WelCom June 2020: The New Zealand Catholic Bishops have welcomed the Government’s announcement that churches can open with a congregation limit of 100 people. The resumption of Masses was allowed from noon Friday 29 May 2020. In a letter to priests and parish leaders, Tuesday 26 May 2020, the bishops acknowledged that safety must remain […]
WelCom June 2020: Deacon Trung Nguyen will be ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Palmerston North, 11am, Saturday 6 June. Cardinal John Dew will preside. Numbers able to attend Trung’s Ordination Mass will be limited due to Covid-19 restrictions. Please see the Palmerston North Diocese website at pndiocese.org.nz for online […]
WelCom June 2020: The Minister of Finance Hon Grant Roberston delivered Budget 2020 on Thursday, 14 May 2020. Services for People in Hardship but No Structural Change ‘The new funding to provide services to those who are severely affected by the economic downturn will be a great help to those who suffer Covid-19 related hardship’, […]
WelCom June 2020: Ko te Mātauranga Katorika i te Wā o Here Mate Urutā-19 Catholic Education leaders and their teachers and support staff have ensured school and tertiary programmes and pastoral outreach continued with the least amount of interruption for students possible during the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. College principals from Wellington and Palmerston North dioceses […]
WelCom June 2020: The following is a statement from Catherine Fyfe, chair, Te Rōpū Tautoko, 22 May 2020. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care is planning to restart its public hearings later in 2020. These hearings have been delayed by the Covid-19 restrictions. The first hearing, delayed from March this year, will […]
WelCom June 2020: Where is your brother and sister? The Day of Prayer for Refugees and Migrants takes place in New Zealand this year on Sunday, June 21. The resources created by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand for 2020, focus on the issue of migrant exploitation with the theme Where is your brother or sister? The […]
WelCom June 2020: Cardinal Mario Zenari, Vatican ambassador to Syria, has urged the international community not to forget the country during the Covid-19 pandemic, and appealed for the international community to help Syrian refugees. In a video message shown at the May 20 presentation of last year’s report of the Jesuit Refugee Service’s Centro Astalli, […]
WelCom June 2020: Dozens of refugees who have spent years in Australia’s offshore processing regime have been flown to the United States for resettlement, despite Covid-19 travel restrictions. Transfers from Papua New Guinea and Australian immigration detention centres under the US resettlement programme are continuing as the US struggles to contain the pandemic that has […]
WelCom June 2020: This year, the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) annual Day of the Seafarer will be marking its 10th annual anniversary on 25 June. The 2020 campaign theme is ‘Seafarers are Key Workers’. IMO says seafarers are on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic, maintaining the flow of vital goods such as food, medicines […]
WelCom May 2020: The aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic will be an opportunity to practice mercy toward the poor and those who are suffering, says Pope Francis. The Pope was speaking at a live-streamed Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, the second Sunday of the Easter season. Noting that much of the world is preparing for […]