Amongst calls being made for the New Zealand flag to remain and a motion for a Bishop’s age of retirement overturned, a profound theme threading its way through this year’s Te Runanganui o Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa – Maori General Synod of Aotearoa/New Zealand [Anglican Maori Synod ] that the lay leadership be heard in Read more
A New Plymouth teacher who called a student “cowardly” and “depressed” and shouldered him through a classroom door has been censured. Francis Douglas Memorial College department head Johannes Stefanus Meyer has kept his teaching registration but not his job after being found guilty of serious misconduct by the New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal. Meyer was on leave Read more
A Brazilian bishop has clamped down on chatter during the Sign of Peace at Mass. Bishop Milton Kenan Junior of Barretos issued a decree on the distribution of Communion, the exchange of peace and norms for extraordinary ministers. The bishop stated that during the exchange of peace, the faithful should avoid moving around too much. Read more
Bishops whose dioceses are along the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route have tried to counter moves to make it just a cultural or tourist experience. French and Spanish bishops released a pastoral letter setting out the possibilities of evangelisation of those travelling the route. The bishops admit that 70 per cent of those walking the Read more
The majority of the members of Pastor Michael Hewat West Hamilton Community Church were originally from the West Hamilton Anglican Parish on Rifle Range Rd. Hewat forfeited his licence 12 months ago, when he refused to submit to the church hierarchy in a move to allow gay marriage. When he left the church, his congregation, Read more
The trustees of St Gerard’s Monastery in Wellington think the earthquake-prone designation might be unfair, and are setting out to prove it. The monastery’s heritage status means demolition would be very hard to achieve. Chairman of the monastery trust and former MP Gordon Copeland said the monastery and an adjacent church were judged well below Read more
Sir Peter Jackson has come to the rescue of an historic Seatoun church. Jackson and wife Fran Walsh have bought St Christopher’s Church in Seatoun for $1.06 million in a move that saves the earthquake-prone church and neighbouring hall from potential demolition. Now, the Miramar Peninsula Community Trust has been established to run the buildings Read more
The Vatican has chosen a composition by English Catholic composer Paul Inwood to be the official setting for the hymn of the Holy Year of Mercy. Mr Inwood’s setting was judged the best entry in an international competition organised by The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. The competition was judged by Read more
A Japanese author, in a book about Benedict XVI, has described the Catholic Church as an “East” in a West determined to impose its values on other cultures. Hajime Konno, in his book “Benedictus PP XVI, Renovatio Europae Renovatio”, draws attention to the Western presumption that wants to impose its values on the entire world. Read more