A busy road that cuts through Rome’s ancient forum to the Colosseum was blocked to private traffic on Saturday, in the first stage of a plan to pedestrianise the area that has angered some locals but which the mayor says is of global importance. In the hours before the closure, motorbikes and cars circled the Read more
Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze spoke to a group of catechists in Sri Lanka, reminding them of the importance of their role in teaching the faith and encouraging them to read the catechism. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church is an important book…reading it would improve your knowledge,” he told the group on July 22. The Read more
A legal wrangle over Christ Church Cathedral’s fate is far from over despite a court ruling demolition may proceed. The Court of Appeal dealt those fighting for the landmark’s restoration a hefty blow on Friday when it dismissed an appeal against a High Court decision allowing the Anglican Church to deconstruct. The Great Christchurch Buildings Read more
South Asian Muslims living in Auckland reported feeling safe and secure but some said they had received “prejudicial treatment” in their dealings with New Zealand police because of their ethnicity. In the research for an AUT University study on ethnicity and policing, all but one of the 16 people interviewed by researchers Sameer Nisar and Read more
Schools are going through the “hurtful” process of choosing to drop the Bible in Schools programme, with boards of trustees working through passionate arguments from parents on both sides of the debate. The Herald was flooded with correspondence after a front-page story that reported on a survey of state primary and intermediate schools and found Read more
A sharia committee in the rebel-held region of the Syrian city of Aleppo has banned croissants as symbols of “colonial” oppression. Syria is a former French colony, so some there apparently associate this culinary symbol of Frenchness with France and with imperialism more generally. They specifically targeted croissants, al-Arabiya reports, because the pastry’s “crescent shape Read more
Researchers from the University of Illinois wanted to test a previously-held theory that introverted people who suppress emotions about sex and depravity are more creative than people who are more open and extroverted. They discovered that Protestants, or people who grow up in a Protestant communities, can channel suppressed emotions more effectively than their Catholic Read more
Sister Loyola Galvin, from the Home of Compassion in the Wellington suburb of Island Bay, was named national NZ Gardener of the Year 2008 by NZ Gardener magazine, and interviewed twice by Kim Hill in 2008. Filmmaker Jess Feast was inspired by those interviews to make a documentary film about Sister Loyola, Gardening With Soul, Read more
Peter Lineham is Associate Professor of History at Massey University’s Albany campus, and his research focuses on religion in New Zealand life and history. His new book, Destiny: the Life and Times of a Self-Made Apostle, looks at Brian Tamaki and the Destiny Church. In an interview with Kim Hill Lineham says his book is not Read more
The next World Youth Day, in 2016, will be in the Polish city of Krakow — where the WYD founder, Pope John Paul II, was archbishop before he was elected to the papacy. After the announcement at WYD in Rio de Janeiro, thousands of Poles who were scattered across Copacabana Beach cheered loudly. The late Read more