The Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Jo Goodhew, has announced that there will not be a review of the Charities Act 2005 “at the present time”. In 2010 the Government announced that it intended to undertake a first principles review of the Act. Mrs Goodhew says the decision to not conduct a review Read more
Sunday was special for 69 members of the Catholic faith at Lami Parish when they received the sacramemt of confirmation. Parish priest Father Ioane Simione said after receiving the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in the sacrament, the children were eligible to receive the certificates of the sacrament of confirmation. Continue reading
The practical atheism of those who say they are Christian but live as if God does not exist is more destructive than actual atheism, Pope Benedict XVI has said. Speaking to a crowd of nearly 7000 in Rome, he presented three ways to more fully discover God and combat indifference towards faith. Continue reading
The government of Zambia has reversed its decision to deport a Rwandan priest for speaking out for the rights of impoverished cotton farmers. Home Minister Edgar Lunga said the order against Father Viateur Banyangandora was revoked following consultations with various members of the Catholic Church and was in line with “the Bible teachings to forgive Read more
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has spoken out against the Indonesian government’s continued persecution of religious minorities. Navanethem Pillay urged the world’s largest Muslim nation to translate universal human rights obligations into domestic law. Continue reading
An 80-year-old retired priest in Perth has appeared in court after allegedly biting an ear off a fellow cleric during a brawl over a parking bay in the Catholic complex they share with another retired priest. Father Thomas Henry Byrne sported a black eye in court, where he was bailed with strict conditions not to Read more
Seventy million Christian martyrs since the time of Christ . . . at least 100,000 new martyrs for the Christian faith each year in the first decade of this millennium . . . 11 Christians killed every hour of every day for the whole of the past decade. These figures from a conference on the Read more
Catholic bishops in Argentina have denied claims by a former dictator that the Church was complicit in crimes committed by the 1976-1983 military regime. The bishops said they were open to a profound review of the Church’s role during those years, which human rights groups say resulted in the killing of up to 30,000 people Read more
Several Protestant clergy and Catholic priests in Pakistan have called on their churches to consider relaxing attitudes towards Christian polygamists, or risk a drop in Church membership. Their concerns follow the strong impact of Islamic society on religious minority families. Continue reading
A nun with a gambling addiction is facing criminal grand larceny charges for embezzling funds from two parishes in upstate New York. She reportedly stole $NZ155,000 and spent it at casinos while working as a pastoral associate. Continue reading