic Safeguarding Standards draw Read more
CEC is reaching out to new audiences through social media, video and special events. This year it sponsored Vatican Observatory Director and world-renown astronomer, Br Guy Consolmagno in a nationwide tour. In addition, it has developed a new social media brand, Catholic Discovery and is working closely with Catholic agencies and schools in spreading the Read more
Ministers from the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa will continue to refuse to pay taxes despite recently enacted laws compelling them to do so. The matter was not on the agenda for this year’s national conference which ended last week and the church says policy dictates that any resolution can only be revisited after three Read more
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand welcomes a stronger focus on New Zealand’s most vulnerable people and indications of a long-term, integrated approach to climate change in this year’s Budget. “Earlier in the year, we supported the intergenerational wellbeing approach being taken in this year’s Budget,” said Caritas Director Julianne Hickey. “It is good to see a Read more
Pope Francis says he is willing to personally tell President Donald Trump it is wrong to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. “I don’t know what happens when this new culture of defending territories by building walls enters. We already know one, [the one] from Berlin, that brought us a lot of headaches and Read more
France has officially acknowledged that French Polynesians were effectively forced into accepting almost 200 nuclear tests conducted over 30 years and that it is responsible for compensating them for the illnesses caused by the fallout. The French parliament issued the admission in a bill reforming the status of the collectivity of 118 islands in the Read more
Disgraced Cardinal George Pell won’t seek a reduced sentence if the Court of Appeal upholds his conviction for sexually abusing two Melbourne choirboys in the 1990s. Pell has been behind bars since February and is due to return to court next week to fight his conviction. But he won’t be adding an appeal against the Read more
The Church of Jesus Christ of the Later-Day Saints has purchased a multi-million dollar Manukau site for its new temple. The site is on Redoubt Rd, beside the Southern Motorway and between two other properties the church owns. Russell Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said: “I am pleased to Read more
The Catholic Church says it wants to work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in building a “New India”. “On behalf of the Catholic Church in India, and on my own behalf, I extend my heartiest congratulations to you and to the Bharatiya Janata Party on the emphatic election victory. “The people of India have given Read more