The café is a place where I not only find a drink and a croissant but also the convenience of somewhere to write. In so many ways, it has replaced the pub as a meeting place, a stop-off point for anyone and everyone to pause a while over a hot coffee, to read or have Read more
Sixty percent of the churches in a Catholic diocese in the Netherlands will close within the next five years. Dwindling numbers of churchgoers, volunteers and income are being being blamed. Bishop Jan Hendricks unveiled plans to around 90 parish administrators in the Haarlem-Amsterdam diocese last month. The 450-year old diocese dates back to 1559. It Read more
Unaffordable maintenance costs and an old and shrinking congregation have spelt the demise of a 110-year old Wellington church. St Bernard’s parish church in Brookyn held its last mass on 10 April. It will close altogether in the coming months. St Bernard’s parish priest Fr Doug Shepherd says earthquake strengthening work was needed on the Read more