A new survey finds family doctors are cutting services such as childhood immunisations due to chronic staff shortages and underfunding, amid what they are calling a crisis. The General Practice Owners Association (Gen Pro) survey warns GP services are at a critical crossroads. More than half (53%) essential family doctor clinics have reduced their services Read more
News Shorts
Japan birth drive sparks online debate
Thursday, March 30th, 2023Japan’s government has made tackling its falling birth rate a top priority, but with few women involved in official debate on the issue, some are making themselves heard on social media. Japan recorded fewer than 800,000 births last year, the lowest in the country of 125 million since records began. The prime minister has warned Read more
German courts drop investigation into Benedict XVI
Thursday, March 30th, 2023The public prosecutor’s office in Munich has officially closed a preliminary investigation into Benedict XVI concerning allegations that he covered up sexual abuse decades ago when he was cardinal-archbishop in the Bavarian capital. The prosecutors closed the inquiry on March 21, saying they were unable to substantiate the accusations made against Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in Read more
Imprisoned Nicaraguan bishop proved alive
Thursday, March 30th, 2023Imprisoned Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Álvarez appeared unexpectedly on Nicaraguan television March 24, more than six weeks after refusing to be exiled from his country, opting instead to face his sentence of 26 years behind bars. Pale, gaunt and dressed in blue, Bishop Álvarez was reunited with his brother and sister for a meal at the Read more
Ideologies in education harm society
Monday, March 27th, 2023Auxiliary Bishop Pedro Fuentes of La Paz, Bolivia, charged that ideologies are being imposed on Bolivian society, especially in education. In his homily on the healing of the man born blind for Sunday Mass at St Francis Minor Basilica in La Paz on March 19, the prelate reflected on how to pass from darkness to Read more
Child poverty reduction stalls ahead of cost-of-living crisis
Monday, March 27th, 2023The latest child poverty statistics show there was no statistically significant improvement in the year to June 2022. The latest child poverty statistics show there was no statistically significant improvement in the year to June 2022, and campaigners fear the situation has only got worse since then. Stats NZ on Thursday reported no little change Read more
5,000 Italian ex-priests mobilise in favour of optional celibacy
Monday, March 27th, 2023
A group of some 5,000 Italian ex-priests who’ve gone on to become married is mobilising in advance of October’s first Synod of Bishops on Synodality to advocate for making celibacy optional in the Catholic Church. The group notes that calls to rethink the celibacy requirement have circulated in various Catholic arenas of late, from the Read more
State launched relationship break-up support campaign
Monday, March 27th, 2023The government has launched campaign to help young people navigate break-ups with the long-term aim of preventing family violence, believed to be the first of its kind. Love Better is a programme run by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) with support from Youthline, and offers a text, phone or email contact with advice specifically Read more
Housekeeper’s husband pleads not guilty to bishop’s murder
Monday, March 27th, 2023
Carlos Medina, the man charged with murdering Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell in February, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in court on Wednesday. News of O’Connell’s Feb 18 murder shocked the nation after it was reported that he died after suffering multiple gunshot wounds at his Hacienda Heights home. The local and wider Read more
Pope Francis extends ‘Vos estis’ decree to counter lay and clerical abuse
Monday, March 27th, 2023Pope Francis permanently decreed an updated version of Vos estis lux mundi, his landmark legislation to counter sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The decree promulgated March 25 extends the Church’s norms for handling of abuse to cover lay leaders of international associations of the faithful recognized by the Vatican. Vos estis lux mundi (“You Read more