Welcom Archive 2007-2026

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).

Beaten for being

July 2014 Holy Land 2014 Cecily McNeill One man who knows what it is like to be powerless in the face of Israeli military brutality told of receiving a severe beating in 2003 when Bethlehem was under siege creating great tension, that will stay with him for the rest of his life. He and his […]

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Going to The Wall

July 2014 Holy Land 2014 Mgr Gerard Burns During his recent visit to Jordan, Palestine and Israel, Pope Francis stopped at two walls. One was the ‘separation’ wall Israel is building on Palestinian territory. The other was the Western (Wailing) wall of the temple mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The separation wall, sometimes […]

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Forgive them beloved country

July 2014 Holy Land 2014 Yosef Livne Wel-Com invited a response to our collection of stories on Palestine that appeared in our July 2014 issue from the Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand, Yosef Livne. He replied as follows:  The articles gave me very few options. I could ignore them, I could classify them as another […]

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Thoughts from a retired Prison Chaplain

July 2014 Feature   Pat Rhodes Sr Litia Vakameitangake DOLC recently retired as chaplain to Wanganui Prison. The prison holds 530 men in high-security to low-security units. Her ministry covered all the units. She worked with a team including Church volunteers. Pastoral care to prisoners is a very fine line. She sits with the men […]

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Naenae hall a mission story

June 2014 Feature Mary-Ann Greaney The story of St Bernadette Parish Hall Naenae is so much more than a simple renovation – it is the story of a faith community focused on mission, of a web of relationships between ethnic communities, school, parish and the wider community, and funding providers. It is a story of […]

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Oceania's bishops visit

June 2014 Opinion Archbishop John Dew Last month Wellington hosted the four-yearly plenary assembly of the bishops of the Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania (FCBCO). But it would be no surprise if anyone attending the opening Mass thought they had been carried off to the Pacific Islands, with the vibrant contribution of the Samoan […]

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O'Shea – outright win for St Caths

June 2014 Schools St Catherine’s College Kilbirnie is ecstatic following their outright win in the O’Shea Shield on the weekend of 17–18 May. One point behind the winner with 37 points were St John’s College Hastings, St Patrick’s College Kilbirnie and Garin College Richmond. St John’s hosted the event which is a hard-fought annual contest […]

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Editorial: parish as vibrant mission

June 2014 Opinion Cecily McNeill As I was preparing for my regular stint on the organ at St Anne’s, Newtown, last month, I felt a frisson of anticipation at the thought of being in the parish again and part of the liturgy. I was reminded of how good the church is for exercising one’s talents […]

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Mission as guiding principle for merge

June 2014 Church Elizabeth Julian RSM Where should we begin the scary task of merging parishes? How do we get our heads around it? Do we hope that ‘they’ have it all sorted and we don’t need to be involved? Or that if we wait long enough it will all pass and we can go […]

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Bishops view new painting of Aubert

June 2014 Feature An iconic painting of a youthful Suzanne Aubert was unveiled last month at a gathering of more than 80 Bishops of Oceania at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay, Wellington. It is the first time such a large number of Catholic Bishops from Australia, the countries of the Pacific, Papua New […]

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