About 70 people attended the mass including the Filipino choir which led the singing.

Parish priest Mark Field said it was a good turnout on a perfect spring day.

Hamilton bishop, Richard Laurenson presided at the Mass, and afterwards Phyllis Stewart, a parishioner for over 50 years cut the cake. Read more

Following a private audience with the Pope, Bishop Antonio Marto of Leiria-Fatima told media that Francis expressed a desire to make the trip, provided he is still "alive and healthy" at the time.

If Francis makes the trip he will be the fourth pope to do so, following Benedict XVI, St John Paul II and Blessed Paul VI.

The most likely dates for a papal visit would be May 13, the anniversary of the first apparition, or October 13, the anniversary of the miracle of the Sun.

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Fr David Mullins, SM, was selected for a double pass in the New Zealand Gallipoli ballot last year.

There were 9851 applicants, and only 950 double passes were issued.

But Stuff reported that the retired Fr Mullins, 84, had to withdraw from the trip to Turkey for health reasons.

Instead he will spend Anzac Day morning in his west Auckland home and will possibly attend a service later in the day.

"I will take some quiet time for myself on Anzac morning contemplating the atrocities of war, the uselessness of war and the inability of society to accept that war and friction can be overcome if people get rid of their greed," he said.

The priest's father, Jack Mullins, was wounded on the first day of the Gallipoli landings.

He was to be wounded again at Gallipoli, and was later struck in the head with shrapnel at the battle of the Somme.

But he survived and returned to New Zealand.

Fr Mullins said the battle at Gallipoli was "callous".

"It was a disaster."

His father did not talk much about the war but he wrote stories about what happened on the ship and during the first day of battle - stories Fr Mullins has turned into a book.

Fr Mullins said he admired the many people who attended Anzac Day dawn services around New Zealand.

"Now for me, in my state of life, I prefer a bit more contemplation than ritual, fanfare and bugles."

Having worked in Tonga, Fr Mullins said Pacific nations set good examples of how to avoid conflict.

Sources

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Society of Mary

The Immaculate Conception Church from Ngongotaha near Rotorua was relocated to Avondale two years ago.

The building was rededicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Fr Robert MacPherson, SSPX, said the 100-year milestone would be celebrated in August.

"We don't know the exact date it was first put in use, we just know it [the centenary] is 2015, so we will plan to celebrate that on the feast of the Immaculate Heart," he said.

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In a statement, the bishops said the Great War's dimensions were "shocking".

The conflict from 1914 to 1918 left 16 million dead and 21 million wounded.

The centenary of the outbreak of the war was on July 28.

The German bishops said the conflict was of "previously unimaginable proportions", in which poison gas and other weapons of mass destruction were used.

It added that Europe's Christian Churches had also played their part in "war-mongering" at the outbreak of fighting.

"Although the Catholic Church had distanced itself from nineteenth-century nationalism by virtue of its universal character, many bishops, priests and faithful took the side of those welcoming the war as a chance for spiritual and moral renewal," they said.

"We know today that many people, including those high up in the Church, brought guilt upon themselves, failing in the national blindness to perceive the suffering of the war's victims, and realising too late the consequences of absolute loyalty to their respective nations."

In their statement the bishops paid tribute to Catholic priests and military chaplains who worked for peace and reconciliation, and to Pope Benedict XV, who "repeatedly urged" the warring parties to go to the negotiating table rather than take up arms.

Nationalism, if taken to extremes, still posed a threat to peace today, the German bishops stated.

"Our times demand an effective response in asserting the common interests of the human family against destructive self-interest," they said.

Pope Francis referred to World War I in his Sunday address at the Vatican on July 27, one day before the centenary.

The Pontiff begged humanity not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

He also lamented the modern conflict between Israel and Palestine and the violence in Ukraine and Iraq.

The Pope begged for the world to avoid the carnage that took place a century ago, which then-Pope Benedict XV called a "useless massacre".

"Brothers and sisters, never war, never war!" Francis pleaded.

Sources

• The Tablet
• New York Daily News
• Image: Salon.com

The school opened in 1912 in a building which remains in the town today, and has become the St Ita's Guest House.

The catholic school closed 25 years ago.

"It was very sad when we closed. I had two of my final day pupils here at the reunion as well as many others. That was lovely," said Sylvia Mellish, the last Principal, who still lives at Rakaia. She was involved in organising the reunion and has compiled a book of the school's history, St Ita's Rakaia Chronicle, which covers the school's history from 1912.

The book features memories from former pupils, photos and stories from over the years, running alongside local, national and international news items and photos. For example, for the year 1912 there is the roll of the first day pupils, a photo of the pupils, and also a photo and article on the Titanic.

The school's oldest former pupil Mary Edwards, nee Toohey, cut the cake for the celebrations, having travelled from her home in Christchurch for the event. Celebrations were based in the Rakaia community centre on Saturday night, while on the Sunday there was a tree planning in the St Ita's Church grounds, as well as mass at the church.

Source:

• Ashburton Guardian
• Image: Donna Mellish

The celebrations, which took up much of the weekend, culminated with a 90-minute mass on Sunday morning which saw the church packed out with hundreds of attendees, including numerous out-of-town visitors.

Church representatives including Bishop Barry Jones of Christchurch, retired Bishop of Dunedin Len Boyle and Wellington-based Archbishop Charles Balvo, the apostolic nuncio to New Zealand, attended the celebrations.

Following a mass on Saturday morning, where the Angelo Singers from Roncalli College performed, about 200 people attended the centennial dinner and launch of a book on the history of the basilica on Saturday night at the Roncalli College gymnasium.

Source

• The Timaru Herald
• Image: Panorama