Young Catholics are not copying the Canadian secularism trend which older Catholics are modelling. A recent Cardus Institute study says young Canadian Catholics are twice as likely as their elders to attend religious services at least once a month. Faith’s shifting landscape Cardus’ 2022 report “The Shifting Landscape of Faith in Canada” says religious indicators Read more
Two small Catholic churches in rural Marlborough are to close following a review. Masses are held at Sacred Heart in Havelock three times a month, while the congregation of St Francis de Sales in Renwick gathers for Mass once a month. However, those churches are to close following the review. Continue reading
The new parish instructions could the the subject of a discussion at the Vatican, if German bishops want to air their views about them, says Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. Stella (pictured), whose congregation issued the new parish instructions last month, says he would be pleased to receive the bishops Read more
Canadian lay leader Ron Huntley arrived in Brisbane last week to speak with priests and Church leaders about how to go beyond the crisis in the Catholic Church and inspire an authentic renewal of faith. “If the way we do Church doesn’t lead to an encounter and a relationship with the person of Jesus Christ Read more
During a visit to a parish in Rome, Pope Francis offered three signs a parish is doing well: prayer; the “charity of facts”, exemplified by their charitable works; and “passive charity”. “What is passive charity?” he asked rhetorically. “That you love one another and do not criticize one another”. During his pastoral visit Francis meets Read more
There are plenty of things for which I thank God: good friends, the health of my children, the glorious tenth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum. Another is the fact that my wife and I were never made to attend a Catholic marriage preparation course. If we had been members of a parish where the mind-numbingly dull half-year Read more
A major reorganisation is ahead for the New Zealand diocese of Christchurch with the planned formation of 18 new parishes. “New and wider parish boundaries will now include previously separate parish communities, making possible a sharing of resources, both human and material. These changes will cause some sorrow and sadness, but also present new opportunities. For many Read more
While the following article concerns the US, much of what is reported here is reflected in Catholic parish life in Aotearoa New Zealand: A lot has changed in parish life in a quarter-century, yet American Catholics are still predominantly attached to territorial parishes headed by a priest pastor. The model is being stretched and transformed, Read more