August 2016 Youth, Schools, Education Crispin Anderlini, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand The low thud of bombs striking other neighbourhoods on one side of a Skype call, and the rustling of wind in the trees on the other, was the catalyst for Naia Alkhouri, student at St Francis de Sales School, Island Bay, to write her prize-winning […]
August 2016 Te Tau Tapu o te Atawhai – He whakakākahu i te hunga kore kākahu ‘I was lacking clothes and you clothed me…’ Matthew 25:36 ‘He does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment. Ezekiel […]
August 2016 Diocesan News ‘Many are finding it difficult to access the assistance available to them at Work and Income,’ Wellington Catholic Social Services Director Lesley Hooper recently told a Select Committee considering the Social Security Legislation Rewrite Bill. ‘In all the decisions you are making about this legislation, we ask that you consider: Is […]
August 2016 Diocesan News Shane Olsen ‘Jesus came into the world homeless and poor. The Church wants to embrace everyone, and say that everyone has a right to have a roof over them.’ —Pope Francis For the past 18 months, the Wellington Justice, Peace and Development (JPD) Commission have been advocating for better housing throughout […]
August 2016 International News An international gathering of some 900 Catholic women religious leaders from around the world, met in Rome in May this year for their triennial assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG). UISG represents nearly half a million Catholic women religious on five continents. At a meeting with Pope Francis, […]
August 2016 Diocesan News Merle Nowland, Nelson Parish Several Western countries have changed their laws to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia in varying circumstances. Four speakers at a forum in May, organised by Nelson’s Parish of the Holy Family, were united in the view that for New Zealand to go down such a path would be […]
August 2016 Cardinal John Dew In the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour in Aix-en-Provence, a university city in the south of France, there is a very simple ‘Door of Mercy’. Anyone coming into the Cathedral and wanting to go through the Holy Door has to stoop low to enter. It is a powerful way of […]
August 2016 Reflections Sr Anne Phibbs CBS The feast-days of the church are not just commemorations of historical events. They also give us an insight into our own relationship with God. The Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady on 15 August, which we celebrate in New Zealand on Sunday 14 August, gives us hope that […]
August 2016 Reflections A homily from Fr James Lyons, Parish Priest Sacred Heart Cathedral, delivered on the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 10 2016. [Luke 10:25-37] An opportunity came my way last week to participate in an international conference in Melbourne on the theology, time and personality of Martin Luther. Next year marks 500 […]
August 2016 This is the first part of a three-section article in which Bishop Peter Cullinane explores the meaning of gradualness in working for peace. At times, life seems like a tug-of-war between cruelties and atrocities over against goodness, grace and beauty, whether in nature or in human lives. I think the more we are […]