WelCom June/July 2021 Bishops in the United Kingdom have spoken out against the British government’s New Plan for Immigration, which they claim will create a ‘two-tier’ system for asylum seekers. Bishop Paul McAleenan, from the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, and Bishop William Nolan, Chair of the Scottish Bishops’ Commission for Justice and […]
WelCom June/July 2021 Pope Francis has approved a new multi-year, three-stage process for the next gathering of the synod of bishops. It aims to involve the whole church at diocesan, national and continental levels through a process of ‘listening and discernment’ on the important theme of synodality: ‘For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission.’ […]
WelCom June/July 2021 Pope Francis has warned newly ordained priests against the twin perils of worldly ambition and love of money. Speaking at a Mass in Rome, where he ordained nine deacons to the priesthood, the Pope acknowledged that in the past there used to be talk of the ‘ecclesiastical career’. But he continued: ‘This […]
WelCom June/July 2021 Boston composer, Linda Chase, has written an oratorio based on Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical, Laudato si’, On Care for our Common Home. She said of the project: ‘I am interpreting Laudato si’ as a call to action through music’. The ambitious work is to be sung by 16 vocalists accompanied by a […]
WelCom June/July 2021 Andy Warhol is synonymous with pop art and celebrity but one driving force in his work that people may not know about is his relationship to Catholicism. A new exhibition illuminating the ways Catholic themes appear in Warhol’s work will be hosted at the Brooklyn Museum this fall (US Autumn). Born Andrew […]
WelCom June/July 2021 Sally Butler Over Anzac weekend this year, parishioners and clergy gathered to celebrate 150 years of St Patrick’s Church in Waipawa, Central Hawke’s Bay. During the 1860s the renowned Fr Reignier, of the Meanee Mission, Napier, travelled down to Waipawa on a monthly schedule, using the local schoolroom for his services. At […]
WelCom June/July 2021 Denise Fleming Fr Simon Story, parish priest, and Fr Vui Hoang blessed and opened their new presbytery in New Plymouth in March and invited parishioners to come and view their new home. The new 440 sq2 presbytery is built on the site of the old St Philomena’s presbytery in Brooklands Road and […]
WelCom June/July 2021 A special Mass at St Joseph’s Church, Mt Victoria, on Saturday 1 May was celebrated with a full congregation to honour the Feast of St Joseph the Worker, and as part of the Archdiocese’s contributions to the Year of St Joseph. Vicar General Mons Gerard Burns officiated. In his homily about St […]
WelCom June/July 2021 Kathy Whelan The Wellington Catholic Homes Trust built its first 20-unit Bishop Snedden Retirement Village in Waikanae in the early 1980s. Now 38 years later, the Trust has added 20 new units. Opening and blessing the extension on 18 May, Cardinal John congratulated the Trust and the Trustees on how they look […]
WelCom June/July 2021 Deena Coster A taonga from the Philippines is returning home after marking a major milestone as a man of the cloth. Fr Freddie Barte’s farewell Mass from Taranaki, coincided with reaching his 30-year anniversary serving communities and sharing his Catholic faith. Fr Barte decided to join the priesthood when he was aged […]