Everybody loses when politics tries to poison church life and when church members use the logic of politics, an Italian cardinal says. “To poison ecclesial relations with the logic of politics is making trouble,” says Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the president of the Italian bishops’ conference. This isn’t just a problem in Italy, he adds. It Read more
Yesterday St Joseph’s Home of Compassion rest home in Upper Hutt was facing imminent closure. Today it hopes to keep its doors open after all, says Chief Executive Chris Gallavin. Last month, Gallavin announced the 87-bed rest home would close. Hearing of the closure, Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy said it was “catastrophic for the Read more
The young woman who was miraculously healed through Blessed Pope John Paul I’s intercession missed out on his beatification. Pope Francis beatified John Paul I in Rome on Sunday. He had been pope for just 33 days, from August 26 to September 28, 1978. Candela Giarda (22) explained in a video recorded from Argentina that Read more
Catholics are being urged to support New Zealand’s under-funded hospices and palliative care services. Donating, volunteering in hospice shops and asking members of Parliament and the Government to make palliative care a priority are some options. NZ Catholic Bishops Conference Secretary, Bishop Stephen Lowe, says hospices provide a free service to 20,000 palliative care patients Read more
New Zealand climate experts’ advice is almost identical to the Pope’s. We have to modify our lifestyles. The earth is suffering. Excessive consumption of the earth’s resources has to stop. Or at the very least, change. Modify, says Pope Francis. A major new international report shows 2021 record-breaking greenhouse gas emissions. Despite that, international travel Read more
The De La Salle Brothers will sell their Malvern school to fund compensation claims from victims of historical sexual abuse and to financially support ageing brothers. The buyer, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, will take over the running of the college for more than 1000 boys in years 5 to 12. Lawyers say they have more Read more
The end of summer means the end of a mainstay of American Catholic life — the summer Catholic conference season, in which Catholic universities aim to fill their dorms, proclaim the Gospel, and build some brand awareness by hosting days-long catechetical and evangelical events for Catholic young people and adults. While the Franciscan University of Read more
The return this month of the first cruise ship to Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour was accompanied by the sort of fanfare normally reserved for visiting foreign dignitaries: a tug boat decked out in bunting, a circling helicopter, even the mayor on hand to welcome the ship. Coming after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic and Read more
According to a well-known US bishop, dumbing down the Catholic Church by making it more simple and appealing to the mainstream culture has proved disastrous. In his Sunday sermon, Bishop Robert Barron said, “Dumbed down Catholicism has not helped evangelisation. Quite the contrary, we did this to ourselves”. The bishop is a controversial figure on Read more
An Irish bishop has said Communion at Mass should be available for all, even if others think they are unworthy. In his homily in Knock on Sunday, Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran, said he would seriously question the “cancelling” of an invitation to Communion. “When the Eucharist is thought of as a prize, there seems Read more