Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church’s leading humanitarian organisation, is pleading for International Development (USAID) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to immediately reinstate crucial food aid for Ethiopia. The aid was halted on 30 March 2023 in the Tigray region following the discovery of “widespread and systemic” diversion of substantial food supplies intended for the Read more
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) says it will consider whether to continue funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after a report due in October. Allegations were made in late July against senior members of the organisation, which AFP news agency reported involving “sexual Read more
The Fiji Government will not fund religion says the prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama. While responding to pleas from villagers on Saturday, Bainimarama said if Government handed out assistance to a certain church group, others would follow suit. He said this could not be done because Government did not have the funds just to assist religious groups Read more
Stalin famously said of the Church, “The Pope! How many divisions has he?” Less well known is Churchill’s response that Stalin “might have mentioned a number of legions not always visible on parade”. Indeed, the reach and influence of the Church are not easily described by statistics alone, yet the raw statistics are staggering enough. Read more
An archbishop has attacked Venezuela’s president for preventing the Church and other institutions from relieving the nation’s severe food crisis. Archbishop Diego Padrón of Cumaná slammed President Nicolás Maduro’s lack of “moral authority”. “The interests of the government are not the interests of the country,” said Archbishop Padrón. The archbishop is head of Venezuela’s bishops’ conference. Read more
Nauru’s former Chief Justice says New Zealand is continuing to support an unjust system and should speak more strongly against what he calls an appalling abuse of power. New Zealand provides 600-thousand US dollars a year to fund Nauru’s justice system. New Zealand’s Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, says he’s deeply concerned about recent developments but Read more
The Vatican under Pope Francis gave out aid worth 1.5 million euros (US $1.6 million) in 2014, an increase of 25 percent over the previous year. Refugees, prisoners, the homeless, the sick and the elderly benefitted from the aid. Direct Vatican aid helped 8000 people in 2014, along with religious communities which used it for Read more
Two elders from the John Frum movement, on Tanna Island, say their recently-deceased prophet had predicted a major event would occur in 2016. They say the cyclone, and subsequent aid, are a precursor to a major event that was foretold to take place next year. The island of Tanna in Vanuatu is known for its Read more
The Pope on his return flight from the Philippines to Italy suggested that when western help to third world countries is only available if they accept western ideas into a culture as “ideological colonization”. Gender ideologies from the wealthy Western world are being imposed on developing nations by tying them to foreign aid and education, Read more
Invariably journalists write about Oxfam’s goats whenever charity Christmas gifts come up. A goat will give a family seven litres of fresh milk a week to drink and sell. But I don’t get paid to repeat the same message every Christmas. Just when I was mulling the “what can I give other than a goat” Read more