Pope Francis, who is known as ‘the Pope of the peripheries’, has suggested the possibility of travelling to somewhere no pope has gone before — the South Pole. In an interview, the 86-year-old Pope said he plans to visit his native Argentina, adding: ‘Somebody said that if I go to Argentina, I should stop at Rio Gallegos, then head to the South Pole, land in Melbourne, and visit New Zealand. It would be a rather long journey,’ he joked.
Pope Francis wants the next World Day of Peace, 1 January 2024, to focus on artificial intelligence’s impact, opportunities and dangers as the technology develops and influences a growing number of fields, from information to warfare.
Church leaders in Ireland are hopeful more parishioners will step up and preside at funerals to ease the burden on overworked priests, with two dioceses already commissioning laypeople to take charge where there is no priest.
WelCom’s Journey of Faith continues this month to Lower Hutt’s Catholic Parish of Te Awakairangi – a diverse community in ethnicity, age, spirituality and interests. Formed in 2015, the parish is composed of the churches of St Michael’s, Taita, St Bernadette’s, Naenae, St Martin de Porres, Avalon and Ss Peter & Paul, Lower Hutt.
Catholic Social Services (CSS) is the social outreach agency of the Archdiocese of Wellington. Its mission includes social work, clergy healthcare, short-term therapeutic interventions, prison chaplaincy, hospital chaplaincy, support for refugee resettlement, community advocacy and support for people going through loss and grief. All are welcome and services are available to people of all backgrounds and beliefs.
The World Day of the Poor is a Catholic observance established by Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter, Misericordia et Misera, issued on 20 November 2016 to celebrate the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. The Pope asked for the Catholic Church to set aside a Sunday every year and ‘reflect on how poverty is at the very heart of the Gospel’.
It’s a fundamental principle of Catholic Social Teaching that, as Vatican 2 said, ‘God intended the earth and everything in it for the use of all human beings and peoples. Thus, under the leadership of justice and in the company of charity, created goods should flow fairly to all’.
Every year Pope Francis calls us to encounter with the poor; to be with the poor. In his World Day of the Poor message this year, he calls us again to seek out, listen to, and befriend the poor.
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand invites you to take part in the World Day of the Poor 2023 on 19 November, as an opportunity to reflect on and renew commitments to walking together towards a fair and just world.
Berrigan House, a Catholic Worker Youth Ministry, opened its doors in 2016 on the footsteps of Victoria University Wellington’s Kelburn campus. Its leadership has changed several times but the kaupapa [foundation, principles] has remained the same.