July 2014 Holy Land 2014 Cecily McNeill The Caritas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem runs mostly on charity but for Palestinian mothers who come with their sick children, it is a ‘seven-star hotel’. As well as providing medical care for babies and children up to the age of 16 and even older if they are chronic […]
July 2014 Holy Land 2014 Cecily McNeill Amid the trials of negotiating the Israeli security system there is great joy and pride in the staff and students at Bethlehem University. Manar Shomaly who has just graduated with a Masters in International Cooperation and Development says Bethlehem University is well-known in the West Bank for the […]
July 2014 Holy Land 2014 Amid the terror of regular ‘visits’ from Israeli soldiers, the residents of Deheisheh refugee camp south of Bethlehem see hope in their dance troupe and in the way young people embrace learning by getting together to study and discuss. Deheisheh is one of 59 Palestinian refugee camps in the West […]
July 2014 Holy Land 2014 Cecily McNeill One man who knows what it is like to be powerless in the face of Israeli military brutality told of receiving a severe beating in 2003 when Bethlehem was under siege creating great tension, that will stay with him for the rest of his life. He and his […]
July 2014 Holy Land 2014 Mgr Gerard Burns During his recent visit to Jordan, Palestine and Israel, Pope Francis stopped at two walls. One was the ‘separation’ wall Israel is building on Palestinian territory. The other was the Western (Wailing) wall of the temple mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The separation wall, sometimes […]
July 2014 Holy Land 2014 Yosef Livne Wel-Com invited a response to our collection of stories on Palestine that appeared in our July 2014 issue from the Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand, Yosef Livne. He replied as follows: The articles gave me very few options. I could ignore them, I could classify them as another […]
July 2014 Feature Pat Rhodes Sr Litia Vakameitangake DOLC recently retired as chaplain to Wanganui Prison. The prison holds 530 men in high-security to low-security units. Her ministry covered all the units. She worked with a team including Church volunteers. Pastoral care to prisoners is a very fine line. She sits with the men […]
June 2014 Feature Mary-Ann Greaney The story of St Bernadette Parish Hall Naenae is so much more than a simple renovation – it is the story of a faith community focused on mission, of a web of relationships between ethnic communities, school, parish and the wider community, and funding providers. It is a story of […]
June 2014 Opinion Archbishop John Dew Last month Wellington hosted the four-yearly plenary assembly of the bishops of the Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania (FCBCO). But it would be no surprise if anyone attending the opening Mass thought they had been carried off to the Pacific Islands, with the vibrant contribution of the Samoan […]
June 2014 Opinion Cecily McNeill As I was preparing for my regular stint on the organ at St Anne’s, Newtown, last month, I felt a frisson of anticipation at the thought of being in the parish again and part of the liturgy. I was reminded of how good the church is for exercising one’s talents […]