The Reverend Canon Dr Eleanor Sanderson has been elected to serve as the Assistant Anglican Bishop in Wellington. Her ordination as a bishop will take place at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul on the evening of Friday the 2nd of June. Sanderson was nominated at a Diocesan electoral college held in Palmerston North’s Convention Centre Read more
The amalgamation of five Catholic churches across the Tasman District into one “Our Lady of the Bays” parish took place on 1 April. While there will still be distinct church communities in each area, the come under centralised leadership. Father Seph Pijfers is overseeing the amalgamated parish and will be assisted by priests and lay-pastoral leaders based in each Read more
Anglican leaders have ordered another survey of how Christchurch residents feel about restoring the cathedral. The new survey will be the latest in a long list of polls conducted in the city about the Christ Church Cathedral. There were two major surveys in 2013 and two more in 2014. Continue reading
Dunbar Sloane, New Zealand’s prestigious art auction house, had radical religious messages its homepage, after it was hacked on Saturday. Messages “to the sons of monkeys and pigs” were left on the homepages at dunbarsloane.co.nz and dunbarsloane.com. The auction house uses both domain names in its promotions. Continue reading
Churches in New Zealand are being warned of a South Korean-linked group accused of being a religious cult that infiltrates churches and uses “real deceit” to recruit members. The group is know as Shincheonji, or the “New Heaven and New Earth” Shincheonji members are alleged to have visited church congregations and student groups in universities Read more
Senior students at St Joseph’s School in Rangiora recently spent almost 24 hours carrying a bucket of water around their school playing field. In the Pacific Islands, some villagers have to walk long distances to get water. This activity has given these North Canterbury children a better understanding of what it would be like. The Read more
“What exactly is your job?” That is the question The 11-year-old Sada Taualai asked the Prime Minister Bill English last Friday. “I’m the leader of the government and we do all sorts of things from locking up criminals to paying for the school,” he told Sada who ticked the question on his clipboard, nodded, then Read more
Anti-Semitism is increasing in New Zealand and those responsible need to better understand the implications of their actions, a Jewish leader says. New Zealand Jewish Council president Stephen Goodman said hate speech towards Jews was particularly prevalent on social media. “A lot of anti-Semitism comes out of ignorance and thinking this is a fashionable thing to do,” Read more
The Human Rights Commission says it does not want a change to hate speech laws – as high-profile New Zealanders warn freedom of speech is under threat in the country’s universities. Human Rights Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy this year called for politicians and others to address hate speech, saying “we need people at the very Read more
The Syro Malabar community of Auckland ran a Family Renewal Retreat at Ellerslie Church last month. The retreat, held over four days, was part of the Lent Celebrations. It was attended by 600 people every day. The retreat included Mass, healing prayers, preaching the word of God, and Adoration every evening. A special prayer for Read more