The beach is vanishing, one day at a time. The sea approaches the coastal village. It will not be negotiated with. With seawater flooding the water table, crops that have fed the islanders for centuries are losing viability. The problem is invisible, under the people’s feet. But it demands change. Each year, the cyclones have Read more
In a world before Covid, the fashion industry was responsible for producing 10% of annual global carbon emissions. This is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Have you ever stopped to think about the environmental impact your clothes have had? According to the United Nations Environment Programme, it takes an average of 3,781 Read more
Embracing a synodal model of the Church is “messy” but it offers the only path to a “future that’s worth having”, says a leading Australian bishop. Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, the president of the Australian Bishops’ Conference, was speaking about the experience of the plenary council, the highest form of gathering for a local Read more
Since the February 1 coup, the Tatmadaw – the official name of Myanmar’s armed forces – has escalated its crackdown on citizens protesting against the military takeover that ousted Myanmar’s democratically elected government. Unfortunately, this brutal reaction is only the latest in a series of repressive moves across Southeast Asia in recent years as political groups, backed by powerful Read more
Thursday, April 22, we joined the global celebration of Earth Day and appropriate for Catholics to reflect on Pope Francis’ famous environmental encyclical letter “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.” Citing Francis of Assisi – patron saint of ecology – Pope Francis writes “our common home is like a sister with whom we Read more
Peace is more than just the avoidance of conflict or the absence of a feud, or on a more grand scale, war. Peace is the work for justice and the output of charity. The Church preaches peace because peace is a sign and fruit of the promise of Christ, the Redeemer. Peace is more than Read more
Sometimes you need to catch your breath when a Vatican official’s speaking echoes a theologian’s writings. Which way is this going to go? Not long ago, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, echoed a 50-year-old passage from a book by … wait for it … Swiss theologian Hans Küng. Speaking on Spain’s church-owned Read more
Fransiska (not her real name) was only 32 and still working as a babysitter in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta when a group of four matchmakers — two men and two women — introduced her to three Taiwanese men on three separate occasions back in December 2018. She refused to marry the first and second. The third, Read more
The age of individualism is passing. The past 50 years in the West saw a celebration of unfettered freedom. Citizens on both sides of the Atlantic were encouraged to liberate themselves from the relational constraints of family, history and even nature. Now Covid-19 has highlighted our mutual dependence on one another and a desire for community. President Read more
You may have heard an increasing number of child poverty experts and frontline support services calling on the Government to increase the amount of income support paid to effectively address poverty in New Zealand. What you may not have heard about is the recent UMR poll in February showing seven in 10 New Zealanders support Read more