A Portuguese town said on Thursday it would reinstall a billboard highlighting sexual abuse by clergy after facing heavy criticism for removing it on the day Pope Francis arrived in the country to attend a massive youth event. Francis landed in Lisbon on Wednesday for the week-long World Youth Day, an event devised by the Read more
Collaborative work between Hastings District Council and Hastings Church’s Connect Community Trust wins the SuperCollab award and the Supreme Award for the Kuhu Mai initiative at the Local Government New Zealand annual conference in Christchurch. Respect, trust and care for some of Hastings’ most vulnerable adults is the kaupapa behind the award-winning Kuhu Mai – Read more
Musician Zosia Herlihy-O’Brien has been awarded the Maxwell Fernie Dame Malvina Major Foundation Award, worth $10,000 over two years, to further her organ education in Europe. The 21-year-old will take up a place in September in the prestigious Master of Music programme at the Royal Academy of Music in London, specialising in organ, violin and Read more
An estimated 1.5 million people packed a riverside park in Portugal’s capital on Saturday, braving a relentlessly scorching sun for hours for an evening prayer service with Pope Francis. The Parque Tejo, a new venue created for the event, covers 100 hectares (250 acres) and has no shade or structures. Some participants had to wait Read more
Sinéad O’Connor meant to attack her abusive mum by tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II on US television in 1992. The singer, whose remains have just been returned to her family after she was found dead in London aged 56, caused a storm when she ripped up the image of the pontiff Read more
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed into law a bill moving the official observance of Christmas Day to Dec 25 from Jan 7, when Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church mark the holiday. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, approved the measure — which also adjusts the dates of the Day of Ukrainian Statehood and the Read more
Destroying grain is a “grave offense to God,” Pope Francis said, appealing to authorities in Russia as “my brothers” and urging them to resume cooperating with a United Nations initiative to guarantee the safe transport of grain out of Ukraine. “Let us not cease to pray for beleaguered Ukraine, where the war is destroying everything, Read more
The number of complaints about migrant exploitation have increased more than sixfold in the last five years. It comes as pressure mounts on the Government to remove the immigration rule that binds workers to one specific employer. A migrant worker Newshub spoke to was sold the Kiwi dream to be a chef. “He treat like Read more
The United Nations Committee against Torture has published its findings on New Zealand, highlighting its concerns about the disproportionate representation of Māori in the entire justice system. While the committee acknowledged the efforts by the government to improve prison conditions and mental health services for those in detention, it also raised a number of persistent Read more