Chaplain Brian Fennessy ED, RNZChD
Later in the year I’m going on a Battlefield Tour of Germany including a visit to the Mohne and Eder Dams, of the Dambusters fame, and Colditz Castle. Charles Upham VC & Bar was a prisoner at Colditz for about six months.
The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano on 15 January 2022 caused widespread devastation across the dispersed island nation of the Kingdom of Tonga, Tongan Fakatu’i ‘o Tonga. Estimates indicated the disaster affected 85 per cent of Tonga’s population, with businesses, homes, workplaces, schools and telecommunications infrastructure impacted by the eruption or subsequent tsunami.
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is accepting donations to help the people of south-eastern Turkey and northern Syria, seriously impacted by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks of 6 February. The earthquake destroyed thousands of buildings and killed over 50,000 people.
There is a big difference between restoration and renovation!
This is emphasised by French-born stonemason, Nicolas Piveteau, whose skill has engaged him with Sacred Heart Cathedral for the past year.
‘Restoration,’ says Nicolas, ‘is working to bring a building, or parts of it, back to its original condition. Renovation, is replacing whatever is beyond repair.’
We celebrate Waitangi Day annually in New Zealand on 6 February to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Bishop Peter Cullinane writes that actions such as using te reo during Eucharist respects the Treaty and helps us become more inclusive in our daily lives.
Blame it on the steam engine!
The global demand for energy took off in the 18th century with the invention of the steam engine, fuelled by coal, a fossil fuel abundantly available in England. Coal first, then oil, have driven the industrial world ever since, with little or no regard to the consequences for life on earth.
Richard Puanaki – Ngāti Kahungunu, was remembered with aroha, joy and sadness by his extensive Wairoa whānau, kin and friends, who gathered from far and wide at Taihoa Marae from 19 to 22 January. They had come together for hura kōhatu – the unveiling of Richard’s headstone – to remember and honour the life and spirit of their brother, husband, father, uncle, grandfather and friend.
A long-time member of Ngā Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand, Mary Marcellin (Wilson), went to God on 24 October 2022.
With the calling of a worldwide synod on synodality, Pope Francis set in motion the most extensive consultative process the world has ever seen.
The World Day of the Poor is commemorated annually on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar, which this year falls on 13 November. In this year’s message themed, ‘For your sakes Christ became poor (2 Cor. 8:9)’, Pope Francis recalled the words of St Paul to the Christians of Corinth, to encourage their efforts to show solidarity with their brothers and sisters in need. The Pope noted the World Day this year comes ‘as a healthy challenge, helping us to reflect on our style of life and on the many forms of poverty all around us.’