"The churches take a lot of money from the people and we need to change the attitude of ministers," she said.

"They are not God. They go to church that supposedly help(s) the people to embrace values that are written in the bible, but they don't."

Leulua'ialii was speaking after Samoa's court of appeal has ruled that the Elders Committee of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa's removal the elder was illegal.

The judgment said dismissed elder's right to observance of the principles of natural justice was not honoured.

The supreme court, last year, had ruled in favour of the church.

Woodroffe has been acting on behalf of a Congregation Christian Church elder Reverend Kerita Reupena who whom the Elders Committee removed from his position while he was serving in Queeensland.

The sacking followed an internal dispute over the tenure of another minister in Sydney and a separate issue of allocation of church money to a parish on the island of Savai'i.

In 2015 Reupena took legal action against the Elders Committee for unlawful dismissal.

In May of that year the court issued an injunction which reinstated Reupena to the position.

The church ignored the injunction while also seeking a clarification from the Chief Justice.

Subsequently Chief Justice Patu ruled against Reupena's claim and dismissed the case.

The Chief Justice also dismissed an interim injunction.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• sobserver.ws
• samoaobserver.ws
• Image: samoaobserver.ws

The church had been paying a nominal rent of $1 a year to the owner of the Chancery Lane block, RFD Investments.

The sole director of the company, now in receivership and liquidation, was property developer David Henderson.

The Chancery Lane chapel was damaged but not destroyed in the Canterbury earthquakes.

RFD gave the church $193,000, as a portion of the $9m that Vero paid it as indemnity insurance for the Chancery Lane block.

In late 2012, the Crown compulsorily acquired RFD's Chancery Lane complex for just over $9m.

The church had valued its leasehold at $9.5m and wanted the Crown to pay it the difference.

Lawyers for RFD's receivers said the church's "interest was limited" to a share of indemnity insurance.

Justice Nicholas Davidson found the indemnity insurance payout to RFD reflected the Crown's notice of intention to acquire the Chancery Lane site and spelt the end of RFD's occupancy.

But, he said, the church's leasehold interest "remained in existence and is compensatable".

A court win for RFD could have blocked a church claim of up to $9 million from the Crown.

Property and development manager Keith Beal said the church wanted only to establish an inner-city chapel that was as large and well-located as the previous one.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• Image: 4.bp.blogspot.com

Tony Nicklinson, paralysed from the neck down after a stroke seven years ago, died of natural causes a week after three High Court judges ruled that Parliament should decide whether euthanasia should be allowed.

The media battle has included numerous opinion polls conducted with the aim of demonstrating widespread support, especially among the young, for euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Euthanasia campaigners are also using celebrity endorsements to curry support, with actors, singers, novelists, comedians, philosophers and even war veterans agreeing to serve as patrons of the Dignity in Dying group. They include Sir Patrick Stewart, the Star Trek actor, and Sir Terry Pratchett, the science fiction writer.

Catholic News Service reports that some Catholic doctors in recent months have taken huge risks with their careers to argue that a system designed to care for people in their final hours can be operated as a euthanasia pathway.

The Liverpool Care Pathway allows medical staff to decide if a patient is dying, then to sedate the patient with opiates and to remove artificial food and fluids, which under British law are classed as "treatment". Audits have revealed that patients take an average of 29 hours to die.

Dr Philip Howard, a Catholic who works in a health service hospital in Surrey, said it is extremely difficult to predict when a patient will die, especially if the disease is noncancerous. The short life expectancy on the Liverpool Care Pathway "suggests that in some cases (or perhaps many), the pathway is either causing or significantly contributing to death," he said.

The government insists, however, that the pathway "is not euthanasia". A Department of Health statement described the pathway as an "established and respected tool" that enjoys "overwhelming support from clinicians at home and abroad".

Source:

Catholic News Service

Image: The Telegraph