New Zealand

Dame Joy Cowley – faith, wisdom and her messy spiritual journey

Joy Cowley

Dame Joy Cowley must be one of New Zealand’s most well-known authors. She’s also a mother, suicide survivor, woman of faith, spiritual director and wise woman. Amongst other things. Now almost blinded by macular degeneration, 88-year old Cowley is about to launch a new book of rhymes and nonsense, where shadow and light play a Read more

Catholic abuse survivors ask Catholics to hold clergy to account

Catholic abuse survivors

Catholic abuse survivors want New Zealand clergy to do more than just make statements. “We have made changes, and we remain committed to continuing this work to ensure accountability and healing,” Bishop Stephen Lowe, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference, and Rev. Tom Rouse, president of the Congregational Leaders Conference, said on Friday. “While the Read more

Analysis and Comment

Five things to watch for in the upcoming October synod

Tom Reese

The second session of the Synod on Synodality will take place this October as a follow-up to the first session that occurred last October. Here are five things to look for as the synod delegates gather in Rome. How is the second session similar to the first session of the synod? The first session of Read more

The mental health of the spiritual but not religious

mental health

There is a long tradition of wondering about the mental health implications of religious practice. The psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung famously claimed to have seen almost no practicing Catholics in decades of clinical practice. Others have failed to replicate this result, but the idea that religious practice has some meaningful impact on mental health Read more

Pope Francis is no religious relativist

Pope Francis made headlines recently when, during an interfaith meeting with young people, he made the following statement: “All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy, they are like different languages that express the Divine … There is only one God, and religions are like languages, paths to reach God. Some Sikh, Read more

Polyamorist people look for their place in church as the practice loses its taboo

In May 2023, Kerlin Richter, then a priest at an Episcopal Church in Portland, Oregon, attended an adoption ceremony that legally recognized her baby’s three parents. The event, featuring a large, celebratory danish pastry and a Mary Oliver poem, was a step toward formalizing Richter’s family, which includes her husband with whom she has an Read more

Catholic Church fully accepts most Royal Commission findings

Royal Commission

The Catholic Church in New Zealand has pledged to implement the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and Faith-based Institutions’ recommendations. Church leaders expressed deep regret and committed to concrete actions to address the systemic failures that contributed to the abuse. “We are deeply sorry to victims and survivors, as well Read more

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  • Survey shows Catholics favour contraception, women’s ordination

    A new Pew Research Center survey reveals that the majority of Catholics in Latin America and the United States support the use of birth control, women’s ordination and Communion for cohabiting couples. Pew Research surveyed 5,676 Catholics from seven countries: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and the United States. Catholics in these countries overwhelmingly Read more

  • Caritas Lebanon appeals for aid as bombing intensifies

    Caritas Lebanon

    Caritas Lebanon has issued an urgent appeal for aid as the situation in Lebanon becomes increasingly dire due to ongoing heavy bombing. “The situation at present in Lebanon is very difficult, if not critical. It is not possible to make assumptions about what may happen in the future, but we know that the prospects are Read more

  • No abortion after 28 weeks bill sparks South Australia debate

    abortion

    A new abortion law reform bill is heating debate in South Australia. The private member’s bill wants the law reformed to refuse to terminate pregnancies after 28 weeks. Touted by its supporters as a “world-first”, Ben Hood’s bill aims to ensure pregnancy terminations after 27 weeks and six days are achieved through the early induction Read more

  • Caritas ‘shocked’ by murder of director in Democratic Republic of Congo

    The director of Caritas in Congo was shot and killed by an armed militant group while approaching a roadblock, Caritas Internationalis announced. In a statement published on social media on Sept 23, Caritas International said it was “shocked by the news of the death of our colleague, Dieudonné Barondezi, director of the Caritas branch in Read more

  • Dozens of children drown while bathing during Hindu festival in India

    Dozens of children drowned while bathing in rivers and ponds in rituals that were part of a three-day Hindu festival in eastern India’s Bihar state, officials said. Heavy monsoon rains recently had raised the levels of waterways across the state. At least 46 people, including 37 children, drowned in separate incidents across the state’s 15 Read more