The rainbow community and the Taranaki Cathedral will keep putting out a positive message about love after a sign was defaced in central New Plymouth. On Wednesday morning, a rainbow billboard in the front yard of the Anglican cathedral was being cleaned for the second time in less than four days. Read more
The conflict in Gaza cast a shadow on Monday over a major conference on the Vatican and the Holocaust, with one participant calling the carnage the worst slaughter of civilian Jews in one day since then. The conference was organised after the opening in 2020 of Vatican archives of the pontificate of Pius XII, which Read more
The producer of a new film about St Mother Teresa is defending their movie after one of the nun’s chief advocates argued it was hampered by “grave errors” in how the film’s director portrayed the life of the celebrated charity worker. The film, “Mother Teresa and Me,” uses a framing narrative of a young woman Read more
Top mental health specialists warn that the number of psychologists and psychiatrists must double to meet patient demand. Practitioners said New Zealand needed 15 psychologists per 100,000 people to meet demand – equating to 770 full-time workers. But Te Whatu Ora estimated the public sector currently employed about 350 workers. Ashley Bertelson, 18, said her Read more
Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer has been lit in pink to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. The 38-metre Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro is one of the country’s most famous landmarks. It has been used for many promotional events in the past, including campaigns by climate activists. Cancer patients Read more
Churches across 12 denominations in New Zealand have signed up to an international project called Eco Church to reduce their impact on the environment. Chartwell Cooperating Church have installed their first round of solar panels, with plans to cover more of their roof in the future. Solar power is a clean power source, compared to Read more
A drug-resistant infection is “a ticking time bomb” in the Pacific – including New Zealand, according to new Otago University research. A landmark study, just published in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific journal, has found strains of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (known as CRAb) are spreading between India, Fiji, Samoa, Australia and New Zealand. Read more
Hundreds of thousands of Latin chant pieces have been digitised and made available to the general public thanks to the use of artificial intelligence. Behind the imposing rood screen, about forty Benedictine nuns take their places in the choir stalls as their superior intones, Deus in adjutórium meum inténde (“God, come to my assistance”). Seven Read more
Pope Francis and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem have responded to the sudden outbreak of conflict in Israel and Palestine over the weekend. The pope said at the end of a public address on Sunday he is following the violence “with apprehension and sorrow” and issued an appeal to “please stop weapons attacks!” The head Read more
Turkish Presidency’s Communications Directorate has debunked a series of fake news and disinformation spreading on social media, including about the “sale” of Istanbul’s cultural and religious landmark Hagia Sophia to the Vatican. In a weekly bulletin against disinformation, the Directorate refuted the claims about a $38 billion deal with the Vatican for Hagia Sophia, stressing Read more