Sister Lorraine Garasu who runs Chabai Nazareth, the only rehabilitation centre in Bougainville, has called on the PNG government to do more to help disadvantaged youth in Bougainville. The centre opens its doors to the ‘Lost Generation’ – people who have lost parents in the Bougainville crisis of the 1990s. She says these people have turned Read more
When Marshall McLuhan’s ground-breaking work in mass communication theory catapulted him into the spotlight more than 30 years ago, the internet and social media were faint blips on the world’s technological radar screen. What many people do not know is that the late University of Toronto professor and Roman Catholic convert also referred to the Read more
About 100 young New Zealanders will be attending the World Youth Day in Spain. There also will be local activities in each of the dioceses. In Auckland they will begin on August 19 and include praying stations of the cross and adoration, says Teresa McNamara, co-ordinator of youth and young adult ministry for the Auckland Diocese. The following day Read more
St Patricks College pupil, Kieran Meredith says it is making a difference that drives him. He is one of fifty young people seleced to take part in New Zealand’s first UNICEF Youth Congress. Kieran is in year 12 at St Patrick’s College Kilbirnie. Earlier this year he started a programme to lift the achievement of Maori and Pacific Island Read more
College graduate Kate Childs has found that over the past five years she had changed and grown. She found she had different reasons for being Catholic, different hopes for her church. She wondered if those she graduated with had experienced a similar transformation. So she asked some of her peers to answer a few questions Read more
In May last year, chief coroner Neil MacLean revealed that at least a dozen teenagers had died from binge drinking since July 2007. One was only 13. Other research shows that tens of thousands of teenagers a year are injured through drinking, or are diagnosed with alcohol problems, while the damage from unprotected sex, lost Read more
Rugby is experiencing an American boom, and nowhere more so than at the 80-plus Jesuit high schools and colleges coast to coast. It’s probably not too surprising that a Catholic order conceived in the aftermath of battle, one which has always seasoned its intellectual and spiritual fervour with a healthy respect for physical strength, has Read more
Nearly one in five young adults suffer from high blood pressure according to a new study from scientists at the University of North Carolina. The Carolina study’s findings differ are in sharp contrast to a federal government study by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that suggested only 4 percent of young adults might Read more
Youth worker Heath Hutton has received Wellington Community Trusts’ Young Community Leader’s Award for his work with young people. His work as a youth justice co-ordinator brings him in contact with young offenders who are then provided with innovative and supportive programmes. Heath also sings in the Wellington Youth Choir, and is a member of Read more
On Monday 16 May the Vatican is issuing a new sexual abuse protocol document, giving guidelines for bishops to follow when dealing with cases of sexual abuse of children by priests. The letter comes from the Vatican’s top-ranking Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). CDF head, Cardinal William Levada said the circular would include Read more