Last Thursday there was a Mass and blessing ceremony in Apia.

The Chairman of the Samoa Charity for the Carmelites Foundation, La'aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fossie Schmidt, told Talamua that the money has already been sent to Tonga.

But they felt it was important to inform the public of how much they contributed through several fundraising activities held over the past months.

"We acknowledge everyone, especially our church members who supported our fundraising," he said.

Speaking for the Carmelites, Sister Antonina Maria thanked the committee for their generous support.

"We are very grateful for the donation, not only in Samoa but also in American Samoa, New Zealand and Australia. We continue to pray for God's blessings for our country."

The Foundation has branches in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch, all fundraising to assist the Carmelite Missions.

The first steps towards the construction of the new building began in March with a groundbreaking ceremony.

La'auli said some members of the committee will be travelling to Tonga this week to show their support for the completion of the first phase of the project.

The Carmelites first came to Tonga on 19th March 2011.

Since then they have been living in temporary accommodation at Fahefa.

The building is a leaky one. When it rains they have buckets all over the place.

There are seven sisters in the community; four from Tonga, two from Samoa and one from New Caledonia.

Source

• Talamua
• Samoa Observer
• Kavina Tonga
• Image: Talamua

His legacy reflects a devout religious side as well as a deep empathy for people, and his love of Northland.

Guy was founding trustee and benefactor of the Catholic Homes Trust which built the Marian Heights Lifestyle Village. This trust is a major provider of emergency housing in Whangarei. Read more

"I think of some benefactors of the Church that say 'take this offer for the Church,' and it is profit from the blood of those abused, treated as slaves, workers with poorly paid jobs," the pope said during his general audience in the Vatican on Wednesday.

"The people of God - that is, the Church - don't need dirty money. They need hearts that are open to God's mercy," said Pope Francis.

The pontiff said God wants people to turn away from evil and do what is just, not cover up their sins with gestures of sacrifice.

The pope said he would tell these donors to go away because God wants sinners "with purified hands" who have changed course, avoid evil and work for what is good and just, like aiding the oppressed and defending the weak.

"I am thinking of many, many refugees who are landing in Europe and don't know where to go," he said.

Pope Francis said the road to salvation isn't ritual sacrifice, which is condemned because, "instead of showing conversion, it claims to replace it."

Sources

CNS
AP/Crux
The Washington Post
Image: AP/The Washington Post

Pushpay provides mobile tools that help make payments easy between consumers and merchants and is geared to mobile charitable giving.

Some 93 percent of Pushpay's merchant clients are located in North America, with 7 percent across Australasia.

For the six months ended 30 September 2015, Pushpay exceeded its targets by 11 percent having increased merchant numbers by 111 percent, CEO, Chris Heaslip said.

It ended the half year with 2,102 merchants out of a faith sector including 314,000 churches with an average size of over 500 attendees.

During the period, Pushpay launched additions to its payments technology including eChurch Apps, Pushpay Fastpay and Virtual Terminal/Envelope Giving.

Pushpay Holdings increased its first-half loss while revenue more than tripled.

The company boosted spending on product development and sales in a bid to attract US churches to its system.

The Auckland-domiciled, Redmond, US-headquartered company posted a net loss of $6.1 million, or 12 cents per share, in the 6 months ended Sept. 30, from $2.6 million, or 7cps, a year earlier, it said in a statement.

Revenue jumped 290 percent to $6.3 million, while expenses rose 176 percent to $12.4 million.

Pushpay has a staff of 143, most of whom are in sales roles.

Source

• zdnet.com
• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: image.slidesharecdn.com