Fr Jeremy Palman, the parish priest of Holy Family Parish, Te Atatu, Auckland, labels compliance as discriminatory saying he will not refuse anyone's presence at any Mass on the basis of their vaccination status.

Citing skin colour, race, ethnicity, religion, genetics and disability as examples, Palman says that throughout history, too many times the Church has found "good reasons" to exclude people on the basis of "some natural bodily condition".

"Given that the Vaccine Certificate System requires monitoring for Mass attendance and discrimination against the unvaccinated, Holy Family will not be segregating Masses.

"And we will not be refusing anyone's presence at any Mass on the basis of their vaccination status", Palman says, writing in The Daily Examiner and on his parish website (last accessed 11:50, 29 November 2021).

However, in charity, he is offering special consideration to the vaccinated to sit in the Crying Room and the Choir Loft.

The vaccine status of people accessing either place will not be checked.

Both places will be administered "on trust".

Palman says that people's vaccination status is part of their private medical information and his parish will not be ascertaining it for the purposes of Mass attendance.

"We will not be a pawn for the State... and we will not be asking some parishioners to act as vaccine-policemen towards other parishioners.

"Every Mass is a public liturgy, and any Catholic has the right to attend.

"All Masses will be "open" Masses at Holy Family parish. We are all in this together. Let us not be divided nor allow others to divide us along the lines of a medical status", writes Palman.

Later in the article Palman says the parish will provide a booking system for Mass, have areas in the Church roped off, keep a 1m distance and celebrate 11 Masses throughout the week allowing, in total around 300 people to attend Mass at some point during the week and respect the number-restrictions of the traffic light system!

"The Sunday Mass obligation remains suspended, therefore, in these strange times, given the limitations, especially at traffic Light RED, we all have to accept that we may not be able to go to Mass every day, nor every week, nor every Sunday.

"These are trying times indeed as we all know well," writes Palman.

In a similar move, Sunday, Wanganui parish priest, Fr Vaughan Leslie told parishioners that Parish Pastoral Advisory Team supports the "Trust" model of entry into parish Masses and gatherings.

"When you enter the church you are declaring you are vaccinated, but this will not be checked at the door.

"In light of this, people are asked to attend those events which their vaccination status allows them to, respecting the choices everyone has made."

The parish is offering two types of Mass, a "Vaccine Pass Mass" operated on the "Trust" model and an "Open Mass" with much fewer numbers and physical distancing. Both events will respect Government number restrictions.

While the parish requests masks are to be worn at all gatherings, it is also looking to reintroduce some singing and music!

The Parish Pastoral Advisory team comprises Leslie (Chair), Mr Justin Harper, Mr Kieran Udy, Mrs Marianne Vine, Mr Michael Coleman, Mrs Joan O'Neill-Fong and ​Mrs Ruth Ockey.

The diocese of Palmerston North has advised Leslie not to proceed with the parish plans and that he will be liable for any Government fine.

On November 23, all the New Zealand Catholic bishops, acting together, published a pastoral letter, "Living, Caring, Worshipping and Ministering in a Covid-19 World".

The pastoral letter, in line with the Government's Traffic Light System, set out a range of responses to the current circumstances including providing Masses for fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated.

Sources

• The Daily Examiner
• CathNews
• Whanganui Catholic Parish

With all due respect to French leaders, I think they could start by reviewing the implications of laïcité.

At this time, they have much to say about "Islamic terrorism". Worse, some of the language they are using is the language of warfare and of terrorism itself.

Obviously, there can be no justification for what was done in Nice. But in wanting to explain the causes of such violence they are looking no further than Islam.

In a recent BBC Hardtalk programme, Stephen Sackur interviewed French professor of sociology and political advisor, Dominique Schnapper, who explained what she called the French form of secularism, which she assured us is superior to what we find in Britain and USA.

Most of us accept the separation of Church and State, including agencies of the State, and rightly. But laïcité goes further by including "the public sphere" with the State. Consequently, religion is mainly for the private sphere.

According to the Professor, curtailing the scope of religion in the public sphere gives people freedom!!

I suggest, on the contrary, that the State and the public forum are not the same; the public forum belongs to the people, to society.

It is where minds meet to be enriched by each other; it is where proper integration takes place.

