Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal of Easter, Christ’s victory over death. This season urgently calls us to conversion. Christians are asked to return to God “with all their hearts” (Joel 2:12), to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord. Jesus is the Read more
A proposed bylaw allowing stores in Marlborough to open on Easter Sunday has an unlikely advocate – a pastor. The Marlborough District Council called for public submissions on the issue after Parliament passed a bill to give local councils the power to create their own bylaws on Easter Sunday trading in August. Many church leaders in Marlborough opposed the Read more
A young woman claiming to have received stigmata wounds is sparking vigorous debate in Samoa. A woman named in Samoan media as Toaipuapuaga Opapo Soana’i, 23, played the part of Jesus in a Sunday School Easter play. People noticed wounds appearing on her body. She had wounds on her feet and hands, as well as Read more
The Catholic archbishop of Suva was among the church leaders who attended a combined Easter Sunday event at a Suva park. Archbishop Peter Loy Chong was one of the leaders at the event at Ratu Sukuna Park titled “Rise with Christ: A Vision of Hope for the Future”. Among the other church leaders present were Read more
For 1.2 billion Catholics around the world, this week marks the single most important week of the year: Holy Week. Holy Week – which culminates with Easter Sunday – enters into the heart and soul of Christianity, which is the death and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth two thousand years ago. As Fr. Robert Barron Read more
Historic Church of England village churches could be closed down except on feasts like Christmas and Easter as a move to cope with dwindling congregations. A committee of senior CofE clerics and laity is recommending many village churches throughout England be designated as “festival” churches. This would be a new category of parish used only Read more
A “path of conversion” suggested for civilly remarried Catholics would see them abstain from sexual relations for a week at Easter. Italian canon lawyer Fr Eugenio Zanetti’s idea was one of those mooted in a book “Family and Church, an indissoluble bond”, published in Italian in June. The book contained lectures by theologians and lawyers Read more
On Good Friday a group of people made a pilgrimage walk from the Okarito Domain next to the beach, to the trig. It is a distance of about 1.8km each way and a height gain of 250 metres. Okarito is a small settlement the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. It is famous for its scenic Read more
Churches in parts of Germany are up in arms about a proposed weakening of a law which bans public dancing on some religious holidays. The regional government of Baden-Württemberg is considering relaxing the state’s ban on dancing during part of the Easter period and on other Christian holidays, reports The Guardian. The holiday law – Read more
In his traditional Easter Sunday blessing to the city and the world, Pope Francis several times implored God to stop violence in many parts of the world. The Pope mentioned Iraq and Syria, Libya, Yemen, Nigeria, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Ukraine. Francis also called on Christians to look at Read more