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
Posts Tagged ‘parish life’
Rome hears German bishops parish instruction criticism
Monday, August 3rd, 2020
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
Visiting Canadian lay leader helping Catholics inject new life into parishes
Monday, April 15th, 2019Canadian 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
Pope’s three signs a parish is doing well
Thursday, April 11th, 2019During 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
Catholic parish life has become insufferably middle-class
Thursday, August 10th, 2017
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
18 new parishes for Christchurch diocese
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
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
How parish life has changed
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
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