Relegating religion and cultural diversity to the private sphere prevents integration! In fact, it is a recipe for creating ghettos! I would have thought this was obvious, though she did mention that she would not expect the English to understand!

I suggest that institutions dedicated to health care, social welfare and education, though administered by the State, are also not agencies of the State: they too belong to society, to the people, and therefore should be allowed to reflect society, including its pluralism, and not have to avoid or banish religious and cultural expressions.

Perhaps they should be called "State-run" institutions, not "State institutions".

The professor points out that the French understanding of secularism is a "product" of the French revolution and its rejection of previous forms of authoritarianism (of aristocracy and Church).

True, but that makes it a form of push-back, and a product of negative experience. It needs to move beyond its origins, and become positive. But that requires dialogue at every level, which is what laicite inhibits!

She is surely justified in allowing criticism of other people's views, including religious views, and she is right to say that criticising people's views is not necessarily insulting the people who hold them. But somewhere there is a line between critique and mockery?

It seems to me mere sophistry to say that mocking what is sacred to other people is not disrespecting those people.

Pope Francis' latest encyclical letter (especially chapter 6) is spot on where he talks of the crucial role of dialogue and need for greater respect and kindness within cultures and within politics.

It is within a culture of genuine respect for others, kindness and dialogue, that we instinctively know the difference between critique and mockery, between fair comment and incitement, between free speech and hate speech…

Schnapper is genuinely concerned that some kind of aberration seems to have taken place within Islam. But might she also need to ask whether there is some kind of aberration within the French form of secularism?

• Bishop Peter Cullinane, Bishop Emeritus, Diocese of Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Mutual hostility began with the 1789 French Revolution.

Until then monarchical France bathed in the glory of being recognized as the ‘elder daughter of the Catholic Church'.

But the revolutionaries saw the Church, like the aristocracy, as a pillar of the old regime that had to be rooted out, often by violence.

Many took their cue from the Enlightenment philosopher Diderot: ‘Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.' Anti-clericalism and de-Christianisation of the State became features of the revolutionary tradition that has continued until today, albeit in muted form.

The Islamist terror attack in Nice's Notre-Dame — two worshippers and the church's sexton murdered by attempted decapitation — had a remarkable effect.

President Macron immediately flew to Nice and made a very significant, sober and original speech:

"I want to express, first and foremost, the nation's support for the Catholics of France and elsewhere. After the assassination of Father Hamel in summer 2016, once again Catholics are attacked in our country, threatened before All Saints' Day celebrations.

"The whole nation is at their side and will remain so in order that religion can continue to be freely exercised in our country because our country knows that.

"Our values are that everyone is allowed to believe or not believe, but that all religions can be practiced.

"Today the whole nation is beside our Catholic compatriots.'

What is striking in this speech is that ever since the 1905 Separation, French heads of state have attempted to keep the Catholic Church at arm's length — even in its times of crisis — as a demonstration of neutrality.

After the 2016 Islamist assassination of Father Hamel as he prayed, President François Hollande — while not lacking in compassion — went no further than declaring that: ‘To kill a priest is to profane the Republic'.

Macron has gone further, putting France's arm around French Catholics and — most significantly — Catholics abroad.

Is this a breach in the tradition of rigorous state neutrality and a return to France as protector of French Catholic enclaves around the world, as was the case in the 19th century when they were under attack in Syria and the Lebanon?

If it is indeed Macron's intention that France move to defending more actively Catholic minorities abroad, that should be supported by other western governments.

Christian minorities generally have been forsaken by Western governments and their media, unlike minorities such as Uighurs in China.

Why, for instance, shouldn't French and British development aid be tied to state recipient's respect for Christian minorities in countries such as Pakistan or Bangladesh?

The second part of Macron's speech was a robust defense of France's values of free speech and laïcité — the rigorous outlawing of religion from the State sphere. But here is where France has a problem. Continue reading

Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says 27 churches will benefit, as part a 10 million dollar in grants from the Covid-19 response and recovery plan.

"This kind of hyper-targeted spending can only be read as vote-buying. With a growing Debt Monster, now is not the time to fork out millions for church renos," New Zealand Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says:

"At least previous Provincial Growth Fund recipients have been taxpaying businesses. Churches, however, don't pay taxes," Houlbrooke said.

