Over Easter 55 young people from Whangarei to Timaru gathered at St Patrick’s, Silverstream, for 41 hours of prayer, celebration and fellowship. The mainly Year 13 students, mostly graduates of the MaristYouthLeader programme, participated in the Passion Narrative on Good Friday afternoon.
Caritas welcomes extra spending on overseas aid given in this year’s Budget but slams the Budget’s failure to address a growing gap between rich and poor.
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has welcomed the defeat of the second bill relating to Easter Sunday trading in Parliament last week. The Bill proposed to allow local authorities to extend Easter trading in their own local areas.
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, the Catholic agency for justice, peace and development, opposes two clauses in the Terrorism Suppression Amendment Bill, which it believes has the potential to impact on work for human rights in the region.
Proverbs 13:24 is the text most invoked: Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them. The phrase ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ is often incorrectly attributed to the Christian bible. It does not appear there. It was first written in a poem by Samuel Butler in 1664.
It is presented by married couples and explores the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of marital intimacy, and helps couples to identify their individual intimacy needs.
The Directors of Catholic Social Services around the country have come out in support of repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act. The directors from Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Dunedin met recently in Wellington and endorsed Sue Bradford’s bill which seeks to repeal a section of the law which allows children to be physically disciplined.