New Zealand’s social fabric is largely held together by its not-for-profit organisations, Monica Robinson says, and after her own family tragedy, she knows just how much support they can provide. Mrs Robinson’s husband Terry died of a heart attack when he was 47. She was 43 and a full-time mum of five kids aged four Read more
Sika Manu plays for the Melbourne Storm. The 24-year-old says he could have followed many of his friends into gang life. But he used sport and religion to find a better way and he said he would one day like to help others who were at risk of travelling the wrong path. Manu’s arms, legs and torso Read more
“Do converts to the faith make better evangelists than ‘cradle Catholics’? Pope Benedict XVI seems to think so. Christians since childhood should “ask forgiveness,” the pope told a group of his former theological students recently, “because we bring so little of the light of [Christ’s] face to others, and emanate so feebly the certainty that Read more
“The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” Jesus said of little children. But computer hackers might give the kids some competition, according to Antonio Spadaro, an Italian Jesuit priest. In an article published earlier this year in La Civilta Cattolica, a fortnightly magazine backed by the Vatican, entitled “Hacker ethics and Christian vision”, Read more
There are 580,000 older people living in New Zealand and more than 40,000 suffer from social isolation. “Many of those people are living alone, and they have lost connection with their families…. they haven’t made the networks that possibly they could make, and possibly should make.” Age Concern chief executive Ann Martin says Age Concern met with Read more
9/11 strengthened fundamentalism in every global faith – and in atheism too. But it has also led to backlashes against these doctrines wherever they have appeared. In Islam there have been positive developments. The attacks were repeatedly and clearly condemned by Muslim leaders all over the world. After Pope Benedict XVI’s controversial Regensburg speech, the Read more
A University of Edinburgh study makes the claim that believers are dumb. The claim that the more religious you are, the less likely you are to be intelligent, are “a bit hilarious”, according to Bishop Patrick Dunn. “The suggestion that the less intelligent you are the more religious you would be seems to be “degrading Read more
Karol Wojtyla taught that in making an ethical decision, a moral agent does not only give rise to a particular act, but he also contributes to the person he/she is becoming. Every time I perform a moral act, I am building up my character, and every time I perform an unethical act, I am compromising Read more
An Australian report says the well-being of Australia’s children and young people has deteriorated alarmingly in the past decade – and the falling marriage rate is partly to blame. The report pinpoints the fall in the marriage rate since 1989 from seven per 1000 population to 5.5 – and the rise in children born to Read more
A new map of food security risk around the world is, in some ways, depressingly familiar. Sub-saharan Africa leaps out as the place where the most people fear for their next meal, while the rich world has more to fear from obesity. But there’s plenty of salutary reminders and fascinating detail, like India’s food problems Read more