WelCom April 2020: The New Zealand Catholic Bishops are deeply disappointed the New Zealand Parliament passed the Abortion Legislation Bill by a margin of 68 to 51, Wednesday, 18 March 2020. ‘This Bill ignores the fact there are at least two human lives involved in every pregnancy,’ said a spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops Conference, […]
WelCom April 2020: 2020 Election Year: Catholic Education Comment Paul Ferris, Chief Executive, New Zealand Catholic Education Office Integration was introduced in 1975 and while the legislation describes a binding agreement between the State and the Church it seems that the memory of many involved in education needs to be continually refreshed so that the […]
WelCom April 2020: One of the strongest opponents to the Abortion Legislation Bill was National MP Agnes Loheni, who opposed the legislation recommended by the select committee overseeing it, and produced her own minority report. Ms Loheni has highlighted how of the 25,000 submissions on the bill, approximately 91.6 per cent were opposed to it […]
WelCom April 2020: Mike Fitzsimons For the first time St Vincent de Paul has included a commitment to caring for the environment as an integral part of its strategic plan for the next five years. Caring for the planet is an essential part of living the Gospel today, says John Kennedy-Good, national leader of the […]
WelCom April 2020: Five years on from the publication of the landmark encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis has urged Catholic communities around the world to take bolder actions to care for creation. In a video message he invites Catholics to participate in Laudato Si’ Week, in May. The week aims to celebrate what has been […]
WelCom April 2020: New Zealand Catholics now have an app for prayers with the launch of the NZpray2day app. The Church’s National Centre for Religious Studies (NCRS) – part of Te Kupenga-Catholic Leadership Institute – announced on Wednesday 12 March, the launch of a prayer app, NZpray2day. The app is available for Android devices. NCRS […]
WelCom April 2020: The New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Interfaith Relations wrote a letter, 12 March, for parishes and wider Aotearoa communities to reflect on the tragic events at the two mosques in Christchurch, a year on. The letter expresses a call to be people of peace across all divides and to recall the […]
WelCom April 2020: Fr Ron Bennett The Wellington Abrahamic Council, of which I am a member, is a small group of committed Jews, Muslims and Christians who seek to build better relationships between the three Abrahamic faith communities. They do this through getting to know each other and providing opportunities for the wider community to […]
WelCom April 2020: Lisa Beech The Wellington Archdiocesan Commission for Ecology, Justice and Peace, told the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee on 12 February, that raising benefit levels is essential if the Government wishes to achieve its Budget goals to address child poverty and enhance child wellbeing. ‘Benefit levels are so low it is impossible […]
WelCom April 2020: Fr Tom Rouse In 1920, 16 priests gathered in Ireland to prepare for their journey to China. They were the first Columban missionaries to go overseas on mission. They would have made their oaths of aggregation and signed their membership agreements. They were probably aware that they were travelling under the cloud […]