A plenary indulgence opportunity is available for the next 12 months. It will mark the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima, Portugal. Pope Francis has granted the opportunity from 27 November 2016 until 26 November 2017. Read more
A plenary indulgence opportunity is available for the next 12 months. It will mark the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima, Portugal. Pope Francis has granted the opportunity from 27 November 2016 until 26 November 2017. Read more
Thursday was the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the day Wellingtonians traditionally pray to Mary to protect them from earthquakes. In 1855 Wellington experienced a severe earthquake that rocked the southern part of the North Island. At magnitude 8.2 it was the most powerful ever recorded in New Zealand. The earthquake was caused by movement Read more
Christmas cards showing a different reality from the traditionally peaceful Nativity scene are on offer from Doctors of the World. In one scene, a missile flies over the Holy Family. The humanitarian group’s website says they want the cards “to remind people that war has forced millions from their homes this year, and they need Read more
Five years ago, Ray Columbus was interviewed by RNZ host Chris Laidlaw, and spoke of mods, family, Christopher Columbus and how the band’s style started in church. As a young man, Ray had wanted to be a priest. He said he thought he had a strong moral conviction, but it was also the way they Read more
A Bishop who has been excommunicated gave “illegitimate help” and concelebrated the Eucharist at a new bishop’s ordination last week. Lei Shiyin, the Chinese- government-backed bishop of Leshan in Sichuan province, was ordained in China in June 2011 without Rome’s blessing. He was excommunicated for this. The Vatican is concerned Lei’s role in last week’s Read more
Come December 25, the creators of the Christmas Grotto at South West Baptist Church in Christchurch will be exhausted, but they’ll be enjoying a great sense of achievement, knowing they’ve brought Christmas joy to thousands of people. Siblings Linda Hills and Edward Warrington, now in their 60s, admit they never really grew up properly, but Read more
The first US martyr, Father Stanley Rother from the Oklahoma City diocese, has been recognised by Pope Francis. He was murdered in 1981 in a Guatemalan village where he ministered to the poor. Read more
A rambling, deserted Catholic home for girls, owned by a self-styled Georgian prince, will finally be sold. Marycrest, on State Highway 1 between Peka Peka and Te Horo, was listed on Trade Me in 2014 for a minimum $2 million by Victor Greenwich, now living in Sydney, who said he was a descendant of princes Read more
Artificial intelligence was the subject of a conference held at the Vatican last week. One of the attendees described artificial intelligence as being “a very powerful technology”. “So I think as a society we need to think very carefully about the ethical use of technologies, and as one of the developers of this kind of Read more
The Catholics of northwest Auckland are grieving over the apparent theft of a statue of the Virgin Mary from the grounds of their church. The statue, estimated to stand 1.2m tall and filled with concrete, was wrenched out of its stone-arched grotto at St Joseph’s in Helensville, some time on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Continue reading