"This is technically a business-as-usual Government announcement but it reads like pure election politics.

In the week that postal voting opens for the election, this is the Government exploiting taxpayer money for the sake of its re-election campaign."

Former Massey University religious historian Dr Peter Lineham told Chris Lynch on NewstalkZB that he's never seen anything like it.

"I've never before seen government money directly used for renovations to church buildings."

Lineham says these churches do provide a lot of social care.

"They tend to be strongly connected to particular Pacific nations - effectively becoming a New Zealand-based village."

On it's Facebook page the Taxpayers' Union describes itself as "an independent activist group dedicated to being the voice for Kiwi taxpayers in the corridors of power."

The Taxpayers' Union founding documents with the Register of Incorporated Societies show a blend of Act Party and National Party people.

It was founded by David Farrar and Jordan Williams.

It claims to be politically independent and not aligned to, or intended to develop into a political party.

But becasue the Taxpayers' Union has ties to a number of right-wing figures from the New Zealand political scene it is regarded by many as a right-wing pressure group.

Source

• scoop.co.nz
• rnz.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• en.wikipedia.org
• newstalkzb.co.nz
• Image: thestandard.org.nz

A Pentecostal pastor is claiming his church's plans for a new religious community facility have been "ambushed" by the Government, which now wants the land for social housing. Read more

Three months ago the council contacted hundreds of churches telling them to ignore big rates increases, which came into effect this financial year without political input.

The way in which the funding is carried out is now under review.

The government will not comment on how the funding is to be allocated this year and it could be facing a fight with the Catholic Church hierarchy on the issue.

For the past decade, government funding of between US$1.5 million and US$2 million each year were disbursed to the nation's two dioceses, with millions more made available to parishes and religious orders for specific projects.

But now, the Catholic prime minister, Taur Matan Ruak, elected in May, plans to use the concordat signed with the Vatican in 2015 as a basis to change the way government funding is allocated.

"My government will no longer give funding to the parish churches because we have allocated a specific budget for the church," Taur Matan Ruak told parliament.

"The church should resolve its own problems."

Up until now US$15 million a year has been guaranteed by the government.

In 2017, US$6 million went directly to the church, with the government retaining US$9 million that was supposed to be for the funding of church building projects.

This year the government has so far committed only US$5 million to be transferred to the bishops' conference.

This agreement was signed in the dying days of the previous government of Mari Alkatiri, despite a budget for the year not having been passed.

But the money has yet to be transferred because of the change of government.

Joaquin Freitas, head of the (CSSF) said he had been told the government may transfer only US$3 million.

The CSSF is an office within the prime minister's department.

There is confusion as to who is responsible for allocating the funds. Up until now, responsibility has been shared by the elected officials, the church and the CSSF.

Father Crispin Julio Belo, a spokesman for the bishops' conference, said that the 2018 total funding of US$15 million should be transferred directly into the bishops' conference account.

However, the government would not comment on how it plans to split the money.

Source

• international.la-croix.com
• Image: otimorleste.com

One church in central Auckland, which asked not to be named, received an increase of 6900 percent, from $400 to $28,000.

The council issued new rates bills, without consultation, to the churches earlier this month, claiming many were using all or parts of their property for business, not religious purposes.

But the acting chair of the council's Finance and Performance Committee, and Orakei ward councillor, Desley Simpson, said churches did not have to pay the new rates bills until councillors and the mayor could reach an agreement.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Auckland, Lyndsay Freer, said if the church had to pay the new rates bills it would have a "huge impact."

"It's a lot of money we're talking about and, for us, there's a considerable lack of clarity.

"We understand that the rates are for premises on our properties that are not used specifically for the purposes of worship, but we do have many buildings and facilities that are used for pastoral and not-for-profit work.

"There really does need to be clarification around what would qualify and what wouldn't."

The Anglican Church says it was disappointed by the bills, and hopes to work things out with the council.

"Our ministry units and their facilities are valuable resources to our communities, and this decision would have a detrimental effect by inhibiting the services our ministry units could provide," Bishop Ross Bay from the Anglican Diocese of Auckland told NZME.

