The Most Reverend John Lewis Adams was ordained and installed as the third Bishop of Palmerston North in a vibrant and prayerful, 130-minute Mass on Saturday, 30 September 2023. Around 700 people attended the Mass in a crowded Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. Over a thousand more tuned in remotely to watch the livestream.
He hōnore he kōroria ki te Atua, he maungarongo ki te whenua, he whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata kātoa. Tihei mauri ora! Honour and glory to God, peace upon the land, and goodwill to all people. Ki a tātou, ngā mokopuna o te Atua, ngā ākonga o te Ariki, to all the children of God, followers of Christ. Tēnā ano tātou kātoa kei Aotearoa. He mihi tautoko tēnēi. Greetings to all the people of this land.
The 2023 New Zealand general election will be held on 14 October 2023 to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of New Zealand. In preparation for the upcoming election Ian Munro, a member of the Archdiocese of Wellington’s Ecology, Justice and Peace (EJP) Commission, encourages us to reflect on which policies can deliver for the common good.
The first Vatican assembly for the global Synod on Synodality will begin in October bringing together clerics and laity alike for nearly one month of discussions. Here is what you need to know writes Courtney Mares, Catholic News Agency, Rome, September 2023.
The Catholic Enquiry Centre is the New Zealand Catholic bishops’ agency for evangelisation. The CEC has provided information and support to enquirers into Catholic faith for over 60 years. Rebecca Taylor-Hunt became its new director in January this year and reflects on her first few months into the job.
World Mission Sunday is held on the second-to-last Sunday every October with Mass celebrated especially for Catholic missionary activity worldwide. It was created by Pope Pius XI in 1926 as the day of prayer for missions and is held in every Catholic community.
Lucienne Hensel of the Institute for World Evangelisation (ICPE Mission) and the Archdiocese of Wellington Church Mission team, lived in community at St Gerard’s Monastery for many years, raising her young family there and calling it home. Lucienne reflects on moving from the hilltop to new fields.
Pope Francis has established 1 September as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, encouraging the Catholic community around the world to pray for our common home. The day is inspired by his landmark encyclical Laudato si’, which calls on ‘every person living on this planet’ to care for our shared Earth.
The Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod published the Instrumentum laboris on 20 June 2023. The document, which calls for a welcoming Church that embraces diversity, will guide the work of the participants in the two-part General Assembly that will meet in Rome in October 2023 and in October 2024.
Passionist Family Groups are a proven way to extend our small nuclear family circles and create a ‘family for all’, says National Coordinator Paul Traynor.