Cardinal Dew was a great delight to see so many people at a Mass last Thursdayat St Joseph’s Church, Mt Victoria, Wellington for those affected by separation and divorce. He said It was a “very positive time for all of us, and so good to see the sense of community which developed with being together.” Read Read more
The Irish Bishops’ marriage counselling agency, will offer its services to same-sex couples in compliance with the law. Bishop Denis Nulty said the agency, Accord, has been supporting sacramental marriage for more than 50 years. He says “our counsellors accompany anyone who comes, with respect, compassion and sensitivity”. Read more
Refugees receiving medical treatment in Papua New Guinea are no longer provided with interpreters, a Kurdish refugee says. Despite a promise that interpreters would be available, the English speaking Kurd said he had to volunteer to help patients and doctors communicate. Continue reading
One year after the Charlottesville protests, the Catholic Church in the United States appears to be still struggling to reckon with America’s “original sin.” Read more
Lutheran-Catholic unity may have taken a step forward recently. The Lutheran-Roman Catholic Study Commission on Unity says completed an important ecumenical dialogue phase at a recent meeting. The meeting focused on baptism and growth in communion and built on earlier ecumenical dialogues. These concentrated on baptism, justification, Eucharist, ministry and apostolicity of the church. In Read more
Napier City Council has lost a court battle to retain Easter Sunday trading because it carried out public consultation while the Christian community was distracted with advent over the Christmas period. Justice Robert Dobson recently overruled the council’s decision to allow Easter Sunday trading following a High Court judicial hearing last month. Continue reading
English singer-songwriter Sting and his wife Trudi Styler caught the papal eye at the pope’s weekly audience last Wednesday. Afterwards Sting (former frontman of The Police) tweeted a series of pictures of the moment, with the caption, “Pope Francis is a true rock star! A genuine charisma that filled the room. Read more
A law that gives children more protection against forced marriage was enacted on Wednesday. The Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill aims to prevent forced marriages of mostly girls, aged 16 and 17 and considered minors by the state, by changing the requirement of consent from parents to a Family Court judge. Read more
Communion services where a priest is not present must stop says US bishop Robert Vasa. These services are “not consistent with the Instructions from the Holy See,” he told Catholics in his diocese. He pointed to an Instruction from the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments issued in 2004. The Instruction says Read more
Casino company SkyCity Entertainment said it has raised its normalised net profit by 10.4 per cent to $169.9 million for the year to June. Market expectations were for a normalised net profit of $162 million. Continue reading