WelCom August 2021 New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have approved a change in name for the annual Respect Life Sunday, promoted each October by the Catholic Church in New Zealand, to Support Life Sunday. Support Life on Sunday 10 October this year, has the theme: Honouring and Supporting Health Carers. The theme is timely, given the […]
WelCom August 2021 The wild weather that brought severe flooding to the West Coast and Marlborough and heavy winds and rains to Wellington and the North Island over the weekend of 17–18 July, forced many residents to evacuate their homes and boil drinking water. Many on the West Coast’s flood-ravaged streets are still left without […]
WelCom August 2021 Michael Fitzsimons Catholic schools are set to receive nearly $38 million in maintenance funding to be spent on essential work in the Catholic schools network over the next 24 months. It is the largest single allocation of property maintenance funding ever achieved in the history of state-integrated education. The Essential Property Maintenance […]
WelCom August 2021 Jenny Gordon, a passionate advocate for Catholic education, has resigned from her position as Vicar for Education in the Archdiocese of Wellington. Having served in the role for 15 years she will remain involved in Catholic education at a national level in her role as a Board member of New Zealand Catholic […]
WelCom August 2021 In recent years in the preparation for, during and after our Archdiocesan Synods I have heard comments such as: ‘it is all just a talk-fest’; ‘Nothing changes, it is all the same’; or ‘Synods don’t actually do anything’. They are disappointing comments to hear. I believe Synods have really helped our diocese […]
WelCom August 2021 In May this year, Pope Francis announced the establishment of the new lay ministry of Catechist, intended ‘to respond to an urgent need for the evangelisation of the modern world, and undertaken in a ‘secular’ manner, avoiding clericalisation’. Bishop of Hamilton Stephen Lowe, Secretary of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC), […]
WelCom August 2021 James B Lyons As former director of the New Zealand Bishops’ media office, Catholic Communications, I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Philip Sherry, who passed away at the age of 87 on Sunday 18 July, following a short illness. A highly professional broadcaster and greatly respected television newsreader, […]
WelCom August 2021 Pope Francis has made the most extensive revisions to the Church’s Code of Canon Law in four decades, insisting that bishops take action against clerics who sexually abuse minors and vulnerable adults. The Apostolic Constitution ‘Pascite Gregem Dei’, with which Pope Francis reforms Book VI of the Code of Canon Law on […]
WelCom August 2021 ‘Canon Law’ is the legal system of the Catholic Church and includes law for church order, discipline, structures, rules and procedures for the highly organised community that is the Catholic Church. The central core of canon law in the Catholic Church is ‘The Code of Canon Law’, last promulgated in 1983, although […]
WelCom August 2021 New Zealand’s laws against hateful communications must adequately protect the most vulnerable, says the Wellington Archdiocesan Ecology, Justice and Peace (EJP) Commission. The Ministry of Justice is currently seeking feedback on proposals to alter provisions in the Human Rights Act on incitement to hatred. The consultation process recognises the balance that needs […]