In recent weeks, the Russia's Patriarch Kirill has used religious language to justify his support for Russia's military aggression.

Even Kirill's own supporters are looking elsewhere, says Dew.

"The invasion has created new ecumenical tensions. As many as 160 Russian Orthodox parishes around the world have sought to join other communions as a result."

Dew says New Zealand Church leaders, together with many others around the world, have written to Kirill expressing their "great concern about his religious justification for the war and asking him to use his influence in Moscow to bring it to an end".

Kirill's use of religious language to justify his support for Russia's military aggression is failing to impress Pope Francis who recently rejected the idea put by the Patriarch Kirill that Russia's Ukraine invasion is a "holy war".

During his Sunday address and blessing, Francis continued his implicit criticism of Russia, calling the conflict in Ukraine an unjustified "senseless massacre".

"The violent aggression against Ukraine is unfortunately not slowing down," he told about 30,000 people in St Peter's Square.

"It is a senseless massacre where every day slaughters and atrocities are being repeated," Francis said in his latest strong condemnation of the war, which has so far avoided mentioning Russia by name.

"There is no justification for this," he added.

Moscow says the action it launched on February 24 is a "special military operation" designed not to occupy territory but to demilitarise its neighbour and purge it what it sees as dangerous nationalists. Francis has already rejected that terminology.

"I beg all the players in the international community to truly commit themselves to stopping this repugnant war," the pope said, drawing loud cheers and applause from the crowd.

"Even this week missiles and bombs hit civilians, the elderly, children and pregnant mothers," he said.

Source

• Supplied
• Reuters

Stuff reports, a team of five immigration officials - including one in Europe and another in North America -are still promoting "investor interest in New Zealand" so high net-worth investors can enter the country as soon as the borders re-open.

However, according to the New Zealand Government, priests and religious workers are considered unnecessary to New Zealand.

As well as the courted wealthy, exemptions to COVID border restrictions see fishing guides, beauticians, knitting machine operators, insurance investigators, industrial spray painters, bicycle mechanics and tour guides as exempt border occupations.

The list of exempted occupations also includes civil celebrants.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi says he is considering a revamp of the skilled migrant category.

"Decisions around the scope and timing of any such review are currently under consideration. No decisions on settings or planning range have been made at this stage."

Nor have any decisions been made on re-starting the selection of expressions of interest for skilled workers. This will be looked at again by the end of next month, Faafoi says.

Immigration lawyer Elly Fleming has some suggestions for the skilled migrant category review. As an example, it could look at adjusting settings, such as minimum remuneration limits for lower-level skilled jobs, she says.

"It's really difficult to predict what the government's priorities are.

"I think it all depends on what their goal is. If their goal is to make it harder for migrants to get residence, if that's the goal then there are several ways they can go about doing this," she says.

"Or if the goal is to actually fill gaps in the labour market, they can say 'yes, we know there are these shortages, we can't get enough registered nurses, we can't get enough doctors or engineers, let's make it easier for them to get residence'."

Fleming says Australia had been more strategic than New Zealand in assessing its skills needs and getting workers it needed into the country.

Source

• RNZ
• Stuff
• Immigration New Zealand
• Immigration New Zealand
• Archdiocese of Wellington
• Image: Woburn International