WelCom October 2021 Mission Sunday, 31 October 2021 Fr Bernard Espiritu svd Mission Sunday finds its roots in Jesus’ Great Missionary Mandate: Go and preach the Good News to all! (Matthew 28:19). All the baptised are commissioned to carry on this sacred mandate. Mission Sunday is the day we celebrate the privilege of participating in […]
WelCom October 2021 A unique exhibition being brought to New Zealand this summer will allow visitors an unprecedented closeness to view powerful reproductions of the works of Michelangelo. The originals adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at a height of 22 metres. The six-week exhibition, from late December 2021 at the Aotea Centre in […]
WelCom October 2021 When Wellington Catholic Social Services (CSS) appealed in early September for help with housing, furniture and household items to support Afghan evacuees coming to Wellington, they had little idea of how the community would respond. But the overwhelming volume of donations of clothing and furniture has meant CSS has had to close […]
WelCom October 2021 Michael Fitzsimons The need for assistance from the Society of St Vincent de Paul escalated rapidly during the latest Covid-19 lockdown, especially in Auckland under lockdown Level 4. St Vincent de Paul Auckland General Manager Del Soti says numbers seeking food packages catapulted from a weekly average of 900 to 2000 during […]
WelCom October 2021 The Salvation Army has called on the Government to impose a freeze on rent increases, among other measures, to help those most in need as demand for food and housing support skyrockets. Between mid-August when lockdown began and the first week of September, there was an 84 per cent increase in demand […]
WelCom October 2021 The Catholic Bishops of Aotearoa New Zealand presented their submission on the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill, on 23 September 2021, to Parliament’s Justice Committee. The bishops’ submission generally supports the aims of the bill as being in line with the Catholic Social Teaching principles of human dignity and common good. But […]
WelCom October 2021 The leaders of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion have jointly warned of the urgency of environmental sustainability, its impact on poverty, and the importance of global cooperation. It is the first time the three faith leaders have felt ‘compelled to address together the urgency of environmental […]
WelCom October 2021 Christianity is a relic that no longer speaks to many people nor affects the way they live their lives, Pope Francis said during his four-day pastoral visit to Slovakia, in Central Europe, September 12–15, 2021. It was the fourth papal visit to that country and the first by a pope in 18 […]
WelCom October 2021 It was after reading Pope Francis’ encyclical, ‘Laudato si’, on Care for Our Common Home’, that Emily Burke began wondering what she, as a student at Jesuit-run Creighton University, could do to help protect the environment. ‘I was really energised,’ Burke recalled after reading the teaching document. ‘That message informed my time […]
WelCom October 2021 The beatification of Albino Luciano, better known as Pope John Paul I, could finally be green-lighted with the approval of a miracle that has been presented of a scientifically inexplicable healing of an Argentine girl. An article published in Italian newspaper Avvenire said the beatification process has reached the final stage and […]