At St Mary’s primary school in Lochee, Scotland, I had the same teacher for six years, Mrs W. For me, she was an excellent teacher: she encouraged me to read widely, gave me ample time for creative writing, drilled me in mental arithmetic, and allowed me leadership opportunities, which largely consisted in time out of Read more
How many times in the last few years have we heard it said that the law is an ass, following trials that have not had popular or expected outcomes, and where lives have been lost by the actions of those released on bail? We know that nothing is perfect and that despite the best efforts Read more
Immigration New Zealand says it is in the public interest to deport a tetraplegic to Tonga. Semisi Ma’afu Samiu is wondering how he will get off the airplane once he gets there. He tripped over a child’s plastic bike in Auckland in May 2006, crashing on to a concrete surface and injuring his spine, leaving him Read more
An Anglican parish in Onewhero, Tuakau, has been seeking support for a British family who have been living in New Zealand for seven years, but face being deported because the father has a brain tumour and cannot work. Immigration NZ acting general manager Bruce Burrows said their application for residence was rejected because Paul Crystal Read more
The concept of justice is a tricky one to grasp in this age of innumerable platforms for user-generated content on the internet. I’ve watched in fascination at the many responses that have been spawned by the ‘Bullied Bus Monitor’ story that’s been developing over the past few weeks, each with their own interpretation of justice. Read more
Monsignor William Lynn was convicted for child endangerment on June 22. For the Catholic Church in the US this conviction shows that “that the courts will not afford clergymen a version of the Nazi’s Nuremburg defense that they “were only following orders”,” according to Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, writing in the Washington Post. According to Stevens-Arroyo, “The big loser Read more
The traditional code of conflict solution known as the peace ceremony is PNG’s most equitable and timeless alternative justice system. In peace ceremonies, the aggrieved parties come together in a public gathering to a neutral location with money and goods like animals, food stuffs etc. The money and goods are exchanged between the aggrieved parties Read more
Economist and journalist Rod Oram has issued a challenge to Christians who advocate for social justice — that they update their message in contemporary, practical, new and exciting terms. Mr Oram, a lay canon of the Anglican Church and a member of the Holy Trinity Cathedral chapter in Auckland, gave a talk entitled “Opportunity for all” Read more
The undersecretary of Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Flaminia Giovanelli, told Vatican Radio that the council is preparing a new document on the right to water.
“The right to food, like the right to water, has an important place within the pursuit of other rights, beginning with the fundamental right to life,” Pope Benedict taught in his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate.
“It is therefore necessary to cultivate a public conscience that considers food and access to water as universal rights of all human beings, without distinction or discrimination.”
The document will be called: Water, and essential element for life.”
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