"Almost with one voice they expressed their dismay at St Paul's closing their doors. But they, like a lot of folk, believe the church has failed where Christianity has not. Their response doesn't surprise me; over the ten years since becoming a priest I've heard many people state their discomfort towards the church yet profess allegiance towards Christianity."

The "folk" at the Drop In Centre, and the City Missioner must therefore be encouraged by the lastest turn of events. The City of London Corporation Spokesperson Stuart Fraser has announced 'The church has changed its standpoint and announced it is suspending legal action on its land.'

"Given that change, we've pressed the 'pause' button overnight on legal action affecting the highways - in order to support the cathedral as an important national institution and give time for reflection."

"We want to leave more space for a resolution of this difficult issue - while at the same time not backing away from our responsibilities as a Highway Authority"

A Guardian editorial says "Most churches are a bit of both, and the temptation to identify with the bricks and mortar is particularly strong when they are as glorious as at St Paul's. The cathedral's move to threaten eviction on health and safety grounds certainly suggested it was leaning that way.

But after three resignations ... the contrary view has prevailed. The church has rightly decided to grapple with the question of the demonstration from the perspective of a moral community as opposed to that of a property management company."

Source

• Kapiti Independent
• The BBC
• The Guardian
• Image: Otago daily Times

The small protest known as Occupy Wall Street has grown over the past 4 weeks. Occupy Wall St protests have spread across the United States and are now going world-wide. There is even a group planning a week-long protest at Civic Square in Wellington, starting on Saturday. The Occupy Wellington group is also planning to protest in front of the Reserve Bank from November 5 to 30.

Occupy Wall St protesters are speaking out mainly against economic inequality and corporate greed. Usually, in a recession, income inequality shrinks, but in the present crisis this is not happening.

In the United Sates, in 2005, the richest 1 percent of households earned as much each year as the bottom 60 percent put together; they possessed as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent; and with each passing year, a greater share of the nation's treasure has been flowing through their hands and into their pockets. The analysts, Ajay Kapur, Niall Macleod, and Narendra Singh, coined a term for this state of affairs: plutonomy.

According to The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS), only twenty years ago New Zealand was one of the most equal countries in the western world. Now it is considered one of the most unequal countries in the developed world.

"Inequality increased faster here than in any other OECD country. Most of this increase is due to larger rises in overall incomes for the top 20 per cent of income earners."

Source:

• Coindumonde
• Stuff.co.nz: Occupy Wellington
• 3 News: Occupy Wall St gains momentum
• The Atlanic.com: Plutonomy
• Catholic Online: The effects of greed
• Catholic Online: Pope: Greed, the root of global economic crisis
• Image: Coindumonde