In preparation for the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2015, Pope Francis has encouraged bishops around the world to undertake wide consultation on the topic ‘The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World’. The New Zealand Conference of Bishops invited people to add their Read more
A Jesuit moral theologian has taken issue with the labeling of some human acts as “intrinsically evil”. In a presentation at the so-called “shadow council” at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University in May, Fr Alain Thomasset, SJ, described such labelling is one of the main problems in the pastoral care of families. Understanding some acts as intrinsically evil, Read more
Pope Francis has said that families that choose not to have children are making a selfish choice. The Pope said this in his general audience at St Peter’s Square on February 11, during which he continued a series of reflections on the various roles in the family. A society that “views children above all as Read more
Many Pasifika mothers hope their children will belong to a church. However european mothers are far more likely to hope their children would grow up to respect cultural diversity. This is one of the findings survey of about 7000 expectant parents of children born in Auckland and Waikato in 2009-10. The $3 million-a-year Growing Up Read more
When Mum called to tell me she had cancer I didn’t answer. I looked up from my eggs on toast, registered her name flashing on my phone, and decided that whatever Mum wanted could wait. It waited until after I’d showered, watched an episode of Orange is the New Black, painted my nails a lurid green, Read more
The sacrament of marriage is “not just a pretty ceremony” — through it a couple receive from God the grace they will need to fulfill their mission in the world, Pope Francis has told a Pilgrimage for Families. The pilgrimage, organised for the Year of Faith, attracted more than 100,000 people to St Peter’s Square. Read more
For his new book, author Andrew Solomon spoke with parents who have children completely unlike them — with autism, Down syndrome or dwarfism. SPIEGEL spoke with him about his findings and how they changed his parenting. SPIEGEL: Dr. Solomon, in your book you write about Jason Kingsley, who was a child star on “Sesame Street.” What’s Read more
We all know what’s coming. Everywhere in the developed world, populations are greying. The media are full of stories about the surge in the numbers of the elderly within the next 20 years, while governments have been pushing the age of retirement entitlements upward. Most of the spotlight has been on the new greybeards themselves—the Read more
I was at the bookstore recently with my kids. The little ones were checking out the Legos while the older girls were lounging like hippies on beanbag chairs reading books we hadn’t bought. I noticed a mother was sitting nearby in the crowded cafe with her daughter, who seemed about thirteen or fourteen years old. Read more
This year’s Australian Catholic Bishops Social Justice Statement focuses on the family. It is put into useful perspective by the publication the Bishops’ Pastoral Research Office September E-News Bulletin headlining the 2011 Census statistic that only 50 per cent of Catholics aged 15 and over are married. The often talked about nexus between marriage, the family, and the Catholic Read more