A Brooklyn pastor who was disciplined after he allowed a pop star to shoot a lewd music video in his church wrote a letter to his parish Nov 4, taking “full responsibility” for the matter while adding that he had “no knowledge” that “such a scene” would be filmed in the church. Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, Read more
News Shorts
Brooklyn pastor apologises for provocative music video filmed in church
Thursday, November 9th, 2023Race relations among most divisive issues in election – poll
Wednesday, November 8th, 2023Race relations have become an increasingly divisive political issue, but other controversial topics such as hate speech may not pose an issue for the incoming government, new polling suggests. A report from pollsters Talbot Mills, seeking to understand the degree to which New Zealand has become more politically polarised, shows people broadly agree on Covid-19 Read more
Plans to enshrine abortion in French Constitution alarm bishops
Monday, November 6th, 2023Archbishop Pierre d’Ornellas, head of the bioethics working group of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF), has expressed “grave concern” over President Emmanual Macron’s recent announcement that abortion rights should be enshrined in France’s Constitution. “We are facing a real social question! It’s as if we didn’t know how to approach it, and so, in order Read more
Jesuits say they warned diocese that incardinated Rupnik had complaints against him
Monday, November 6th, 2023Father Marko Rupnik’s former superior in the Society of Jesus, Father Johan Verschueren, denied that the Jesuits facilitated the incardination of the priest, who is accused of sexual abuse, in the Diocese of Koper, Slovenia, and said that the order warned the local bishop about the serious complaints against him. In a statement to ACI Read more
CCRL confident in getting $50m for Christ Church Cathedral
Monday, November 6th, 2023The Christ Church Cathedral in Christchurch, a landmark in the city’s Cathedral Squared and severely scarred by the 2011 earthquake, is poised for a full project review after a significant stabilisation phase was completed in March. Since then, details on the $160 million restoration have been sparse. Keith Paterson of Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd Read more
Former Carterton presbytery now a family home
Monday, November 6th, 2023
A 110-year-old building that once served as a Catholic presbytery has been transformed into a stunning family home in the South Wairarapa countryside. The villa was formerly home to St Mary’s Catholic Church’s parish priest in Carterton and was hauled away in pieces in the middle of the night in November last year. The building Read more
Pope says he will attend COP28 climate summit in Dubai
Monday, November 6th, 2023Pope Francis said he will attend the COP28 climate conference starting next month in Dubai, the first time a pontiff will be at the UN environmental meeting since they began in 1995. The pope told Italy’s state-run RAI television TG1 news in an interview that he expected to be in Dubai Dec 1-3. The conference Read more
Head of China’s state-backed Catholic church to visit Hong Kong
Monday, November 6th, 2023The leader of China’s Communist Party-sponsored version of the Catholic church will visit Hong Kong this month at the invitation of the city’s pope-appointed Roman Catholic cardinal, fostering dialogue as China-Vatican relations remain strained. Joseph Li, the state-appointed archbishop of Beijing, will take a five-day trip to Hong Kong starting Nov 14 at the invitation Read more
Synod Synthesis Report now available to download in English
Thursday, November 2nd, 2023
Initial reaction to the “synthesis report” from Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality mixed. Conservatives warn that the Church is being ‘warmed up’ to major changes in doctrine, while progressives are complaining their issues have not been addressed or the document does not go far enough. The synthesis report outlines key proposals discussed between some 450 Read more
Court upholds decision against parish building
Thursday, November 2nd, 2023The backers of the contentious Olive Leaf parish building proposed for Arrowtown have lost an Environment Court appeal, six years after applying for resource consent. The Olive Leaf Centre Trust appealed a decision by independent planning commissioners in 2020 turning down its proposal for a multipurpose parish and community centre on land beside the St Read more