The 5pm Mass on Christmas Eve is the big one for the Holy Name community. Several hundred people will gather in the North Dunedin Catholic church for the festive, family-friendly service. The highlight, as it is each year, will be the narrated nativity play presented by 20 or more of the parish children. Preschoolers to Read more
New Zealand
One thing in New Zealand you can’t get away from – racism
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
A cartoon about the Samoa measles epidemic has led some to ask if much has changed in New Zealand. New Zealand does not have a great track record in its relationship with Samoa: The influenza epidemic killed over 22% of Samoa’s population in 1918, a disease that was introduced to Samoa by sick passengers on board a ship from Read more
Church may become a cannabis café
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
If the cannabis legislation outlined in parliament this week is approved in next year’s referendum, a heritage church in Christchurch will become a cannabis café. The proposed legislation would legalise the sale and consumption of cannabis at licensed premises. Cookie Time founder Michael Mayell has partnered with Abe Gray, the founder of New Zealand’s first Read more
Integrated schools look at legal action over Government maintenance funding
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
Integrated schools are considering legal action against the Government after being left out of the $396 million funding package announced at the weekend to upgrade state school properties. Education Minister Chris Hipkins says state-integrated schools funding will go up as a result of an investment and he isn’t worried about potential court action. Association of Read more
Dilmah tea founder honoured for fair trade practice and charity work
Thursday, December 5th, 2019Supporting the underprivileged and operating ethically have been at the centre of Dilmah founder Merrill Fernando’s philosophy over his long career. Fernando, the man well known for his “Do try it” slogan, founded tea company Dilmah in Sri Lanka in 1988. It is now one of the world’s largest tea brands and is well known Read more
Hundreds visit Jallianwala Bagh massacre exhibition in Wellington
Thursday, December 5th, 2019‘Punjab Under Siege’ an exhibition on the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre curated by the Partition Museum of Amritsar, India concluded on Thursday, November 28 with hundreds attending it during the week-long event at Saint Peters Church in Wellington. Read more
Caritas participates in international conference on migration
Thursday, December 5th, 2019This week, Julianne Hickey, the Director of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, is attending a conference in Bangkok to discuss issues surrounding child protection, human trafficking and labour migration in Asia and Oceania. The conference focused on “The Future of Work,” is hosted by the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), an organisation working in over 40 Read more
First Māori Woman Bishop welcomed at Rangiatea Church
Monday, December 2nd, 2019
Pihopa Waitohiariki Quayle, New Zealand’s first Māori woman bishop, 24th November, was welcomed in a service that took place in the beautiful and historic of Rangiatea Church in Ōtaki. The newly ordained bishop was supported by groups from different areas. She comes from from the Wairarapa, but now has charge of a large area that Read more
NZ’s bevy of referenda could intensify an already growing culture war
Monday, December 2nd, 2019
Next year New Zealand will hold public referenda to decide whether to legalise assisted suicide and recreational marijuana. Separately, parliament is considering a bill that would decriminalise abortion. Simultaneously tackling all three could “foster an already growing culture war in New Zealand,” said Bryce Edwards, a political commentator and lecturer at Victoria University in Wellington. Read more
Measles epidemic in Samoa – Caritas provides helping hands
Monday, December 2nd, 2019
In Samoa, fifty-three people are now dead, after having contracted measles. More than 3000 people have now been infected with the disease and doctors say the death toll is likely to rise. George Fa’alogo, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand’s (CANZ) humanitarian coordinator, is in close contact with Caritas Samoa. He says, “We’re at a loss to Read more