"Auckland Council has responded well to us about this matter and we feel that we will be able to resolve it in a positive way."

Source

• newshub.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: radionz.co.nz and propertyclub.co.nz

Previously there were two hours of free weekend parking in the CBD. Now the parking fee will be $2.50 per hour.

The parish priest of St Mary of the Angels, Fr Conroy SM, told CathNews that the new charges will have a significant impact on those attending Mass in the Boulcott St church.

St Mary of the Angels is one of 16 Central Wellington Christian congregations that will be affected by the new regime.

Conroy said a joint submission was made by the churches to the committee but they were unsuccessful in getting any concessions.

On Thursday Roger Wigglesworth from Wellington's Anglican Cathedral of St Paul told councillors at the City Strategy Committee parking fees will lead to there being fewer people in churches and reduce the church income.

He suggested alternatives such as parking-exempt labels for churchgoers during services, which was offered by the Auckland and Queenstown councils.

This led to Councillor Brian Dawson putting forward an amendment in which Sunday parking charges would start at 10 am in recognition of the number of Wellingtonians who attend church services.

He said he was concerned for the elderly who had difficulty using public transport. He was "not interested" in giving free parking to people going to Arise Church because many were young and could catch a bus.

Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons warned the amendment would set a dangerous public policy precedent.

"I don't think this council should pick particular religions we like or places and subside their attendees with parking.

"The legality of this is questionable, particularly given the comments about Arise Church and the comparison made."

The Chair of the City Strategy Committee, Councillor Iona Pannett, was appalled the matter was even brought up.

"I do not see how we can single out a Christian community, when there are other faiths and I think this has been done on the hop, with no analysis, and I do not think this is acceptable," she said.

Dawson's amendment was lost with a vote from the mayor tipping the scales against the move to have part of Sunday morning parking free.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

The Bishops say these state funds have only attracted greed and corruption and overshadowed the real role of an elected MP.

Allowing MPs to allocate the funds at their own discretion effectively puts them in the role of financial administrators, which is not their mandate, said Bishop Rochus Tatamai, president of the bishops' conference.

"It does not require any great gift of prophecy for us to say that the nation is headed for disaster as long as the nation's wealth is seen to be directly administered by Members of Parliament, especially those who are in government and not just in parliament," said the bishop.

The Church has stopped accepted payments directly from parliamentarians regardless of whether the funds are budgeted or not, according to looppng.com.

They are encouraging Catholic-run schools, parishes and dioceses to follow suit.

And they have urged other churches and NGOs to stop accepting "free political handouts."

A number of MPs have expressed support for the bishop's call.

However, others say these funds have greatly improved their remote electorates.

They want the bishops to define what they mean by corruption because the term is too vague.

They suggested that the bishops look at the positive results achieved by communities they served by comparing the situations now with the situation before these state funds were made available to members of parliament.

Source

• international.la-croix.com
• devpolicy.org
• postcourier.com.pg
• postcourier.com.pg
• Image: abc.net.au

He said some other political parties are engaging preachers in campaigns and also electing them as proposed candidates but this will not happen in the FijiFirst party.

"To see a talatala (church minister) talking or backing a political party, I would not want any talatala to be involved with politics in my FijiFirst party, I want talatalas to be independent to do what they are supposed to do."

The president of the Methodist Church, Epineri Vakadewavosa, told FBC News that Fijians had the right to support a party of their choice but this should not be practised within church premises.

Methodist ministers could join a political party only if they first resigned from the church, Vakadewavosa said.

The PM says Fijians have every right to support any political party but it's inappropriate to mix religion with politics.

Speaking at a Devi Pooja (act of worship to the Goddess Devi) celebration at the Mahadevi Temple in Nausori last week, Bainimarama said that some parties and candidates encourage people to vote along religious or ethnic lines in the coming national elections.

The prime minister said this is wrong as it's a backward way of thinking and risks the unity that society has built.

"As I said in the Ba Provincial Council Meeting just last month, religion and ethnicity should never be exploited to sow division and hate.

"This is fundamentally against the very nature of not only any religion but of our very democracy."

Bainimarama said Fijians will benefit when values-based organisations work in conjunction with the government regardless of ethnicity, background or faith.

