New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have lifted the remaining Covid-19 restrictions on attending Mass. After the Government lifted all restrictions this week, the bishops followed suit. At the same time, they issued an invitation. We are happy to extend an enthusiastic invitation for all Catholics of Aotearoa New Zealand to return to full and active participation Read more
Toast Electric, Aotearoa-New Zealand’s first not-for-profit power company, opened its doors in Wellington on Thursday. It is an initiative of a registered charity, the Sustainability Trust. Toast’s aim is to reduce energy hardship. Its fair energy manager, Phil Squire, says Toast is addressing a desperate need within the community. “Energy hardship is a real big Read more
Comedian and Author Max Dickins was about to propose to his girlfriend when he realised he didn’t have any best man options. Spending all his time between work, partner and family had destroyed his circle of friends. So Max looked into the situation and found a lot of people in the same boat. His new Read more
Hundreds of Catholic schools in Australia have been asked not to help children undertake gender transition. In a rare intervention, Australia’s Catholic bishops told the schools that sex is not a social construct but a “physical, biological reality.” Society has “widely adopted the belief that each person’s innermost concept of themselves determines their gender identity,” Read more
The director of the Benedict XVI Institute in Regensburg, Germany, says a “healthy defence of the faith” is necessary if Catholics are to credibly spread the Gospel in contemporary societies. Evangelisation draws on “the beauty and radiance of faith,” Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer (pictured) of Regensburg told CNA Deutsch in an interview published 1 September. “However, Read more
We can truly feel for women who find themselves in a terrible predicament for which abortion can seem to be the only way out. That situation is not what I am addressing in this short article. We can also sympathise with good and decent people who have become victims of a culture that is not Read more
The Catholic Church may be at a turning point in its history, believes Danièle Hervieu-Léger, a leading French sociologist on religion. To survive in secularized Western societies, the institution will have to reform itself, she says. In a new book with fellow sociologist Jean-Louis Schlegel that came out this past spring, “Vers l’implosion? Entretiens sur Read more
Seven women’s ordination advocates were detained outside the gates of the Vatican protesting the lack of women attending a meeting of 197 cardinals, patriarchs and priests. The women stood outside the gates of the Vatican dressed in cardinal red, each carrying a scarlet parasol emblazoned with a phrase of female empowerment. “Ordain Women”, “Reform Means Read more
Pope Francis has inducted 20 cardinals from around the world, choosing men who mostly agree with his vision of a more progressive and inclusive Church. “A cardinal loves the Church, always with that same spiritual fire, whether dealing with great questions or handling everyday problems, with the powerful of this world or those ordinary people Read more
The end of summer means the end of a mainstay of American Catholic life — the summer Catholic conference season, in which Catholic universities aim to fill their dorms, proclaim the Gospel, and build some brand awareness by hosting days-long catechetical and evangelical events for Catholic young people and adults. While the Franciscan University of Read more