Parliament’s Speaker David Carter has proposed a new prayer to be read at the opening of the parliamentary day. He is asking MPs for their feedback on the prayer which could replace the existing one adopted in 1962. MPs have been told the choice is between the existing prayer, which is 70 words long, and Read more
An overhaul of the Wellington Archdiocese will soon see the three Catholic Wairarapa parishes merge into a single combined parish. The three separate parishes of Masterton, Carterton and Featherston will combine to become the Catholic Parish of Wairarapa, as of February 1. The new parish will be centrally administered from Masterton, but all five Catholic Read more
Want a white Panama hat owned by the pope? Now is your chance. Pope Francis is raffling off the Homero Ortega brand hat, a new four-wheel-drive Fiat Panda, bicycles, an espresso coffee machine, watches and other objects he has received as gifts to raise money for the poor. A poster recently went up around the Read more
Brittany Maynard’s mother is calling the Vatican’s response to the 29 year old’s decision to terminate her life “more than a slap in the face”. In a sharply written response to the Vatican, Debbie Ziegler said the comments came at the wrong time; while the family was grieving. Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, head of the Read more
Pope Francis is to make his first trip to the United States as the head of the Catholic Church in September, the Vatican said Tuesday, NZ time. He will travel to the World Meeting of the Families, said Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi. The Catholic public event, which celebrates the family as the basic Read more
Caritas supports the government’s prioritising of the Pacific for direct climate change related funding, rather than making a major contribution to the global Green Climate Fund. At the G20 summit in Australia on the weekend, Prime Minister John Key pledged $3 million to the Fund, but said New Zealand would continue to focus on the Read more
A retired judge says families need more financial support so that one parent can stay at home for the first three years of each child’s life. Graeme MacCormick, a Family Court judge for 16 years until 2005, has paid for full-page advertisements in the country’s four main newspapers yesterday and this weekend asking people to Read more
New Zealand has an estimated 600 people living in some sort of slavery, according to a report by campaign group Walk Free Foundation. The anti-slavery foundation released its Global Slavery Index which said nearly 36 million people are enslaved worldwide, two-thirds of them in the Asia Pacific region. The report defined slaves as people subject to Read more
Pope Francis has invited the performer dubbed the “godmother of punk” to sing at the Vatican’s Christmas concert next month. Patti Smith will be one of 18 artists performing at Rome’s Auditorium Conciliazione on December 13. Also singing at the concert will be Italy’s singing nun Sr Cristina Scuccia. The Pope met Ms Smith in Read more
The bishops’ conference of England and Wales plans to launch a wide-ranging consultation of parishes and clergy ahead of next year’s synod on the family. The bishops would like a period of spiritual reflection in each parish. They would also like to hear the experiences of clergy on the main “pastoral challenges” they encounter with Read more