Bishop Victoria Matthews has rejected an offer of peace talks over the Christ Church Cathedral rebuild, accusing the nation’s heritage watchdog of trying to “publicly pressure” the church into a partial retention. Despite the response, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) says it remains hopeful of an “open dialogue” over the landmark’s future. The Read more
An evangelical Christian pastor from NZ, Bernadine Prince, will serve at least six years of a 12-year sentence after being found guilty of importing $2 million worth of drugs Smuggling the drugs was out of character, Justice Barr said, for a woman who had spent many years working in the church, ministering first to young people Read more
THE Methodist Church hopes to balance church and tradition in terms of the kava ban proposal that was put in place by late church president Reverend Tuikilakila Waqairatu. Church communications secretary Reverend James Bhagwan said they would continue to honour Waqairatu’s views, however, the church standing committee is working on ways to balance the ban Read more
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at NZ are hosting an Open Mosque Day on 1 March 2014. The Baitul Muqeet Mosque in Wiri, Auckland was opened in November 2013 and is New Zealand’s largest purpose-built mosque. The day will include guided tours, an exhibition and literature, as well as refreshments and hospitality from the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Continue reading
New Zealand-based journalism academic is looking for more discussion of the role of the media in promoting diversity, and more cooperation among New Zealand organisations to promote responsible and equitable reporting in a multicultural society Verica Rupar knows first hand the power of the media to foster cultural and religious diversity – or to fan Read more
The Vatican has stopped taking on new employees, and has frozen wages and overtime for its staff in a bid to cut costs and offset budget shortfalls. Pope Francis, with input from the Vatican’s central accounting office, also determined that volunteers could be used to help provide the labour needed to make up for the Read more
Some 74 per cent of Poles think that religion is not always the source of morality and people should follow their own conscience first. The results of a poll by the Warsaw-based CBOS polling agency reveal a significant decline of public trust regarding religion in Poland. The poll showed a significant increase in Poles who Read more
Introducing legal pre-nuptial agreements would invite engaged couples to prepare for divorce and would undermine marriage, an English Catholic bishop has warned. Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury gave his warning in a sermon, before publication by the Law Commission of proposals for a new law “to consider the treatment of pre-nuptial, post-nuptial and separation agreements”. Read more
A team of specialists has begun to repair the statue of Christ the Redeemer, overlooking Rio de Janeiro, after it was damaged by a lightening strike last month. The Rio Archdiocese, owner of the statue, has entrusted the work to a group of abseiling eigineers, to avoid the use of scaffolds, and allow visits to Read more
Retired German Cardinal Walter Kasper, a theologian who has been searching for a new pastoral approach to divorced and remarried Catholics for more than 20 years, is scheduled to address the Feb. 20-21 meeting of the College of Cardinals in preparation for the Synod of Bishops on the family. Pope Francis has said that the Read more