Registrations for World Youth Day in 2013 — in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 23 to 28 — have opened for prebookings through the official WYD website. The theme for the 28th WYD is “Go and make disciples of all nations”. Discounted prices from $NZ60 to $NZ350 will be available until January 31, 2013. Read more
An Italian priest who was expelled from Syria in June insists that the country’s people have the right to fight against an unjust regime. But Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, who calls himself “chaplain of the revolution”, warns that the emergence of an Islamic regime could bring disaster for the Christian minority and the end to centuries Read more
Efforts are being made to find an alternative site for the Aubert Childcare Centre. The Centre’s board chairman Kelvin Wong said about five options had come to light last week. Wong said a massive fundraising exercise would be required to fit out a new building, and they hoped a decision would be made in the Read more
The light, clear tones of young women’s voices filled the chapel, their chanted prayers drifting across the wooden altar screen that shielded the sisters from the full view of those sitting in the pews. The sisters in this American convent belong to the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious — a national organisation that, Read more
The head of Rotorua Boys’ High School has apologised for an attack outside John Paul College involving his students. Boys’ High principal Chris Grinter has also warned his students about their use of Facebook after comments posted on the social networking site sparked the fight outside the Catholic school. Students from Boys’ High were thought Read more
New Zealand Christian Network (NZCN) wants Christians to be aware of misleading information about marriage and the Church. “Contrary to wide-spread reports about divorce rates in the Church being the same as in general society, the strong indications are that divorce rates in the Church are significantly lower,” said NZCN national director, Glyn Carpenter. Regrettably, Read more
The Zambian Catholic bishops are opposing a proposal to identify Zambia as “a Christian nation” in the preamble to a new national constitution. A statement from the bishops’ conference says “a country cannot practise the values and precepts of Christianity by a mere declaration” and, in any case, it would contradict the fact that “Zambia Read more
Onewa Rd in Northcote is renowned for its long morning traffic queues, almost matched by similar congestion on the return trip. St Mary’s Catholic Church and Primary School on Onewa Rd knows the problem all too well. Parents battle the traffic in the mornings and afternoons, dropping or walking children to school or the nearby Read more
An 11-year-old Christian girl with Down’s syndrome has been accused of desecrating the Qur’an under the severe blasphemy law in Pakistan. Rimsha Masih is the first minor to be charged with blasphemy in Pakistan. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Witnesses claim she burnt 10 pages of a booklet used to Read more
Hostility towards religion has grown to unprecedented levels in the United States, according to a national survey that describes more than 600 examples in the last decade. Examples include local government zoning laws discriminating against churches and city officials telling senior citizens that praying over government-funded food violated the “separation of church and state” and Read more