Anglicans have secured $6 million in lotteries money to help restore the earthquake-damaged Christ Church Cathedral. The grant covers almost half the outstanding reinstatement cost once existing pledges and insurance are taken into account, but it is understood some in the church are uncomfortable taking gambling money. Continue reading
A Catholic building used as a religious instruction centre was one of 22 buildings burned by Boko Haram militants during an attack on Monday in northwestern Nigeria. The centre had only recently been rebuilt after Boko Haram destroyed it in 2014. Read more
A senior figure in the Anglican church claims a decision to the reinstate Christ Church Cathedral is being ignored by some in the church in the hope it can be changed. David Morrell, who is a canon emeritus of the cathedral and former city missioner, said there had been “zilch” progress since the church agreed Read more
A priest has found €36,000 (about NZ$60,500.) in a confessional box at a church in Rome. Initially the priests at the church thought the stash of money might be a bomb so called the Police. Upon investigation, the Police found wads of €50 notes hidden beneath the priest’s chair. Read more
Te Papa museum is calling for Matariki to be celebrated by all Kiwis as an indigenous event of national identity. Matariki, sometimes called the Māori New Year, is celebrated when the star cluster known as Matariki rises in the sky during winter. Continue reading
Parish and faith community nurses will turn their attention to mental health, youth issues, spirituality and promoting health in Māori contexts at the Faith Community Nursing annual conference to be held at Tauranga’s Holy Trinity Anglican Church. New Zealand Faith Community Nurses Association Board member Rev Faye Davenport, who is a deacon and registered nurse, Read more
A Taranaki woman dubbed a taonga to the Catholic community has received a prestigious Papal honour. Margaret Hurley was awarded a Benemerenti Medal, a decoration awarded by the Pope and sent straight from the Vatican, during a service at New Plymouth’s St Joseph’s church on Sunday. Continue reading
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland says people in same-sex relationships cannot be a full member of the Church. The new policy extends to these people’s children, who the Presbyterian Church says cannot be baptised. The new policy followed the Irish Presbyterian Church cutting ceremonial ties with the Church of Scotland due to its more liberal Read more
Catholics have stopped administering several sacraments in the Democratic Republic of Congo to help prevent an Ebola virus outbreak from spreading. Baptisms, confirmations, ordinations and anointing of the sick have been suspended until further notice in the country’s northwestern regions hardest hit by the outbreak. So far, at least 25 people have died since the Read more
A church holding funds for a Putaruru family who suffered from severe poisoning last year has released only part of the $100,000 raised. This story has been updated: Read The St Thomas Marthoma Church of New Zealand has released $42,520 of the $102,764 donated earlier this year after three members of the Kochummen family became Read more