Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has welcomed the defeat of the second bill relating to Easter Sunday trading in Parliament last week. The Bill proposed to allow local authorities to extend Easter trading in their own local areas.
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, the Catholic agency for justice, peace and development, opposes two clauses in the Terrorism Suppression Amendment Bill, which it believes has the potential to impact on work for human rights in the region.
Proverbs 13:24 is the text most invoked: Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them. The phrase ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ is often incorrectly attributed to the Christian bible. It does not appear there. It was first written in a poem by Samuel Butler in 1664.
It is presented by married couples and explores the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of marital intimacy, and helps couples to identify their individual intimacy needs.
The Directors of Catholic Social Services around the country have come out in support of repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act. The directors from Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Dunedin met recently in Wellington and endorsed Sue Bradford’s bill which seeks to repeal a section of the law which allows children to be physically disciplined.
As our society debates the issues around Section 59 of the Crimes Act and the physical punishment of children, we wish to restate the principles of our 2002 statement on the protection of children, written as our Church faced up to incidents of abuse against children, sometimes in the name of discipline. We learned through this experience that general concern for children is not always enough to protect them from harm.
Caritas has come out in support of a ‘third way’ amendment to a controversial parliamentary bill on physical punishment of children that seeks to outlaw most cases of spanking. Scoop reports that Caritas CEO Michael Smith said the Catholic social justice agency was satisfied that the compromise found through cross-party discussion and negotiation met concerns raised by their submission to Parliament.
Recently I was reminded that it is not the breaths I take that matter, but what takes my breath. I thought once more of what there is in my life that takes my breath: The fact that the universe is still expanding, A parent’s love for a child, The look of love between a couple celebrating 60 years of marriage,