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).
May 2015 Anzac Day 2015 A commemorative Mass marking the Gallipoli landing and WWI centenary was led by Cardinal John Dew in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Wellington, on Anzac Day. His homily follows: Growing up in a little town in Central Hawkes Bay, my friends and I loved to go to war movies […]
May 2015 News Jayson Rhodes and Simone Olsen The Anglican and Catholic bishops of Aotearoa New Zealand have written to the Government asking for more transparency in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) currently under government negotiation, so New Zealanders can better evaluate its implications. The bishops acknowledge the right and duty of any New Zealand government […]
May 2015 News Fr Simon Story The Hui Aranga Easter gathering of Māori from Catholic clubs around the North Island was held at Flaxmere, Hawkes Bay, over Easter weekend. About 1100 people transformed Flaxmere College into a marae for the long weekend. Easter liturgies were celebrated and competitions held between the clubs in whai kōrero, […]
May 2015 Feature Charism of The Society of Mary Fr David Kennerley SM The Society of Mary emerged out of the French Revolution and its secularising spirit. The first Marists were diocesan seminarians who became captivated by the sense that Mary wanted a religious congregation of men and women working beside laity to rebuild the […]
May 2015 Feature Fr Neil Vaney sm ‘And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city…?’ (Jon 4.11) Was it not prophetic and strange the day after John Key announced that he was sending kiwi troops to Iraq, the readings set down for the Lenten Mass centred on the prophet Jonah’s call to […]
May 2015 Feature Msgr Gerard Burns A martyr is someone who witnesses to faith until death. I have met three people who will officially be declared martyrs by the Church later this year. They are three priests – Miguel Tomaszek, Zbigniew Strzalkowski and Sandro Dordi – who were assassinated in Peru in 1991. I was […]
May 2015 Feature Msgr Gerard Burns The beatification for Óscar Romero will be held in El Salvador, on 23 May 2015. Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (1917–1980) was the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador. Óscar Romero spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture. In 1980, Romero was assassinated while offering Mass. In 1997, […]
May 2015 Reflection Fr Patrick Bridgman In this series of articles we have been taking a fresh look at the sacraments of the Church celebrated in the life of the faithful, and we have explored the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist: as well as the Sacraments of Healing: Reconciliation and Penance. Now we […]
May 2015 Feature Mike Wooller sm The Society of Mary New Zealand (SMNZ) has four Communities in the Hawkes Bay. The Wairoa Community of three men serves a wide rural area, and has a special outreach to Māori, to youth at risk, as well as regular parish ministry. The St Mary’s Community serves the new […]
April 2015 News Annette Scullion The devastation of Tropical Cyclone Pam in early March is one of Vanuatu’s worst-ever natural disasters, resulting in the loss of 16 lives and leaving thousands without clean water, adequate food or shelter. More than 65,000 people lost their homes, especially on Tanna and Erromango Islands where the cyclone passed […]