“How can you be studying biology, you’re a priest; you don’t believe in evolution.” So began the conversation with Rob. I was a ‘newly minted’ studying at Victoria University, Wellington, in a clerical suit and a roman collar. I was standing next to him, scalpel in hand. We were about to dissect our first dogfish. I Read more
The most famous singing priest of Ireland discerned his call after St. John Paul II’s visit to the country in 1979. He hopes that Pope Francis’s trip in August will also spark new vocations. “I suppose people are a bit down over the Church. Certainly, vocations are down,” says Father Ray Kelly, the 65 year-old Read more
Recently, “Grapevine” reprinted a notice originally on a billboard outside Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, Canada. Apology If you’ve been told that God is some kind of punishing, capricious, angry bastard with a killer surveillance system, who is basically always disappointed with you for being a human being, then you have been lied to. The church Read more
Three old friends approach a pedestrian crossing near a busy intersection. As the traffic lights change, vehicles hurry through the road junction to where they are to cross. One friend rushes anxiously across, beating the oncoming cars. Out of self-preservation, another stands steadfast on the curb. The third fearfully steps backwards. They look at one Read more
I remember at a very young age the constant urging of my parents to always say “thank you” in response to any kindness or friendly words shared in my direction. For many years, I saw this advice from my parents as simply good manners and what people were supposed to do. In my mid-teen years, Read more
The Church cannot “hide” from the story of Fr Magnus Murray, one of Dunedin’s top Catholics says. But nor can all Catholics be tarnished by the actions of one man, Monsignor John Harrison, (pictured), of the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin, says. “It actually reflects on the rest of us and everyone gets tarred, and yet Read more
As the sexual abuse scandal surrounding Cardinal Theodore McCarrick continued to spread in the past week. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who heads the Catholic Church’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, acknowledged on Monday (July 23) that “a major gap still exists in the church’s policies on sexual conduct and sexual abuse.” O’Malley, who is Read more
Why on earth do we stay in a Church in which clerics commit sexual abuse? The easiest answer is realism. We tell ourselves that some sexual predators are drawn to seminaries, just as paedophiles seek out institutions that work with children, regardless of whether they’re religious or not. Public schools, choirs, scouts: the cancer grows Read more
It is easy to forget, when meeting older people in our lives – parents, grandparents and others – that they are so much more than what we see in front of us. As we age, we become the accumulation of a life’s worth of wisdom and experience. Unfortunately, the price of that wisdom is too Read more
The level of domestic violence in New Zealand is alarming. As a mark of the country’s concern, all parties in Parliament supported the introduction of Jan Logie’s Domestic Violence Victims’ Protection Bill. Last week the Government parties passed her private member’s Bill into law. The new law gives victims of family violence up to ten Read more