Guam’s Governor Eddie Calvo has signed into law a controversial bill that will allow victims of child sex abuse to sue their abusers and the institutions with which they are associated at any time. Mr Calvo said the new law “opens the doors of justice to those who suffered a terrible harm as children,” but Read more
Anti-semitism claims are being inflated by Israel’s allies. An employee of a state-funded charity in Belgium says the aim is to distract from the allies’ treatment of Palestinians. Brigitte Herremans, who works for Catholic organisations Broederlijk Delen and Pax Christi, made the comments on Flemish Radio 1. Read more
About 500 people, mostly schoolchildren, gathered outside Parliament Tuesday to call on the government to do more to tackle homelessness. The hikoi was organised by the Catholic institute Ngā Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy, and used the rallying cry “shelter for all”. Sisters from the institute also met with Cabinet ministers Paula Bennett Read more
Euthanasia approval for a terminally ill Belgian 17-year-old makes him the first minor to be helped to die in Belgium. Age restrictions on euthanasia requests were removed in Belgium two years ago. The head of the country’ federal euthanasia commission Wim Distelmans said the teenager was “suffering unbearable physical pain”. “Fortunately there are very few Read more
Some 50 protesters formed a human chain around a block of land in Trentham, Upper Hutt, which Housing New Zealand wants to sell. The St Joseph’s (Upper Hutt) Justice, Peace and Development group organised the peaceful protest on July 10. The group had led a petition asking the Minister responsible for Housing New Zealand, Bill English, to stop the sale of the Read more
School prayers are banned in Kenya. The Catholic Church supports Kenyan Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i’s ban on school prayer days in the third term. The ban is because of cheating in exams. Nyeri Archbishop Peter Kairu said schools do not need to hold such days: God answers individual prayers. “The love for money has Read more
Artificial contraception and the Catholic church’s ban on it is the subject of a statement challenging the church’s ruling. Ireland’s former president, Mary McAleese, is among more than 100 international Catholic academics who have signed a ‘Scholars’ Statement’ challenging the church’s stance. Prepared by independent think tank the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research, it will Read more
An alcohol watchdog hopes a survey that shows more than one in four teens aged between 15 and 17 often drink a risky amount of alcohol serves as a sharp wake-up call. Alcohol Healthwatch director Rebecca Williams said more needed to be done to reduce the availability and cost of liquor, and the marketing of Read more
Seeking euthanasia may result Catholics being denied sacraments, say some Canadian bishops. While the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada does not alter the truth that these acts are “gravely immoral,” it is “foreseeable” that priests will receive requests for the sacraments from Catholics contemplating these actions, the Alberta and NWT bishops stated Read more
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said she was looking forward to receiving recommendations from the UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child, after a “comprehensive” session in Geneva. Mrs Tolley and a delegation of officials were questioned by the committee as part of its five-yearly report. They talked at length about the new Ministry Read more