WelCom is the monthly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Wellington. Print copies of the eight-page newsletter are free and available in parishes, and sent to parishes and schools in PDF form. The archive contains WelCom stories published from 2007 to 2026 (May).
WelCom August 2021 A magnificent tribute to faith This year, the Assumption of Mary is being rededicated as the patron of the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand. Formally declared a dogma of the Church in 1850, the Assumption was the cornerstone chosen by our first bishop, Baptiste Pompallier, to protect, strengthen and guide the new […]
WelCom August 2021 This month the WelCom’s Hīkoi of Faith visits Our Lady of Kāpiti Parish and School – Te Whaea Tapu o Kāpiti. The parish area includes Paekakariki, Raumati, Paraparaumu, Otorohanga, Waikanae, Peka Peka and Te Horo. The parish is a combination of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Waikanae and St Patrick’s Parish and […]
WelCom August 2021 James B Lyons As former director of the New Zealand Bishops’ media office, Catholic Communications, I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Philip Sherry, who passed away at the age of 87 on Sunday 18 July, following a short illness. A highly professional broadcaster and greatly respected television newsreader, […]
WelCom August 2021 Pope Francis has made the most extensive revisions to the Church’s Code of Canon Law in four decades, insisting that bishops take action against clerics who sexually abuse minors and vulnerable adults. The Apostolic Constitution ‘Pascite Gregem Dei’, with which Pope Francis reforms Book VI of the Code of Canon Law on […]
WelCom August 2021 ‘Canon Law’ is the legal system of the Catholic Church and includes law for church order, discipline, structures, rules and procedures for the highly organised community that is the Catholic Church. The central core of canon law in the Catholic Church is ‘The Code of Canon Law’, last promulgated in 1983, although […]
WelCom August 2021 A Culture of Encounter: BE the Church Social Justice Week, 12–18 September, 2021 Roger Ellis In the midst of this time of change and uncertainty, it can be tempting to retreat into what we know best. But as Pope Francis reminds us, ‘isolation and withdrawal into one’s own interests are never the […]
WelCom August 2021 New Zealand’s laws against hateful communications must adequately protect the most vulnerable, says the Wellington Archdiocesan Ecology, Justice and Peace (EJP) Commission. The Ministry of Justice is currently seeking feedback on proposals to alter provisions in the Human Rights Act on incitement to hatred. The consultation process recognises the balance that needs […]
WelCom August 2021 Pope Francis has again encouraged the ministry of New York-based, Fr James Martin sj, to LGBT persons and with words that could also encourage others in this work. He did so on the eve of the Outreach 2021 LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] Catholic ministry conference that took place by webinar […]
WelCom August 2021 The emergence of a ‘Fourth Church’ in New Zealand calls for genuine dialogue among the various traditions of Catholicism in this country, says Dr Joe Grayland, priest and theologian in the Diocese of Palmerston North. Shema Israel: ‘Listen Israel, the Lord your God is One. Love the Lord with all your heart, […]
WelCom August 2021 In his message for the fifth World Day of the Poor, for 14 November 2021, released 14 June this year, Pope Francis has appealed for a new global approach to poverty. He said ‘the very concept of democracy is jeopardised’ when the poor are marginalised and treated as if they are to […]