Source

• amp.rnz.co.nz
• fijisun.com.fj
• fbc.com.fj
• Image: youtube.com

Reverend Vavatau Taufao says taxing church ministers is just the first step.

"If this colonial mindset is allowed to continue, when will it reach the matai (high chiefs), taulelea (untitled men) … but that's my view. I'm very disappointed."

Vavatau made the comment in response to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi's use of old issues of the government-run Savali newspaper to show that church ministers paid taxes when Samoa was governed by Germany.

"These Savali issues are from 1906," Vavatau said in a special programme aired on church-run television station EFKS TV.

"Listen to the words: Ia lafo tupe a matai ma faifeau lotu, ia tofu ma le 12 maka, a'o taulelea, ia tofu ma le tai 8 maka."

[In English: Matai and church ministers were to pay twelve deutschmarks, the untitled men were to pay eight deutschmarks.]

Vavatau went on to say the church has a deeper concern, one that underlies the tax question - the reference to the pastor being an employee.

He said the EFKS membership can never belittle their pastors like that because they value their covenant relationship.

"If the Pastor is the employee, his only employer is God. They are workers for God.

"So unless the Government want to retrieve the tax from God, then they can go ahead and do that themselves."

The Minister of Revenue, Tialavea Tionisio Hunt, has warned that all church Ministers have until 31 July 2018 to comply or face the consequences.

Source

• sobserver.ws
• sobserver.ws
• Image: 123rf.com

But at a recent general assembly, the leaders of the Congregational Christian Church (CCCS) said they would ignore the law.

In a speech in parliament, the prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi praised the support of the leaders and members of the other denominations.

But he equated the CCCS's behaviour to holding the Government to ransom.

"The CCCS have pointed a gun at the Government's head.

"A government which was chosen by members of this House, which includes the head of this House and this Parliament.

"This is something the Government does not take lightly," said Tuilaepa.

"Parliament's authority is clear. They are empowered to discuss national developments and to review bills for the same.

"These bills, once passed by this House, are given to the Head of State to assent, which then become ‘Acts of Parliament'."

The CCCS is Samoa's largest denomination, with 29 percent of Samoans identifying with it, according to the 2016 census.

The church's general secretary, Reverend Vavatau Taufao, said the new law was seen by the assembly as an affront to their beliefs because many pastors lived off donations.

RNZ Pacific's correspondent in Apia, Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia, said while the pastors did indeed live off donations, many ministers lived quite comfortably on much more than the average Samoan.

He cited an example of a church minister getting $Tala 6000.00 - round about US$3,000 a fortnight.

Taufao said that while some pastors did earn decent money from donations, others - particularly in more remote areas - earned little. So it was unfair that they should be taxed.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• samoaplanet.com
• Image: samoaplanet.com

Making annual grants to church schools began in 1983 when government allocated $50 to $60 thousand tala in recognition of the church schools' significant contribution to providing education.

This year the annual allocation for private schools has reached $6 million tala.

Consideration is being given to allocating at least $13 million to private schools in the near future.

Announcing the grants, prime minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi said church schools remain within the Government's overall commitment to developing education in Samoa.

He said that the government cannot overlook mission schools development because this is the only way that the children can continue to learn and develop their future.

It is also the Government's way of assisting and helping parents with paying school fees he said.

The grants are allocated based on the school rolls for each school. This year, the Catholic schools received the highest amount.

In addition to the allocation to the Catholic Schools Committee, the Don Bosco Vocational College at Alafua received $92,000 tala, and $92,000 tala was allocated to Don Bosco Salelologa.

The government has agreed to a request that these schools directly funded because they were not included in the allocation of its grant that the Committee made last year.

The Congregational Christian Church of Samoa that received $823,000 tala.

The Methodist Mission Schools receive $696,000 tala.

Spending on Education is set to be reduced by $14.7million in the 2018/19 Budget tabled by the Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti.

Compared to $100.3million allocated to Education last year, this year's allocation is $85.6million.

Source

• talamua.co
• sobserver.ws
• Image: samoaobserver.ws

The General Assembly (Fonotele) of the church has rejected outright the government's new law which imposes taxes on all church ministers.

