Cardinal George Pell looked “ashen and grey” last month, according to a priest testifying at an Australia inquiry into child sex abuse. Fr John Walshe told a royal commission hearing about a lunch at Cardinal Pell’s apartment in Rome in November. “I couldn’t get over how poorly he looked when I saw him last month,” Read more
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Brazilian Bishop Paulo Sérgio Machado, who was involved in an alleged drink-driving incident. Bishop Machado was the ordinary of São Carlos, a city of 220,000 in south-eastern Brazil. In September, the bishop was stopped by police after he exhibited signs of intoxication while driving and almost hit a Read more
Pope Francis has restored a capacity to the Vatican’s main marriage court that had been restricted by St John Paul II. In a December 7 rescript, Francis allowed the Roman Rota to grant an annulment even if the grounds for doing so weren’t the ones originally specified in the case under review. Before 1994, the Read more
The Government’s attempt to “pass the buck” over Easter trading hours has not gone down well with Wellington City Council. Parliament is currently considering legislation that would allow local councils to decide whether shops stay open on Easter Sunday within their boundaries or within smaller, specific areas. But at a meeting on Wednesday, many Wellington Read more
When the noise is more painful than joyful, when the noise is an ear-splitting worship band and the decibels are raising the roof rather than the spirit, sensitive Christians are hurting and complaining. “People are asking if this is going to make us all deaf?” says Tauranga Hearing Association’s resource co-ordinator Jo Sykes told SunLive. Read more
A Vatican court has ruled that the Holy See’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will be called as a witness in a trial over leaked documents. Five people, including two journalists, are standing trial for the alleged leaking and dissemination of documents revealing mismanagement of the Holy See’s finances. On December 7, court a Read more
Protesters shouting slogans like “Pope is a Satan” have disrupted several Masses in churches in Las Vegas. The group behind the action, Koosha Las Vegas, have been entering churches during services, shouting at Catholics that they need to repent now or else. The group has filmed the acts and posting them on the Internet. This Read more
Pope Francis has urging the international community to act soon on the agreement reached at the Paris climate change talks. At his Angelus address on Sunday, the Pope congratulated world leaders on reaching the agreement. Implementing the plan, he said, will require “a concerted and generous commitment on the part of each one”. The Pope Read more
A pair of young Invercargill filmmakers have collected another round of awards. Verdon College Year 12 students Liam van Eeden and Jean-Martin Fabre picked up five awards last week for their short films Rewind and Message in a Bottle. At the awards ceremony in Wellington on December 5, the short film won the Leadership award, Best Read more
With rising global fervour against Isis, Kiwi Muslims are suffering marginalisation and abuse from fellow New Zealanders. This week has been particularly bad. SIS boss Rebecca Kitteridge on Tuesday revealed a rise in the number of young New Zealand women heading to Iraq and Syria. A 14-year-old girl ignores the taunts from her peers as Read more