A fire at a central Dunedin church this morning is being treated as suspicious. A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said they received reports of a fire at the Coptic Orthodox Catholic Church of the Archangel Michael in Melville St at 9.25am. Units from Dunedin City and Willowbank responded, and an aerial appliance was Read more
The Jehovah’s Witness church has been fighting scrutiny from a national inquiry into the historical abuse of children for three years, court documents show. The church has accused the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care of wilfully “miscasting” its religion and ignoring evidence showing why it should be excluded from the inquiry.OK In Read more
The Japanese government is moving ahead to seek a court order to dissolve the Unification Church more than a year after the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that brought the controversial Christian group under intense scrutiny. The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to dissolve the church as early as mid-October, the Read more
Pope Francis met with Cardinal Luis Ladaria on Tuesday morning to thank him for his six years as head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The pope visited the dicastery shortly after 9 am on Sept 5, the Vatican said in a brief statement. Francis also greeted other dicastery officials after meeting Read more
A man who bit and strangled his partner also told her he would tie her up and chop her into pieces, claiming she was the devil for not following the “correct” form of Christianity. Geoffrey Marsters, 43, appeared at the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday, where he was jailed for three years and 10 months Read more
Chinese authorities have prohibited Catholic bishops in China from travelling to Mongolia to meet with Pope Francis during his papal visit to the tiny Catholic community in the country bordering China to the north. The decision by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, first reported by America, the Jesuit magazine, is Read more
Christians are responding to a fake Bible passage reportedly generated by ChatGPT that said Jesus accepts trans-identified individuals, stating, “there is no man nor woman.” “And a woman, whose heart was divided between spirit and body, came before him,” the fake passage reads. “In quiet despair, she asked, ‘Lord, I come to you estranged, for Read more
Christchurch police officers are “really struggling” with the level of youth crime in the Garden City and feel “hamstrung” in their efforts to deal with the problem, the Police Association president says. Chris Cahill told Breakfast: “It’s a really significant issue. I just got a briefing from front line cops in Christchurch yesterday, and I’ve Read more
Vietnamese Catholics who flew thousands of miles to see Pope Francis in Mongolia had one message for the pontiff: They wanted him to visit their communist-run country. “Visit Vietnam, Papa,” some in the group shouted as the pope was driven in a golf cart past a crowd of about 2,000 people of various nationalities on Read more
After supporting the Queenstown community for five years, food rescue charity KiwiHarvest needs the favour returned. Established by Queenstown Lakes District councillor Esther Whitehead in 2018, the Queenstown branch of the national charity is on borrowed time after its government funding was slashed earlier this month. KiwiHarvest picks up excess food, including fresh produce, from Read more