One speaker at the Fonotele has gone so far as to predict that Government's decision to tax the head of state and church ministers is the beginning of the "downfall" of the 30-year rule of the Human Rights Protection Party.

The EFKS is the biggest and most influential denomination in the country.

The church's main point of contention is that what ministers receive from their congregations should not be taxable because they are voluntary donations.

Since the law to tax the head of state and church ministers became effective in January, the EFKS had refused to obey.

They said they would wait until their Fonotele this year to discuss the matter.

That Fonotele was held last week.

There was some support for the law but the final decision was to retain the opposition to the taxes.

The EFKS says rather than paying taxes it would prefer to make voluntary donations to the government.

The church executive will be meeting with the government this week to discuss this possibility.

The church women's group already makes annual donations to the health sector.

While the Fonotele was in progress, the prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi issued a clear warning.

"You will answer individually to the law," he said. "The law does not target the Church, rather it targets the church ministers individually."

"So what is Tuilaepa saying?" asked Mata'afa Keni Lesa in the Samoa Observer.

"That all members of the church who discussed and supported the rejection of the tax law should be charged and hauled to jail? Thousands of them too? What a scenario that would be."

The Ministry for Revenue placed notices in last Tuesday's newspapers thanking those ministers who have already registered with the tax office.

The notice also warns that the end of next month is the last day for registrations before the Ministry starts implementing other sections of the new law, including penalties.

Source

• sobserver.ws
• talamua.com
• sobserver.ws
• radionz.co.nz
• sobserver.ws
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: sobserver.ws

Now, after Saturday's election, it seems this Fretilin-led government is heading for defeat.

With more than 99 percent of votes counted in Saturday's poll, the Alliance of Change for Progress (AMP) was leading with 49.59 percent of the total, according to the latest count by the state election administration.

The Fretilin party of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was on 34.18 percent of votes.

Official results are not due until May 27, but a senior AMP official said it looked certain that it had won.

In a January TV interview, Alkatiri said: "I accept my position as PM not only because of Fretilin votes.

"But when I met with Bishop Nascimento who is representing the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, he himself told me to accept the position.

"That is why I assume it. The reason why? To change the status quo."

While the bishop endorsed the comments at the time, he has since been forced to bury his support, church insiders told ucanews.com.

Last week the government handed over the first instalment of a promised US$15 million to the Catholic Church.

The timing of the church's agreement with the government has led to accusations it is using the church to its advantage.

Father Julio Crispin, head of the Baucau Diocese Justice Commission, said the agreement has nothing to do with the election.

He said the agreement was signed "because the council of ministers had its last sitting yesterday."

He explained that the money was for education, social welfare and churches.

Fretilin sources said the funds, payable under an agreement with the Vatican, had been delayed for some months until it was clear they could be afforded.

Source

• reuters.com
• ucanews.com
• Image: Ryan Dagur

Documents leaked to the Samoa Observer show that the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa (CCCS) will not observe a law requiring all church ministers to pay income tax.

According to the minutes of their meeting on 14 March 2018, the church will agree only after a discussion at their annual Malua conference this month.

The Prime Minister said unless it is officially announced by the church, he will not respond in case the report by the Samoa Observer is "inaccurate".

He reiterated the law targets the church ministers.

"It is directed to the church ministers meaning the hammer will fall on the head of the nail."

"That is why it is important to know that if the elders of the church try to interfere, we look back to the law which indicates that is being a party to a crime."

Minister of Revenue, Tialavea Tionisio Hunt declined to comment on what actions the Government will take if the church ministers do not follow the law.

"I'm sorry but no comment from me."

The Samoa Observer asked the Minister if he was scared of the church but he said: "I am not scared, I just don't want to elaborate on the issue."

It was put to the Minister that it is going on four months since the tax became effective.

"Currently the church ministers are undergoing registration, however, taxes should have already been paid as of January 2018," said Tialavea.

"The question as to how many church ministers who have not paid or have paid, I cannot say because I don't know."

Source

• samoaobserver.ws
• Image: pacificislandtimes.com

His ambition has caused a furore in France, as he is seen to be tampering with France's secular tradition.

The Church and State have been legally separated since 1905, following a groundswell of change that began with the French Revolution in 1789 and continued during the 19th century.

