The priest dubbed the Vatican’s point man for clerical sexual abuse says the media did the Church a service by revealing abuse scandals. In an interview with the Sunday Star Times, American Msgr Robert Oliver praised the media’s role, echoing a tribute he paid early last year. “It’s hard for any group over time to Read more
Family First is welcoming the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the deregistration of Greenpeace as a charity because of its political activity. The Charities Registration Board had sought to deregister Family First as a charity, in the wake of the recent same-sex marriage debate. Family First appealed to the High Court, but a hearing has been on Read more
Wellington’s first ever count of those sleeping rough on the streets found 15 people fitting this description in the city and suburbs on the morning of August 8 Rough sleepers were counted on every downtown city block and in known locations for such people in suburban areas. Fifty volunteers helped in the count between 4am and Read more
Efforts to establish a support group for gay Hawke’s Bay youth have failed because of a lack of public support. Despite help from Trinity Methodist Church in Napier for the GayOk group, backing from local schools, funding bodies and the wider community was not forthcoming. “There is a real stigma around homosexuality in Hawke’s Bay Read more
A dozen Filipino carpenters recruited to work in Christchurch’s rebuild had no work when they arrived and had to call on a Catholic advocate to get by. Recruitment and labour hire company Adecco promised fulltime jobs to the group. When they arrived on July 10, there was no work for them. Adecco, acting as the Read more
Catholic secondary schools in Auckland have been singled out for high praise in Metro magazine’s annual analysis of the region’s schools. Editor Simon Wilson wrote that academic results are critically important, but the best measure of a school is its character. “In the sense that it takes a village to raise a child, good schools Read more
More than 1000 people packed St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Wellington for a Catholic and Anglican initiative to hear politicians address child poverty. Catholic Archbishop John Dew and Anglican Bishop Justin Duckworth invited the Children’s Commissioner, Dr Russell Wills, and politicians to speak on child poverty in the lead-up to the election. At the forum Read more
A New Zealand-born priest of the Liberal Catholic Church has been handed a suspended jail sentence in Australia for two counts of bigamy. Alec Stevenson, 70, illegally married two women over four decades, after marrying his first wife in New Zealand in 1962. But he never divorced his first wife, with whom he had three Read more
St Joseph’s School in Timaru North might be able to keep running the district’s Christmas parade, even though a city council agency withdrew support. The Timaru District Council’s economic development agency will be getting a “please explain” letter from Mayor Damon Odey. Aoraki Development, Business and Tourism’s chairman Ken McKenzie said there would be no Read more