As our society debates the issues around Section 59 of the Crimes Act and the physical punishment of children, we wish to restate the principles of our 2002 statement on the protection of children, written as our Church faced up to incidents of abuse against children, sometimes in the name of discipline. We learned through this experience that general concern for children is not always enough to protect them from harm.
Caritas has come out in support of a ‘third way’ amendment to a controversial parliamentary bill on physical punishment of children that seeks to outlaw most cases of spanking. Scoop reports that Caritas CEO Michael Smith said the Catholic social justice agency was satisfied that the compromise found through cross-party discussion and negotiation met concerns raised by their submission to Parliament.
Recently I was reminded that it is not the breaths I take that matter, but what takes my breath. I thought once more of what there is in my life that takes my breath: The fact that the universe is still expanding, A parent’s love for a child, The look of love between a couple celebrating 60 years of marriage,
When the three gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke are studied side by side, many startling contrasts emerge. Have you ever noticed that Mark has Jesus on the cross for six hours from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon? Luke will tolerate only resurrection appearances in Jerusalem and there is no return to Nazareth as in Mark and Matthew.
The authors of this book have set out to identify some of the anomalies around the study of women in the early church. They approached this task by noting three polarities found in these times, patriarchy as against discipleship of equals: public life versus private and ascetic versus domestic lifestyles of those times. This work testifies to the authors searching investigation into Greco-Roman antiquity and early Christianity.
Some of church music’s foremost luminaries are coming together next Sunday (13 May) to launch The Maxwell Fernie Trust. Dame Malvina Major and organist Douglas Mews are among those who will perform in a concert to highlight the new trust set up to support and encourage the tradition of Gregorian chant and Latin sacred polyphic music which Maxwell Fernie fostered.
Bishop Anthony Fisher’s recent lecture, Conscience and Authority, is based on a similar lecture in 1991 by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, (Conscience and Truth). Both lectures try to diminish the importance given to the role of conscience in the moral and religious life of Catholics, that had emerged in the Declaration on Human Freedom and other documents of Vatican II.
A reflection on the formation of conscience at a recent conference of the Pontifical Academy for life in Rome challenged participants to immerse their experience in that of the poor.
Deep within our conscience we discover a law which we have not laid upon ourselves but which we must obey. Its voice, ever calling us to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in our heart at the right moment….
Can human gametes and embryos be used for research in New Zealand? I believe that is the question you are considering. While I have no doubt you are aware of the enormous responsibility given you in this task, and that you seek only the best and truest outcomes, I wish, as an ordinary New Zealander, to stress my concern that what you are considering has, as yet, unforeseen consequences for all life.