Educated people who live in rich countries are far less likely to say belief in God is necessary for good morals, according to a massive new survey of 38,000 people in 34 countries. The survey, released Monday by the Pew Research Center, revealed a gaping “God gap” between relatively rich and poor countries. In Kenya, Read more
The latest statistics on childhood poverty in New Zealand suggest that, on some key measures, things are worse than previously estimated. About one in six children (16% or 183,000) live below a before-housing-cost relative poverty measure, but that figure jumps to almost one in four (23% or 254,000) once housing costs are accounted for. And Read more
People living in the fulness of the Catholic Faith will have the light of Christ Jesus in them, and this can attract people who have no religious background. We remember how Malcolm Muggeridge, a proclaimed atheist, became a Catholic after meeting Mother Teresa. Curiosity about our Faith doesn’t usually have such a dramatic result. Still, Read more
Not one parent wants to see their teen suffer. Sometimes it does feel like your teen’s suffering is harder on you than it is for your child. It feels harder because you know more. You know how hard life is. Your teen isn’t even to the “hard part” of life yet and is still hurting Read more
“We need to revisit the issue of ministry in the Church,” said Anne-Marie Pelletier in June 25 article in La Croix International. But what would such a revisiting look like? It raises several fundamental questions and might be far more undermining of the status quo than the few changes in the Code of Canon Law Read more
It was reported earlier this week in the New Zealand Herald the “bisexual daughter of a conservative Christian pastor” has “teamed up with a gay minister to launch a new church where LGBTI people don’t have to hide”. The Auckland-based Open Table Ministries website says: “We would like to plant an Evangelical affirming Church with Read more
Whether it is in the Business Insider, the Guardian, the Washington Post, Deutsche Welle, Time magazine or the CBC media, New Zealand has been widely lauded as the COVID-19 “success story.” On 8 June, the island nation announced that its last person known to be infected with COVID-19 has recovered. This means that (at that Read more
The leak of the confidential personal information of COVID-19 patients by Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker and influential party figure Michelle Boag has been highly embarrassing for the National Party. In less than 24 hours their attack strategy has detonated in their own trenches and newly elected party leader Todd Muller has been scrambling to explain Read more
A key moment in John Curnow’s interpretation of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn’s method was his organisation’s donation in 1981 of $1000 to the anti-Springbok tour movement Halt All Racist Tours (HART). The South African Springboks rugby team were set to tour the country in the second part of 1981 and the country was riven with rugby Read more
The search for a Covid-19 vaccine highlights a massive dilemma for many ethical investors; any vaccine will be tested on animals and so violate the rights of those animals as sentient beings. Ethical investors often don’t want to invest in companies that test on animals. But many of these same people (including me) will willingly Read more