June 2016 Story and photos by Annette Scullion Bishop Viard College’s long awaited event centre and gymnasium was officially opened and blessed by Cardinal John Dew on 2 May. The Porirua Catholic college caters for around 350 students from a wealth of cultures and diversity. A powhiri welcomed local Catholic schools, local priests, the Board […]
June 2016 Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand and Christian Social Services, the umbrella organisation of churches’ social-service agencies in Aotearoa New Zealand, including Catholic Social Services, say the 2016 Budget response to affordable housing is inadequate. No bricks and mortar in Budget’s new housing spend Crispin Anderlini, Caritas Aotearoa NZ Despite Budget 2016 taking small steps to […]
June 2016 ‘A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.’ Proverbs 29:7 ‘…I was a stranger and you invited me in…’ Matthew 25:35 Pope Francis reminds us that mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life. ‘All of her pastoral activity should be caught up […]
May 2016 Pope Francis’ document on marriage and the family follows the two gatherings of bishops and lay persons and consultation with Catholics worldwide to discuss challenges facing families. Amoris Laetitia – the Joy of Love, signals the Pope’s vision for the Church as a family of families. It reaffirms the welfare of the family […]
May 2016 Former Prime Minister Helen Clark says New Zealand can provide a model of religious diversity for the rest of the world. Miss Clark, who heads the United Nations Development Programme, said this at the opening of the new Religious Diversity Centre in Wellington on Wednesday 30 March, while home briefly in New Zealand. […]
May 2016 Reflections Fr James Lyons Pentecost Sunday, which marks the end of the Easter season, celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. Pentecost 2016 falls 50 days after Easter 2016, and ten days after the Ascension of Our Lord. What happens to the gifts we give, or are given? Some appear very quickly […]
May 2016 It has been a long-standing Catholic tradition to honour Mary during the month of May. In many Catholic churches and homes, a ‘May Altar’ is set up with a statue or picture of Mary, flowers, and candles as a reminder of Mary’s importance in the life of the Church and our own lives. […]
April 2016 Reflection Cardinal John Dew Today, 3 April, the Second Sunday of Easter, is also Divine Mercy Sunday. ‘The pages of the Old Testament are steeped in mercy, because they narrate the works the Lord performed in favour of his people at the most trying moments in their history’, Pope Francis reminds us in his […]
April 2016 News Annette Scullion, Story and photo His Holiness Pope Francis marked his third anniversary as pontiff of the Catholic Church, during his weekly Sunday blessing on 13 March 2016 by reinforcing his message of mercy telling the faithful about the Biblical story of the adulterous woman whom Jesus refused to condemn. To observe the […]
April 2016 News Annette Scullion After 22 years at the helm of the New Zealand Catholic Education Office retiring CEO Br Sir Pat Lynch KNZM says it’s time to pass the ball to someone else. He says it has been a privileged journey to have worked with the education sector over 22 years and to […]