The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is attempting to block a Vatican bid to create new web addresses ending in .catholic, arguing that the Church “cannot demonstrate that it possesses a monopoly over the term ‘Catholic’ ”. The objection is one of more than 160 sent by the Saudis to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names Read more
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the United States has begun talks with the archbishop appointed to supervise its reform, but says it will not make fundamental changes to its expression of consecrated religious life. The LCWR national assembly had instructed its board to approach the discussion with Archbishop Peter Sartain “from a stance Read more
More than 500 people committed suicide in New Zealand in 2010. The report, called Suicide Facts, showed the suicide rate was 23.6 per cent below the peak rate in 1998. A Ministry of Health report released today showed there were also 2825 intentional self-harm hospitalisations, which included attempted suicides. Hanging, strangulation and suffocation were the Read more
Family first for everyday New Zealanders. Spending time with loved ones was the most popular response in a nationwide survey which quizzed everyday Kiwis about their favourite pastimes. Twenty per cent of respondents to the “What Kiwis Love” survey – which was commissioned by Vodafone and conducted by Nielsen – listed family time as their Read more
Iran’s court of appeals has upheld a six-year prison term imposed on a man who converted to Christianity from Islam and organised a house church. The Christian convert, Farshid Fat’hi, had been charged with “acting against national security through membership of the Christian organization Ilam, collection of funds and propaganda against the Islamic Regime by Read more
Amnesty International, a human rights organisation that used to be neutral on abortion, is now using the issue of maternal mortality to advocate for abortion. In a new report, ostensibly on medical care for maternal health, Amnesty International calls on governments to repeal abortion laws and the protection of conscientious objection for medical workers, according Read more
A new Hindu Temple and community centre will be key to linking West Aucklanders with the local Indian community, says the president of the Shri Ram Mandir Charitable Trust. About 500 people witnessed the ground breaking and blessing ceremony at the site of the future community centre and temple on Brick St in Henderson. The Read more
An anti-abortion group’s battle for a review of abortions has been dismissed by the Supreme Court. Right to Life had argued many abortions were wrongly approved on mental health grounds and called for the Abortion Supervisory Committee to investigate. The group had sought a judicial review of the committee’s assertion that it has no oversight Read more
Following a special meeting of Seventh-day Adventist church leaders of the South Pacific Division on the 2nd August, the Samoa seventh-day Sabbath issue will now be revisited by an international forum of biblical researchers. Also agreed at the Australia meet was the need for a meeting of ‘reconciliation’ between Samoan pastors in New Zealand, Australia, Read more
A new film by philosopher, priest and producer Father Robert Spitzer aims to integrate faith and reason by making the claim that the existence of God can be proved through scientific evidence. “We thought the whole story wasn’t being told in the media about the evidence for God from physics,” the Jesuit priest told CNA. “We’re Read more