Opposition to an Exclusive Brethren chapel being built in a Havelock North residential street is a case of “Nimbyism by stealth”. Lawyer Matthew Lawson made the comment while acting for the Hastings Gospel Trust in a Hastings District Council Resource Consent Hearing last Friday. The application involves demolishing a house on a 758sqm Reynolds Road Read more
Surrounding the church with landmines does not surprise Frank Bird (pictured). The New Zealand priest has just returned from the Myanmar-Thai border. Landmines surround a Catholic church in Myanmar. Before mining it, the military had been using the church as a kitchen. The military junta’s mining of the Mother of God church in Mobye, a Read more
In the first case of its kind in New Zealand, a well-known Kiwi-Indian community leader based in Wellington, Mr Kantilal Bhagabhai Patel, has lost his membership of the Wellington Justices of Peace (JP) Association, after some of his social media posts were deemed anti-Muslim in nature. Ms Ann Clark, who is the Vice President of Read more
A “strict and dominating” Catholic father cut five of his children from his will after religious differences. But five years after his death, a High Court heard Jack Enright’s will was “morally and legally questionable” and awarded four of the five out-of-pocket siblings nearly $1 million each. Read more
St Mary’s Star of the Sea Church in Gisborne was spray-painted with racist obscenities and anti-religious insults last week. Abusive messages against the Christian religion and Pakeha were spray-painted in green on the state highway side of the church, next to Campion College, on Wednesday night. Parish priest Monsignor Frank Eggleton said bad timing made Read more
The persecution of Christians is now “worse than at any time in history” according to a report by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. Persecuted and Forgotten? has been published by the UK office of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. Some of the report’s findings are: Persecution of Christians reached Read more
A history professor said “religion’s the enemy of education” in response to the stir following his comment on a Z Energy Facebook post about diversity in the workplace. He wrote, “Who needs employees if they stop work five times per day to talk to an imaginary being?” Richards was accused of confusing the Sikh in Read more
Catholic education experts in Indonesia are drafting what they say are new school guidelines to counter growing intolerance and radicalism in classrooms. Father Vinsensius Darmin Mbula, chairman of the National Council of Catholic Education says diversity, pluralism and tolerance need to be taught to children in the family and in school. He said advice would Read more
Religious freedom is an oxymoron for three quarters of the world, according to US ambassador David Saperstein. The U.S. State Department warned that religion-based terrorists as well as some governments across the globe are threatening the liberties of religious minorities. “One of the best ways to deny these murderers their victory is by ensuring that Read more
Hillary Clinton, the US Democratic presidential candidate, has accused Donald Trump of scapegoating the parents of a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq. Her comments came after Trump, the Republican nominee, took issue with remarks the soldier’s father made at the Democratic National Convention. In an ABC interview that aired on Sunday, Trump questioned why Ghazala Read more