A young woman’s startup to map the global Church has secured Vatican approval. Using geographic information system software Molly Burhans is aiming to make the first known map of the global Catholic Church. This will start with diocesan boundaries, followed by layer upon layer of data about the church and its social and environmental contexts Read more
On the weekend of September 8/9 at St Christopher’s in Avonhead, the Christchurch Synod will vote to decide the fate of the Christ Church Cathedral. As we have heard endlessly, opinion is split over whether to restore the current building or to build a new, contemporary cathedral. On Tuesday, Christchurch Regeneration Minister Nicky Wagner released Read more
Is it too much to ask the Church to pay its workers a living wage? According to Valerie Schultz, while the church relies on volunteers in many instances, certain jobs require steady commitment and extensive training, which must be compensated. Paying the people who provide these services is a matter of economic justice. Schultz says Read more
An Auckland woman came close to losing sight in one eye after bathing in contaminated water in Bali. Fighting the infection the lawyer and mother-of-two endured five days of sleep deprivation, woken hourly to have antibiotics administered. Last month Jenine Briggs went to Bali on a week-long yoga retreat. During the retreat she visited the Read more
Pope Francis has asked Father Gabriele Faraghini, who is a confrere of the Little Brothers of Jesus, to be rector of the Diocese of Rome’s main seminary. The 51-year old Faraghini studied at the Rome diocesan seminary and was ordained for the Diocese of Rome in 1992. Many of the Little Brothers of Jesus are Read more
TVNZ has quietly ceased production of 30-year-old local series Praise Be, New Zealand’s fourth longest-running TV show – and it happened more than a year ago. The last new episode of the Christian choral show actually screened in late 2015, while the 2016 season – funded to the tune of $388,000 by NZ On Air – consisted Read more
The Vatican has released a limited edition medallion marking the fifth year of Pope Francis’s pontificate. There are 50 copies in gold, 1,000 in silver and 1,500 in bronze, as well as 50 “triptychs” (in gold, silver and bronze). Read more
A woman who says she has carried out 10,000 abortions was a key speaker last week at an Italian parish forum sponsored by local officials of Caritas Italiana. Parishioners protesting at her inclusion in the forum were removed from the audience. Emma Bonino’s advocacy for immigrants and refugees has prompted Pope Francis to praise her Read more
On the evening of Wednesday the 9th of August, Wellington Cathedral of St Paul will play host to a joint Roman Catholic and Anglican election forum focusing on housing. Political leaders are being invited to attend and speak, and it will be a fantastic opportunity for people to hear housing challenges and the proposed solutions Read more