The Vatican has restated its support for the principle that “full and true equality between men and women is a fundamental aspect of a just and democratic society”. Msgr Simon Kassas, charge d’affaires at the Vatican’s Permanent Mission, addressed the Organisation on Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) permanent council in Vienna on Thursday. “The Read more
Australia’s fifth plenary council (PC) finished on a united note on the final day of voting last Friday. The PC’s final acts will now be compiled and sent to Rome for ratification. PC vice president Bishop Shane Mackinlay says he believes “in time we will look back on this as an extremely significant event in Read more
Catholic women in Britain are backing a petition against a new gender-exclusive Bible translation. The petition asks the Bishops’ Conferences of England and Wales and Scotland to reconsider their decision to use the gender-exclusive Bible at Mass. So far over 150 people have signed the petition. The bishops’ controversial decision involves scrapping the Jerusalem Bible Read more
Men and women in the Indonesian province of Aceh are no longer allowed to dine together unless they are married or related. Under the latest regulation in Bireuën district on Sumatra island, men and women will not be able to dine together at restaurants and coffee shops unless they are accompanied by their husband or Read more
An official letter that girls’ rugby and boxing went against Tongan women’s dignity and culture did not represent official government policy says Prime Minister Akilisi Pōhiva. Continue reading
The Archbishop of Suva, Peter Loy Chong, says churches and religions in Fiji need to examine their sexist and discriminatory attitude towards women. He says women must be included in decision-making and he has encouraged parishes to include more women in leadership roles, “especially in parish pastoral councils and finance committees”. Writing in the Fiji Times on Read more
Last Sunday Churches across Fiji observed Break the Silence Sunday in a united attempt to break the culture of silence and shame around violence against women. This is in response to research conducted by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre which suggests that 64 percent of Fijian women aged between 15 and 49 have experienced physical or Read more
“As strongly as I believe in the right of same-sex couples to marry, even more strongly do I believe in religious freedom,” says Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. A supporter of same-gender marriage, Turnbull defended the right of a church to refuse to marry a young couple who had posted support for same-sex unions on social media. He Read more
The seven women bishops of the Provinces of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia and the Anglican Church of Australia met last month to focus on issues of gender justice and women’s leadership in the Anglican Communion. It is the first time the women bishops, who have served in the Anglican Episcopate Read more
At least one commentator is suggesting a boycott of the third season of The Bachelor NZ set to be broadcast on Three in March. “The ship has sailed. The horse has bolted,” says Shelly Bridgeman in her opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald. “So now it’s up to the audience and the advertisers to Read more