When was the last time you shared a meal with a poor person? For Pope Francis, it was just a couple of weeks ago. On Nov. 19, the Holy Father celebrating the first World Day of the Poor broke bread with not only one poor person, but with some 1,200 poor brothers and sisters (see Read more
The Temporary Protection Status (TPS) the United States granted Haitian people after an earthquake devastated the island nation in 2010 has been removed. About 200,000 people died in the 7.0 magnitude quake which displaced over a million others. Removing the TPS will affect between 50,000 and 60,000 people who sought refuge in the United States Read more
Both Labour and National are now politically committed to major reductions in child poverty rates. Moreover, their ambitions are bold and explicit. National is promising to reduce child poverty by two-thirds – at least on one specific income-based measure – by the end of the next parliament. Labour has committed to ending child poverty and Read more
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has given a donation of food to the Catholic Church in Tahiti. The food will be distributed to individuals and families who are going through difficult times. Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Read more
Cans for Christmas is a project that collects canned food through Catholic Schools and donates them to the St Vincent de Paul Society. Christ the King Primary School Owairaka assistant principal and Year 5 and 6 teacher Billy Hadnett came up with the idea for the initiative, which began in 2015. Hadnett established Cans for Read more
Which is generally more often to blame if a person is poor: lack of effort on their own part or difficult circumstances beyond their control? The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation asked 1,686 American adults to answer that question — and found that religion is a significant predictor of how Americans perceive poverty. Read more
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pope Francis met privately for the fourth time on Saturday. The Holy See Press Office called their discussions “cordial” and said they spoke about “the good relations and fruitful collaboration between the Holy See and Germany”. They also discussed climate change and ways the world can work multilaterally to combat Read more
Six months after Muhammed Yusuf had been sold, tortured and forced to watch as a friend died, he found himself back at the parched, dusty bus station where his ordeal began, facing the man who had made him a slave. Unembarrassed and unrepentant, the smuggler was still touting for business among the crowds flooding into Read more
Last week, in Sydney, a tent for rent was posted in a Facebook group Inner West Housemates a forum for anyone searching for a place to live in Sydney’s inner western suburbs. The tent, available for $130 a week, “Includes all bills and $100/week of communal food that you can add to at your leisure.” Read more
A Catholic bishop in Indonesia’s Papua province has criticised a plan by local authorities in Jayapura to build “the world’s tallest statue of Jesus”. The bishop called the move a waste of much-needed money. The statue, which would be built at the top of Puncak Gunung Swajah in the city of Jayapura, would cost somewhere Read more