Auckland City Mission homeless outreach worker Charlotte Ama counted about 30 people living in cars and vans when she took NZ Herald reporters on a guided tour of the old Tank Farm area on the waterfront last Monday night. At times, she says, there are up to 50. Reporter Simon Collins and photographer Jason Oxenham Read more
St Patrick’s College Wellington student, Aiden Green, says the jacket rules at his school had suddenly changed this week. Although pupils were told at an assembly last Wednesday that plain black jackets without writing were acceptable, teachers stood by the gate on Tuesday morning and patrolled at lunchtime to confiscate any non-uniform jackets, he said. Read more
Priests in two ecclesiastical provinces in Mexico are being issued with cards to help distinguish them from false priests trying to scam people. The cards will be issued in Tlalnepantla and Mexico ecclesiastical provinces. The phenomenon of “false priests” is on the rise across the nation. The scammers go to hospitals, cemeteries and churches outside Read more
Police in India are probing a death threat allegedly made by a Maoist group against a Catholic cardinal. Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, the archbishop of Ranchi, received a threatening letter purportedly from the People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) The PLFI is a breakaway faction of the Communist Party of India. The letter demanded a payment Read more
A controversial Australian reality show that pairs couples in arranged marriage premiered in New Zealand on Monday. The documentary series, which will air on TV3, involves four men and four women being paired off by relationship experts and meeting each other for the first time at the altar. The show, Married at First Sight, then Read more
A former Catholic priest, now living in Nelson, has been charged with historic sex offences, including indecently assaulting young girls and rape. Peter Joseph Hercock, 71, a former chaplain at Sacred Heart College in Lower Hutt and administrator at a Nelson school, appeared in the Nelson District Court last week. He is charged with two Read more
Pope Francis has urged Russian president Vladimir Putin to make a “sincere and great effort” to achieve peace in the Ukraine. When Mr Putin met the Pope at the Vatican on Wednesday, he was received with full honours and regalia, including a ceremonial Swiss Guard welcome. Pope Francis seemed stiff and exceptionally formal when he Read more
American community organisers and union leaders have met Vatican officials to help encourage Pope Francis address social issues when he visits the US. They are hoping Pope Francis will discuss such issues when he meets President Barack Obama and addresses the US Congress in September. The issues raised include immigration reform, economic injustice for low-wage Read more