Pope Francis, on returning from Bahrain, shared his thoughts on many of the world’s current human-made tragedies – including today’s numerous armed conflicts. He said the conflicts reminded him of the World War II Allied military landings at Normandy, France. “It was the beginning of the fall of Nazism, it’s true. “But how many boys Read more
The contemplative Benedictines of Solonka, in Ukraine, near Lviv, are used to silence and external solitude, but they have opened the doors of their monastery and their cloister to hosting refugees affected by the war. Since the end of February 2022, they have welcomed hundreds of needy families. “During the first few weeks of the Read more
The national memorial for conscientious objectors is a welcome addition to the steps above George St and Albany St, Dunedin. Since the official opening of the Archibald Baxter Peace Garden on October 29, 2021, the site has quickly established itself as an important national and local landmark. The central feature in the garden is a Read more
I never met my uncle Martin. If he were alive today, he would be in his 90s, but he died when he was three years old, victim of what would today be a minor infection. However, before the development of antibiotics there was no such thing as a minor infection. Had Martin caught that infection Read more
Despite advanced age and questionable health, Pope Francis keeps up a busy schedule of activities that looks to get even busier. The past several weeks surely have been extremely frustrating for Pope Francis. First of all, his tireless and ever more urgent appeals for an end to the fighting in Ukraine, which began in late Read more
On the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi in 1965, in the middle of a historic visit to New York City, Pope Paul VI ascended the rostrum before the United Nations General Assembly and summoned the world to peace. The visit came two and a half years after John XXIII’s Pacem in terris refashioned the Read more
People leaving war-torn countries, like Ukraine, for a new life in New Zealand all bring one thing with them – hope, an immigration industry veteran says. New Zealand’s history of helping out people amid violent conflicts include Polish refugees in the 1940s, Vietnamese and Cambodian people in the 1970s and 1980s, and people from Somalia Read more
People’s real battles should be spent on fighting poverty, hunger, disease, thirst and slavery, Pope Francis says. They should be spending money on those battles, not on fighting each other, nation against nation. Yet vast sums are spent on armaments for waging war. This is “a scandal” that just drags civilisation backward, Francis told a Read more
At the end of the first fortnight of the Russian invasion of Ukraine its character, its consequences and its characterisation in public discourse are becoming clear. The war is set to become a bitter and prolonged military battle which will cause great casualties both to soldiers and the civilian population and lead to a huge Read more
Was it good that the United States and its allies fought a 20 year war against the Taliban in Afghanistan? Was all of the blood, sweat and tears worth it? How can any honest, moral, objective view conclude that all of the money wasted, goodwill lost, Americans and allies killed and countless innocent poor Afghan Read more