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).
Are you motivated to contribute to the Church’s work for justice and peace inspired and informed by Catholic Social Teaching? The archdiocesan Ecology Justice and Peace Commission and its committees for integral ecology, poverty, and bicultural relationships, invite nominations for 2024 membership.
Statistics show that women of faith are more exposed to sexual abuse than others, no matter what religion they belong to. A survey carried out in 2000 showed that 7.8 per cent of women with no religious affiliation were victims of domestic violence, while the figure rose to 9.1 per cent for Catholic or Protestant women, and 17 per cent for Muslim or Jewish women.
Hong Kong authorities are on the verge of granting official approval for a new Catholic university to be established.
This initiative has been announced several times by Bishop Stephen Chow, who was recently appointed a cardinal by Pope Francis.
New statistics released by the Vatican show that the global Catholic population is increasing. The annual report, released 22 October by the Vatican’s Fides news agency on World Mission Sunday, covers the one-year time period comparing the numbers of 31 December 2021 to 31 December 2020.
At a September 30 consistory, Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals from 15 different countries. Eighteen of the new cardinals are under the age of 80 and are therefore eligible to vote in a conclave. The consistory was in continuity with Francis’ steady geographic diversification of the College of Cardinals.
Pope Francis, who is known as ‘the Pope of the peripheries’, has suggested the possibility of travelling to somewhere no pope has gone before — the South Pole. In an interview, the 86-year-old Pope said he plans to visit his native Argentina, adding: ‘Somebody said that if I go to Argentina, I should stop at Rio Gallegos, then head to the South Pole, land in Melbourne, and visit New Zealand. It would be a rather long journey,’ he joked.
Pope Francis wants the next World Day of Peace, 1 January 2024, to focus on artificial intelligence’s impact, opportunities and dangers as the technology develops and influences a growing number of fields, from information to warfare.
Church leaders in Ireland are hopeful more parishioners will step up and preside at funerals to ease the burden on overworked priests, with two dioceses already commissioning laypeople to take charge where there is no priest.
WelCom’s Journey of Faith continues this month to Lower Hutt’s Catholic Parish of Te Awakairangi – a diverse community in ethnicity, age, spirituality and interests. Formed in 2015, the parish is composed of the churches of St Michael’s, Taita, St Bernadette’s, Naenae, St Martin de Porres, Avalon and Ss Peter & Paul, Lower Hutt.
Catholic Social Services (CSS) is the social outreach agency of the Archdiocese of Wellington. Its mission includes social work, clergy healthcare, short-term therapeutic interventions, prison chaplaincy, hospital chaplaincy, support for refugee resettlement, community advocacy and support for people going through loss and grief. All are welcome and services are available to people of all backgrounds and beliefs.