Since the start of the Delta outbreak lockdown, 8500 more people have ended up on the benefit, Ministry of Social Development figures show. While job losses have been nowhere near as severe as the first lockdown in March last year, many thousands of whānau are still struggling to make ends meet, as COVID-19 restrictions remain Read more
The University of Oxford’s Catholic student society has invited Cardinal George Pell to give its prestigious annual lecture, attracting both praise and criticism from within Oxford’s Catholic community. The cardinal, who graduated with a DPhil from Oxford in 1971, has been a patron of the Newman Society since 2009, when he inaugurated the current iteration Read more
Religious leaders in Catania issued a three-year ban on naming godparents at baptisms this month. They claim many families enlist local power brokers to be their children’s compari because they are more interested in securing gold necklaces and networking opportunities for their family than spiritual leadership, according to the New York Times. Bishops and priests Read more
The euthanisation of a Martha Liria Sepúlveda Campo, a 51-year-old woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was cancelled, the Colombian Pain Institute (IPS Incodol) announced Saturday. IPS Incodol reported Oct 9 that the Interdisciplinary Scientific Committee for the Right to Die with Dignity “unanimously concluded to cancel the procedure.” The committee explained that “the cancellation decision Read more
Framing for the new $1million St Mary’s Church in Pleasant Point is going up. The former 1889 historic church on the site was demolished in July after it was closed in 2011 due to earthquake damage. Opihi Parish finance chairman Mark Robins said the new church would seat 70 but would not have a steeple Read more
The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, and Pope Francis have been presented with trophies by the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity judging committee during a visit to Rome. The religious leaders were the first honorary co-recipients of the award, receiving it in 2019 in recognition of their efforts to develop the historic Document on Read more
New Zealanders can expect things to start getting a bit pricier with rising prices on many items predicted. The consumer price index, a measure of inflation, jumped to 3.3 per cent in the year to June, the biggest increase in nearly 10 years. It had run at an annual rate of 1.5 per cent for Read more
Most religious services in Sydney will remain online-only for another two weeks as faith leaders grapple with the state’s public health orders regarding coronavirus that exclude unvaccinated people. Churches, mosques and synagogues can now open and hold services under the NSW road map out of lockdown, but only those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are meant Read more
Pope Francis prayed the Angelus before one of the largest crowd of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square since the start of the pandemic. The Pope recalled that it was World Mental Health Day, and prayed especially for the victims of suicide. POPE FRANCIS “Today, on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, I would Read more
The Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) congregation said Friday that Covid-19 claimed the life of another nun at their motherhouse compound in Quezon City. Mother Maria Corazon Agda, RVM Superior General, said that 11 members of the congregation have now died of the disease. “We may have our own version of 9/11 in our Read more