Christmas time 1973 I was a newly-arrived seminarian in Japan. It was my first-ever Christmas away from home. The “economic miracle” of the country’s post-war recovery was in full swing. Before the end of the decade, a best-selling book would tout Japan as Number One. However, the miracle was not yet complete, even in the Read more
COVID-19 safety measures and social distancing have put further strain on many Catholic churches and parishes that have already seen their flocks dwindling. While many still hope things will go back to “normal” once a vaccine is widely available, one researcher is asking a tough question: “What if they never come back?” Dan Cellucci, CEO Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the way most Catholics around the world are used to worshiping, having led to measures ranging from outright bans on physical gatherings to limits on the size and behaviour of congregations. The various restrictions have raised numerous theological, liturgical and spiritual questions. And the Holy See and the local Churches Read more
There can be little doubt that the experience of being a Catholic in 2020 – the year of COVID-19 – has marked our experience and our habits profoundly and changed the way we shape and imagine our belonging to the Church. But there is an additional element to consider – the impact of these new Read more
To come out of this pandemic better than we went in, we must let ourselves be touched by others’ pain. Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church and the bishop of Rome. In this past year of change, my mind and heart have overflowed with people. People I think of and pray for, Read more
Edward Jenner is considered the father of vaccinology. He pioneered the world’s first vaccine, which was for smallpox. Caused by a virus, smallpox was a serious disease which killed about three in ten of the people who contracted it and left many others with severe scars. Smallpox was mainly spread by direct, lengthy face-to-face contact Read more
There has been a huge $130,661,758 increase in pokie-machine profits this year. Te Tari Taiwhenua – the Department of Internal Affairs – is linking September’s 116 percent increase on the June quarter to the end of Covid-19 restrictions. A Te Tari Taiwhenua spokesperson says the September quarter figures are higher than any of the June Read more
A key part of learning how to adapt to our Covid-19 reality will be rebuilding our business models. Reverting to a “business-as-usual” mindset is at our own peril. Instead, we have to reframe our approaches both for short-term survival and to create a better future as #Buildbackbetter and similar sentiments are on all our minds. Read more
Last Thursday afternoon, ostensibly on holiday in the Wairarapa, I sat with my husband on a couch that didn’t belong to us, in a house that wasn’t ours, and watched his mum say goodbye to her brother on the same TV we’d been glued to the night before watching US election coverage. The same TV Read more
The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej, died in a Belgrade hospital on Friday after contracting coronavirus, according to a statement from the church. Irinej, who was 90, led an open-casket funeral service for the church’s top cleric in Montenegro, Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović, on November 1. Three days later, Irinej was admitted to Read more