What to make of the strange incident which took place during and after the Olympic opening ceremony last week? ‘ As part of the grand, self-aggrandising spectacle on the banks of the Seine, a troupe of drag queens staged a re-enactment of Leonardo da Vinci’s celebrated painting The Last Supper. An ersatz, plump, drag Jesus Read more
Religious beliefs among Māori have shifted significantly over the past two decades. The number of Māori identifying as having “no religion” in the census between 2006 and 2018 increased from 36.5% to 53.5%. Māori affiliation with Christianity has fallen from 46.2% to 29.9%. Are Māori simply rejecting Christianity? Or are they rejecting all supernatural phenomena, Read more
In a fiery address during a Destiny Church gathering on Sunday morning, Destiny New Zealand’s Bishop Brian Tamaki didn’t hold back in his criticism of what he called “gutless Christians.” Tamaki’s focus was the election result and the state of Kiwi society. The outspoken Bishop began his address with an apology for being late, attributing Read more
During a rally in 2019, Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy party, quoted G K Chesterton. The English writer, theologian and heavily-mustachioed sage seemed an unlikely choice for the climax of an impassioned oration by a tiny, fiery Italian blonde. But maybe not. Chesterton was known as the “Apostle of common sense”. “Fires will Read more
If the vast Catholic community in Africa is to truly become an “adult Church,” then “we must reimagine the participation of the laity”. That’s the belief of Alain Clément Amiézi, a theologian who was appointed by Pope Francis last June to lead the Diocese of Odienné in northern Côte d’Ivoire. Bishop-elect Amiézi, who has been Read more
Queen Elizabeth II (1926 – 2022) was the world’s most prominent Christian leader, and perhaps the most faithful person to lead a nation. More than the pope — her reign saw seven of them — she was a constant presence in Christian life in Britain, at Church and in prayer. She showed by example, leading Read more
Global Catholic charity, Caritas, joined other Catholic agencies and faith community pilgrims heading to Glasgow this week. Caritas NZ says the pilgrims are in Glasgow to pray and to press world leaders for strong action at COP26 – the 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Religious leaders representing Read more
It is a blessing to have a Pope who sees a world of religious multiplication rather than religious division. Many of us grew up in an era of “We are right and the others are wrong.” Christian churches seemed to have high fences around them, and religions that were not Christian were often labelled “Heathen” Read more
“I see the encyclical ‘Fratelli Tutti’ as a testament of Pope Francis. He’s bringing together all the things he wanted to say over the last seven years, and there’s an obvious connection with the Human Fraternity document that he signed with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Al Sharif on February 4, 2019, in Abu Dhabi,” Read more
America’s megachurches have continued to thrive over the past five years, attracting more worshippers, becoming more diverse and opening new locations. A pre-pandemic, national survey of megachurches from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research found the median megachurch draws about 4,100 attenders to its worship services, up from about 3,700 in 2015. The average megachurch Read more