Wellington Cardinal John Dew emphasised Pope Francis’ solicitude for indigenous peoples at a celebration of the 13th anniversary of Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII’s coronation. Cardinal Dew, who was invited to preach at the multi-denominational service part of the celebration on August 20, said a report of the meeting between Pope Francis and Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Cardinal John Dew’
Cardinal Dew: The only authority is the authority of service
Monday, July 22nd, 2019
The archbishop of Wellington, Cardinal John Dew, was in Australia last week to present an address on Servant Leadership in the Spirit of Pope Francis. He spoke at Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta on Tuesday. On Wednesday he spoke on the same topic when he presented the Helder Camara Lecture at Newman College in Melbourne. Read more
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand celebrates its jubilee
Thursday, July 4th, 2019
Last Thursday, Cardinal John Dew and new Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand Novatus Rugambwa celebrated a special Mass to mark the jubilee year of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand. Fifty years ago, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference/He Huinga o ngā Pīhopa Katorika o Aotearoa, established national bodies for Catholic overseas aid, justice and peace, and Read more
Titles
Thursday, June 27th, 2019
Years ago, a man about to be ordained was told by an older priest, “The hardest thing you will find is to be called Father.” The new priest found this was indeed true and he dropped the title, although doing so made some lay people uncomfortable. One parishioner said calling a priest by his first Read more
“Don’t call me Father” gets mixed reception
Thursday, June 6th, 2019
Cardinal John Dew’s call to drop the “Father” title has received mixed results. As reported by CathNews, Dew first raised the issue of honorifics in an internal church newsletter. Describing the “Don’t call me Father” call as ‘simple’, Dew however hopes that not using the clerical title might go some way to changing the clerical Read more
It is not just about buildings – it is about mission
Monday, April 15th, 2019
The Archbishop of Wellington cardinal John Dew wants to go further than just combining parishes and reducing the number of church buildings. He is calling for a more mission-focused church. In an extended interview, posted on Stuff about two recent memos he has recently circulated, Dew said there should be “fewer conversations about ‘the colour Read more
I now wonder why priests are called Father
Thursday, April 11th, 2019
In his recent Newsletter, the Archbishop of Wellington drew attention to an article written by a priest from France, Jean-Pierre Roche, entitled “Stop calling me Father.” In his article, Roche says that priests may be able to make some small changes to overcome clericalism if they gave up expecting to be called “Father.” “In August last Read more
Archdiocese grapples with reducing number of churches
Monday, April 1st, 2019
RNZ has reported that some Catholics in Wellington are unhappy with cardinal John Dew’s letter to all parishes in the archdiocese asking them to review the number of churches in their parish. The RNZ report says they accuse him of being high-handed and autocratic. But Dew denies this. He says he has simply asked congregations Read more
Strangers pray on the floor of the House
Thursday, March 21st, 2019
On Tuesday the speaker of New Zealand’s parliament, the right honourable Trevor Mallard, invited a multi-faith group into the House to join him as an imam led them in prayer. It was the first time Parliament had opened with a Muslim prayer, to the best knowledge of the Speaker’s Office. The interfaith group included representatives Read more
Cardinal supports students’ climate change protest – “Listen to them”
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
In New Zealand this Friday, young people are taking part in the worldwide college student protest about the slow pace of international action on climate change. The Catholic Archbishop of Wellington, Cardinal John Dew, is supporting their efforts. “We all need to listen to young people about climate change,” he said. Dew acknowledged that opinions Read more