October 2014 News Sister Catherine Jones, smsm ‘The joy of the Gospel is born of the encounter with Christ and from sharing with the poor.’ These words from the message of Pope Francis for Mission Sunday on 19 October 2014 challenged me to reflect on how the encounter with Christ is linked to sharing with […]
October 2014 Feature Fr Patrick Bridgman Is that the way we do things in the Church now? I thought confirmation came after First Communion. Why was a priest celebrating a wedding in the park on Saturday? Yes, times have changed, as they always do, and as we saw when Pope Francis officiated at the marriages […]
October 2014 Feature Bishops from throughout the world gather in Rome usually every three years for a Synod. This year, Pope Francis has called an Extraordinary Synod gathering to be held over several days in Rome during October. The meeting is to talk about marriage and the family – particularly the pastoral challenges of the […]
October 2014 News Dan Siave October has been set aside as the month of Discernment for the Archdiocese of Wellington’s Young Church to walk together exploring personal and collective discernment. Discernment is building on earlier events from the Vocations week in August 2014 at the request of young adults and discussions with vocations directors. ‘Discernment […]
September 2014 Election 2014 In the lead up to the general election, 20 September 2014, New Zealand’s Catholic Bishops have asked Catholics to reflect on who will represent us in Parliament and govern for the next three years. Their statement has been issued to Catholic parishes, schools, youth groups, pastoral areas and other Catholic […]
September 2014 Feature Annette Scullion A shared, deep concern about the appalling rates and effects of child poverty in New Zealand prompted Archbishop John Dew and Anglican Bishop of Wellington Justin Duckworth to call on politicians to urgently address this at a public forum in Wellington, on Tuesday 5 August. In the lead up to […]
September 2014 Election 2014 Reflections on the key issues raised in the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ general election statement are shared below. People living in poverty Lisa Beech Many New Zealanders are becoming familiar with our shameful child-poverty statistics, which show around a quarter – or 285,000 – of our children live in poverty. Poor […]
September 2014 Feature Chris Nichol Archbishop John Dew has reminded us, ‘our children are our nation’s precious taonga. We, as adults, have a collective responsibility always to strive to do our best for our children’. But we’re failing. A quarter of our one million children live below the poverty line. Many go to school hungry, […]
September 2014 Feature Annette Scullion Calls for prayers for peace in the Middle East have continued around the globe as the situation for minorities in Iraq worsens and the people in Gaza continue to suffer after 50 days of fighting. The Catholic aid organisation Caritas International is helping Iraqi minorities escape the fighting and is […]
September 2014 Feature Fr Kevin Head sm The seafarers who bring goods to our ports are mostly unseen. We see the ships sail by … how often do we think about those who work on them? Yet it’s estimated at least 90 per cent of everything we use and wear comes to us by sea. […]