Residents in a Hamilton suburb were concerned when a woman from a local church knocked on their door on Good Friday and presented them with pamphlets espousing religious views. Her actions were in breach of Alert Level 4 rules. Read more
Posts Tagged ‘COVID-19’
Kenyan court charges Catholic priest with spreading coronavirus
Monday, April 20th, 2020A Catholic priest was charged in Kenyan court on Thursday with spreading the coronavirus, the second person to face such charges in Kenya. Kenya, which has 234 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 11 deaths, has banned all public gatherings, limited the number of mourners at funerals, imposed a daily curfew and restricted movement in Read more
Bending the COVID-19 inequality curve
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
Three months ago, if you had asked who are the most important people in the U.S. economy, the response would have been investors, CEOs, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, bankers and others who are well rewarded by the marketplace. They all make scads of money. The response is much different today. Essential workers are now nurses, doctors, Read more
Domestic violence victims need our support during lockdown
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
Society must support female domestic violence victims during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, says Pope Francis. Abuse during the crisis is increasing all over the world, he says. Women are helping in many frontline roles helping society cope with the pandemic, he says. Praising their efforts, he made particular mention of women in frontline roles such Read more
Holy Week and Easter see huge online engagement
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
The Vatican’s online Holy Week and Easter events reached millions of people around the world. New viewers, followers and fans inspired by Pope Francis’ words and gestures were among those taking part. “We have been struck by the many emails we have received, comments and posts on our social media from people, even agnostics and Read more
Pope visualises a more creative post-pandemic church
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
The Pope’s vision for a post-pandemic church will balance institutional rules and regulations with a more free-form church that responds to people’s pastoral needs creatively. Explaining his point, he gave the example of an Italian bishop who asked him if it was allowable to offer general absolution to hospitalised Covid-19 patients in isolation. A canon Read more
Government’s action in terms financial hardship quite muted
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
The Government has responded swiftly and robustly with various economic packages, health advice, new measures and health-based restrictions that have created a new normal in Aotearoa. But action in the area of debt and financial hardship has been quite muted and lacks strategy the Salvation Army says. In a report published last Thursday, they say: Read more
Churches receive money from wage subsidy scheme
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
Entities that are registered charities are eligible to receive money from the government’s seven billion dollar wage subsidy scheme. Stuff reports that churches in New Zealand have received “more than $1.5 million”. Among other Catholic entities that have received money, the Catholic Diocese of Auckland received $618,338 for 94 staff. The Catholic Diocese of Hamilton Read more
Charities expect to suffer losses in Covid-19 disruptions
Thursday, April 16th, 2020The Pub Charity gives out tens of millions of dollars in community grants each year – but its business model has come to a complete stop. It has no revenue because bars and clubs are not operating and there is no money going through gaming machines. Read more
Catholic Media resort to digital editions
Thursday, April 16th, 2020Catholic newspapers and magazines in New Zealand have resorted to posting digital editions because the lockdown has made it impossible to provide print versions. The latest magazine to do this is the Nathaniel Report. Click here to read it. The Nathaniel Report is produced by the Nathaniel Centre, the NZ Catholic Bishops’ bioethics centre.