October 2014 News Dan Siave October has been set aside as the month of Discernment for the Archdiocese of Wellington’s Young Church to walk together exploring personal and collective discernment. Discernment is building on earlier events from the Vocations week in August 2014 at the request of young adults and discussions with vocations directors. ‘Discernment […]
September 2014 Election 2014 In the lead up to the general election, 20 September 2014, New Zealand’s Catholic Bishops have asked Catholics to reflect on who will represent us in Parliament and govern for the next three years. Their statement has been issued to Catholic parishes, schools, youth groups, pastoral areas and other Catholic […]
September 2014 Feature Annette Scullion A shared, deep concern about the appalling rates and effects of child poverty in New Zealand prompted Archbishop John Dew and Anglican Bishop of Wellington Justin Duckworth to call on politicians to urgently address this at a public forum in Wellington, on Tuesday 5 August. In the lead up to […]
September 2014 Election 2014 Reflections on the key issues raised in the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ general election statement are shared below. People living in poverty Lisa Beech Many New Zealanders are becoming familiar with our shameful child-poverty statistics, which show around a quarter – or 285,000 – of our children live in poverty. Poor […]
September 2014 Feature Chris Nichol Archbishop John Dew has reminded us, ‘our children are our nation’s precious taonga. We, as adults, have a collective responsibility always to strive to do our best for our children’. But we’re failing. A quarter of our one million children live below the poverty line. Many go to school hungry, […]
September 2014 Feature Annette Scullion Calls for prayers for peace in the Middle East have continued around the globe as the situation for minorities in Iraq worsens and the people in Gaza continue to suffer after 50 days of fighting. The Catholic aid organisation Caritas International is helping Iraqi minorities escape the fighting and is […]
September 2014 Feature Fr Kevin Head sm The seafarers who bring goods to our ports are mostly unseen. We see the ships sail by … how often do we think about those who work on them? Yet it’s estimated at least 90 per cent of everything we use and wear comes to us by sea. […]
September 2014 Pastoral Mike Noonan A recurrent question I have heard in parishes and pastoral areas in the Archdiocese since arriving here a little over a year ago is ‘Where are our Youth?’ It is often asked in a challenging tone, appearing to imply the barque of St Peter must be sinking in Wellington harbour […]
September 2014 Pastoral Mark Richards I have been invited to offer an insight each month for Wel-Com on something I see in the pastoral life of the local Church. That is, how we minister, live our faith, pray and worship. It is a wide brief and a hard one to tie down. It has been […]
September 2014 Feature Judy Dixon In our communities we have an urgent need for volunteers to support newly-released prisoners using ordinary, everyday skills. Through Prison Fellowship New Zealand (PFNZ) we make a personal appeal to you to help. PFNZ is a professionally-led, national Christian community agency made possible by volunteers. The organisation builds on programmes […]