The Vatican has announced steps to combat the misuse of Catholic spirituality for potential spiritual abuse. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has expressed a heightened vigilance over the potential for mystical or spiritual elements to be exploited for abusive ends. Speaking to OSV News, Cardinal Read more
The Vatican has responded to Bishop of Christchurch Michael Gielen’s request for help dealing with unauthorised exorcisms and related spiritual abuse in the Diocese. The retired bishop of Toowoomba, Robert McGuckin (pictured), has been tasked with conducting an Apostolic Visitation to investigate the allegations. The former professor of Canon Law at the University of Notre Read more
A new chapel will be built next door to the locked St Mary’s Church in Hokitika, parishioners have been told. The news – delivered at Mass last weekend – dashes hopes for a $2 million contribution from the Christchurch Catholic Diocese towards re-strengthening and reopening the existing church, which was closed 10 years ago. Friends Read more
Following allegations of unauthorised exorcisms, Bishop Michael Gielen has suspended all exorcisms in the Christchurch diocese and ordered a comprehensive review of the practice. Gielen is currently in Portugal at World Youth Day. The announcement arrives in the wake of a report by TV3 journalist Michael Morrah that exposed alleged unapproved exorcisms conducted by the Read more
The recent television reporting of exorcisms and potential abuse by a fringe religious group in the Diocese of Christchurch is deeply disturbing on several levels. Poor Church communication is in the spotlight. The nub of the issue is why a fringe group, that does not belong to the mainstream of the Church and does not Read more
Fr Michael Mary, the leader of the ‘Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer,’ a conservative Latin Rite Catholic group in Christchurch, denies accusations that his group performed exorcisms on children. He clarified that sprinkling Holy Water around a child does not constitute an exorcism. The controversy surrounding the ‘Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer’, also Read more
Simon Thompson is the new General Manager of the Christchurch Diocese. Currently, Thompson is Manager, Strategy and Planning at Ōtākaro Limited, the Crown-company responsible for the construction and operation of Te Pae Christchurch, New Zealand’s newest large-scale convention centre. He has also held positions at the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, Christchurch International Airport and Air Read more
Three of Christchurch’s former bishops have been disinterred and temporarily moved to a mausoleum at the Carmelite monastery, Halswell, in Christchurch. The move signalled earlier on, is part of the demolition of the old cathedral. Bishops John Grimes, Edward Joyce and John Cunneen were moved to the mausoleum over a period of three days during Read more
The seventh Catholic Bishop of Christchurch – Reverend Basil Meeking – has died. Meeking was first ordained as a priest in 1953 and served as Bishop of Christchurch from 1987 until 1996. Read more
Well, I guess we have had just about everything here in Christchurch since September 4, 2010. Two years of death-defying earthquakes then the grief-stricken, the demolition, the dying, the rebuilding aftermath. Followed by March 15, 2019, with 51 people dying while at prayer in the mosques, and while we are prayerfully and painfully recovering ourselves, Read more