The baby was not hers, not really. Hun Daneth felt that, counted on that. When she gave birth to the boy, who didn’t look like her, she knew it even more. But four years after acting as a surrogate for a Chinese businessman, who said he had used a Russian egg donor, Ms Hun Daneth Read more
A bizarre situation unfolded on both sides of Molesworth Street in Wellington, when James Shaw hailed a High Court victory that overrode a central intention of his own Zero Carbon Act. High Court Justice Jillian Mallon dismissed the judicial review of the Government’s climate policies by the activist group Lawyers for Climate Action. The lawyers Read more
It is a tale of two clubs, separated by decades. Retired Anglican Bishop and writer John Bluck hoped to launch his new book at Auckland’s prestigious Northern Club. That was until the club got wind of the title. He finds it all pretty funny, to be honest. What exactly did they say? He pulls a Read more
It’s all Pope Francis’ fault (or merit). Those who fiercely criticize the Synodal Path that the Catholic Church in Germany embarked upon in 2019 — and even those who enthusiastically support it — cannot deny that the Jesuit pope is responsible. The only reason the Germans have been able to spend the past three years Read more
The Labour Government is currently fighting on multiple fronts that threaten its popularity in the run-up to next year’s election. Therefore, when a call had to be made about whether to push through divisive and poorly-designed hate speech laws, there really was no decision for Justice Minister Kiri Allan to make – the reforms had Read more
Just when you think that the Vatican’s “trial of the century” against a cardinal and nine other defendants for various alleged financial crimes can’t get any more surreal, two developments pop out of the woodwork to prove you wrong. A hearing Thursday produced both a previously unknown, and unauthorised, recording of a phone call with Read more
When trees are bare in Winter, have you noticed how every branch is a replica of the entire tree? The poplar extends long, thin fingers. The oak stretches out sturdy wood, and the apple tree has knotty extensions of itself. It’s as though the tree begets its own shape again and again as it grows. Read more
Oppression or persecution of Christians by state and non-state actors were found in 75 percent of the 24 countries surveyed, according to the latest report by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The ACN report “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report On Christians Oppressed For Their Faith 2020-22″ includes information from the Read more
Back in the late 1960s and 1970s, detractors of St. Paul VI dubbed him the “Hamlet Pope” for his alleged waffling and the perceived fashion in which he would agonise over difficult decisions. Whether that image of the pontiff was fair or not, it stuck, so much so that it featured in the opening paragraphs Read more
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many lost the habit of churchgoing after almost every church in the country closed down their in-person services and shifted online. But did some of them give up on God? Sociologists like Michael Hout want to know. Hout, a professor of sociology at New York University, has long tracked the Read more