Discrimination against Pacific people can often go unnoticed in the NZ context when we live in a country that was the first to grant women the vote, and whose citizens protested against the Springbok tour and where such atrocities as the Holocaust did not take place.
The suffering of the Irish at the hands of English colonisers was recalled in a 4 February Mass foreshadowing Waitangi Day as parishioners of St Joseph’s Church, New Plymouth, reflected on the twin notions of ‘people of this land’, the Māori – and those who came after. In the spirit of a dialogue between the Treaty and the gospel Cushla Low spoke of her Irish forebears’ sense of outrage at being rendered powerless and poverty-stricken in their own land.
This is the first in a series of articles by Wellington Catholics about where and how they find themselves in the presence of God. Kitty McKinley’s participation in an eight-day pilgrimage of 15 Challenge 2000 young people to some sacred spots in the Wellington-Manawatu region inspired her to record her reflections.
One of the corporal works of mercy, as anyone who remembers their penny catechism will know, is visiting the sick. It’s one of our basic responsibilities as followers of Christ. How we live out this important part of our common Christian vocation will vary considerably depending on the culture to which we belong. Is individual illness a private or public matter?
The web site of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington