The claim centres on the land where the kura (school) is sited, which was granted to the Catholic Church by Governor George Grey in 1849.

A spokesperson for a group asking for an inquiry, Frank Rawiri, said: "We are at a crisis point with the future of the school."

"If the Wai 1385 claim is not settled the way we would like to settle it, we may as well say good-bye to Hato Petera."

"We want to get the land back that has been lost or at least some of it. This remains possible because some of the land is still owned by the Crown."

Rawiri was a member a trustee of Te Whanau 0 Hato Petera Trust from 1995 until he resigned this year.

He was chairman of the Trust from 2000 till 2010.

In June this year Rawiri presented a brief of evidence as part of an application for an urgent hearing in relation to the Crown's 2014 decision to recognise the Tuhoronuku Deed of Mandate.

The brief states that, "Our Treaty claim concerns the 376 acres awarded in trust by way of a Crown Grant to the Catholic Church in 1850, and the subsequent maladministration of that land.

Rawiri identified himself as representing Nga Tauira Tawhito o Hato Petera.

He said was chosen to represent Nga Tauira for their Treaty claim because he is an old boy and has been actively involved with the College since 1995.

Nga Tauira Tawhito is pan tribal organisation made up of affiliated Catholic Maori and other Maori from around the country who share an allegiance to Hato Petera College.

Nga Tauira has approximately 1200 members.

It formed and registered the Nga Tauira Tawhito o Hato Petera Trust Board as a charitable trust on 2 September 2002 for the purpose of acting on behalf of and advocating for the education of Nga Tauira.
Source

• Radio New Zealand
• The Waitangi Tribunal
• Image: www.waateanews.com

A young priest from a sleepy town in Malaybalay, Southern Philippines, Fr Jorquia was surprised by a call from a journalist friend who informed him of the threat.

In October 2012, the Malaybalay police conducted an operation where a killer for hire was killed. Recovered from the killer's belongings were pictures of his targeted victims, some of whom were already dead. Fr Jorquia was in a group photo and his chest was marked with an x.

"I wasn't concerned at first. It felt unreal and I didn't think there was any reason for anyone to want me dead," he said. "I tried to evaluate my life as a person and as a priest. I felt I wasn't that bad."

Fr Jorquia said the experience did not scare him, but it made him wary, especially when meeting people he did not know.

His bishop pulled him out of the parish for three months. In a general reshuffling in the middle of 2012, it was decided that he would be sent to Auckland diocese.

"What I have learned is, I am not a priest for my own sake but for the people of God. Coming here to New Zealand has given me a wider perspective of the Universal Church," he said.

Fr Jorquia has two more years to serve in Auckland diocese. He arrived in January last year.

"For me, things have become simple. I know that wherever I go, the Lord will be there. I like this country. It's beautiful. But I will go where God leads me. I will be happy," he said.

Source:

• New Zealand Catholic
• Image: New Zealand Catholic

In its submission to the Social Services Select Committee the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Agency Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has expressed very real concerns about the proposal for case managers to offer any woman on any kind of benefit, including married women, as well as the daughters of those on benefits between the ages of 16-19, free long term reversible contraception.

"The Catholic Church teaches a respect for human dignity and many of the proposals will damage that dignity. The key purpose of welfare changes should be to reduce poverty, not to make the vulnerable more vulnerable," says the CEO of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, Julianne Hickey.

"If contraceptive options and incomes become linked, a beneficiary facing a case manager may feel they have little option at all," she says.

"While the Government says that they won't be coerced, we know that coercion can be subtle and when punitive measures are proposed for those who have subsequent children while on welfare it seems there is little option but to take it."

Source

• The Catholic Diocese of Auckland
• Image: MSN News