Macron told a meeting of bishops he hoped to repair relations with the Church through a "dialogue of truth".

"We intuitively share the feeling that the bond between the Church and the state has been damaged, and that both you and I need to repair it.

"Secularism is not meant to deny the spiritual in the name of the temporal, nor to uproot from our society the sacred element which nourishes so many of our fellow citizens."

He said a president of the French republic "who takes no interest in the Church and its Catholics would be failing in his duty".

His views have been met with opposition from former socialist prime minister Manuel Valls who backed Macron for president in 2017, tweeting "secularism is France".

Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure tweeted: "Secularism is the jewel in our crown. That is what a president of the republic should be defending,".

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the left-wing France Insoumise, said Macron's remarks were "irresponsible."

"Macron in full-on metaphysical delirium. Outrageous. One expects a president, one gets a little priest," he tweeted.

Some right-wing leaders are accusing Macron of pandering to conservative voters.

"If it's about acknowledging the Christian heritage of our civilisation, that's a historical and cultural fact. If it's actually a strategy for winning back voters, that's something else," Republican Bruno Retailleau says.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen called his comments the start of an attack on strict secularism enshrined by the 1905 law. She says it hints it would give "religious authorities of all stripes" more influence in French society.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, who is responsible for government relations with religious groups, supports Macron's views.

In his opinion, Macron's remarks reflect the need for greater spiritual awareness.

Source

• France24
• The Local fr
• The Tablet
• Image: Bloomberg

Church ministers did not mince words when they expressed anger and disappointment at the Samoan government's decision to tax their incomes - and gratuities - starting on 1 January 2018.

However, prime minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi is unrepentant over the government's decision to tax the incomes and gratuities for church ministers.

He insists that taxes belong to the government and therefore church ministers should pay. That was his response to the latest wave of negative comments about the tax scheme targeting churches.

The seminar was held at Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi Building. It was supposed to be a platform for church ministers and government officials of the Ministry of Revenue to interact and raise issues associated with the taxing of pastors.

Several church ministers said the government had underestimated the impact of what they had done, not just on the church but on all members of the public.

Accepting the fact that they soon would be paying taxes, Reverend Siaosi Samuelu, of the Catholic Church at Salua Manono, urged the government to use tax monies wisely.

"There are countless families in Upolu especially at Aleipata who don't have access to water and electricity," he said. "Use those monies to help those families. Use it wisely please but don't abuse and waste them."

Ministry of Revenue officials said they would take note of the concerns expressed.

They also revealed that a form would be given to churches for pastors or church secretaries to indicate how much money a pastor receives. This form should then be submitted to the Ministry of Revenue with the payment of the tax.

One church minister took exception to this proposal, saying "It's not our duty to bring this form to your office after every fortnight."

Source

• Samoa Observer
• Samoa Observer
• Image: The Monastery

In a proposed change to the parliamentary prayer, which is said at the beginning of each session of Parliament, mention of Jesus and the Queen have been removed.

Although the consultation period for the new prayer isn't over, the Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard, has already started using the new wording.

Friday's Panel on RNZ reported that the while Catholics and Anglicans had no objection to the change, Baptists had expressed concern about it.

In an interview with the Jim Mora, Ian Hudson, director of the Salvation Army's Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit, said while he hadn't had time to have a "straw vote" on the matter, he thought many Salvationists would wish the name of Jesus Christ to continue to be included.

He said to do so recognises the "connections to our values and all the things that underpin parliament."

Hudson said they would hate to see the spiritual element taken away from Parliament.

Senior Labour MP Damien O'Connor, a Catholic, has cautioned against change.

"They have to be careful that we don't move too far from processes that have kept this place in good stead in an ethical, moral and principled way," he told Radio NZ's Morning Report.

His colleague Aupito William Sio, a Mormon, had an open mind: "In this day and age, I think there's a strong feeling of people wanting the prayer to be more inclusive, recognising that many of my colleagues do not acknowledge the existence of Jesus Christ."

Stuff has reported that a more extreme change - including the removal of religious references and adding more Maori references - had been proposed but was rejected.

Listen to the Panel discussion

Source

• Stuff
• New Zealand Herald
• RNZ
• Image Mark Mitchell /New Zeland Herald