The principal of a West Auckland school with a student hit by coronavirus said her priority was to make sure that the affected student and her family “feel completely supported by us.” Anna Swann, the principal of St Dominic’s Catholic College, is strongly urging people not to lay blame on those who are sick after Read more
One of the country’s top scholars says he is considering leaving the University of Waikato over what he calls ongoing “systemic and casual racism.” Māori astronomer Professor Dr Rangi Matamua, who this year received the Prime Minister’s Science Communications Prize and has been a leading proponent of making Matariki a public holiday, told the Herald Read more
Schools have been told to let students choose their own gender identities and names. New relationships and sexuality education guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education say that schools must “uphold the human rights of all people.” “All people have the same rights and freedoms, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and Read more
Cardinal John Dew, June, announced that St Joseph’s Catholic church at Riversdale Beach would be sold along with three other churches in the Wairarapa. Since then, consultations have taken place between the cardinal and the Riversdale Beach Charitable Trust about the church’s status. According to Trustee Neil Prichard, a sale was unlikely to happen. He Read more
Two church fires broke out in Christchurch early Monday morning and authorities are treating the circumstances behind the blazes as suspicious. A cafe in New Brighton also caught fire at about 5.30am. Fire crews were first called to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Burwood just after 3 am. Less than half an hour Read more
Heritage campaigners have given up their legal battle to prevent the demolition of Christchurch’s Catholic cathedral and say their only hope is to shame the local bishop into saving the historic building. Restore Our Catholic Cathedral (ROCC) spokeswoman Dame Anna Crighton said they had given up their legal battle after receiving legal advice from barrister Read more
John Kleinsman, director of The Nathaniel Centre for Bioethics – an agency of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, says the conference believes it is dangerous to implement any euthanasia law. But the conference specifically takes issue with the proposed End of Life Choice Act that is the subject of the impending referendum. “I think Read more
In 2006, lecturer in philosophy at Te Kupenga – Catholic Theological College Fr John Owens, SM, set about reading everything he could about American philosopher Richard Rorty. The Kiwi academic ended up publishing a book in 2019. The book, “Rorty, Religion and Metaphysics” was launched on August 5, at the Catholic Theological College on Ponsonby Read more
A victim of historic child sex abuse by two former Marist brothers is still waiting to hear from the church. But the Catholic Church says it is making progress with the independent review and will be in a position to comment further soon. Read more
Demolition of the earthquake-damaged Catholic cathedral in Christchurch has begun, but heritage campaigners still hope to save it. The $1.8 million demolition project is expected to take a year and started this week with three workers salvaging two stone angels from the front of the historic building. Catholic Bishop Paul Martin said he was sad Read more