An increase in family violence has Women’s Refuge calling for help to contain abusers if numbers exceed what police can manage. The refuge’s six safe houses were all in lockdown so they could not take in any new women or children and Albert said it was hard to find other accommodation. Waikato Women’s Refuge -Te Whakaruruhau chief executive officer Ruahine Read more
Posts Tagged ‘COVID-19’
Senior Italian cardinal, papal vicar for Rome, has coronavirus
Thursday, April 2nd, 2020Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, Pope Francis’ vicar for the diocese of Rome, on Monday became the highest-ranking Catholic official known to test positive for coronavirus. De Donatis’ office said he was tested for the virus after feeling unwell and was admitted to a Rome hospital. His closest aides had gone into voluntary quarantine as a Read more
Covid19: Nun on mission to make 50,000 masks
Thursday, April 2nd, 2020In Guwahati, the commercial capital of Assam state in northeastern India, Sister Rose Hauniang Paite has adapted her tailoring school in response to the looming threat of coronavirus over surrounding slums. The school is normally run as a community development initiative, offering skills training to local women and children who are vulnerable to exploitation such Read more
In Reverse: Prayer in a time of isolation
Monday, March 30th, 2020
New Zealand is in “Lock Down”. Life as we have known it is completely changed as the nation, along with the rest of the world, wages war against an invisible but deadly enemy, Coronavirus, or COVID-19. You may have already been “self-isolating”; the “Lock Down” extends that directive to nearly everyone. Only essential services remain Read more
Confronting the COVID-19 virus: Thoughts of an ER doctor
Monday, March 30th, 2020
When I talk to people about the COVID-19 virus, I try to start with some basic facts to make sure we are beginning from the same foundation. As a doctor, one of my biggest struggles is overcoming a culture of misinformation and a prevailing distrust of traditional sources of expertise. With the rise of the Read more
Stay quarantined, stay married, keep your friends
Monday, March 30th, 2020
The policy of social distancing means that the newly homebound are seeing less of coworkers than they did just weeks ago. They’re seeing fewer friends too. But they might be seeing a lot more of their family, or their roommates. And that isn’t easy. For some, especially those who live alone, social distancing can bring Read more
Urbi-et-Orbi: Francis faces coronavirus ‘tempest’ alone in St Peter’s Square
Monday, March 30th, 2020
On a bleak Friday evening, from the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis blessed the city of Rome and of the world. The ‘Urbi et Orbi’ blessing, ‘to the city and the world’, was delivered in an empty St Peter’s Square. In stark contrast, the blessing is normally given at Easter and Christmas when Read more
Confession and anointing the sick rules clarified
Monday, March 30th, 2020
Rules about the sacraments of confession and anointing the sick during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have been clarified by the Vatican. Chair of the U.S. bishops’ committee on liturgy Archbishop Leonard Blair, sought the Vatican’s advice through the papal representative in the U.S., apostolic nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre. Pierre in turn checked with Archbishop Arthur Read more
Global ceasefire could save world from COVID-19
Monday, March 30th, 2020
A global ceasefire of all armed conflicts would help in the humanitarian battle against coronavirus (COVID-19), says Pope Francis. An additional humanitarian response needs to come from every government in the world, “to avoid tragedies” that could result from Covid-19 spreading in overcrowded prisons, Francis says. Francis issued these two passionate humanitarian appeals on Sunday. Read more
Industrial-scale deaths in one small town
Monday, March 30th, 2020
Industrial-scale deaths and funerals have fallen to Father Mario Carminati’s lot since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic took hold in Italy. Clusters of coffins arrive every day and are laid on the floor of St. Joseph’s Church in the northern Italian town of Seriate. “Authorities didn’t know where to put the coffins,” Carminati says. When enough Read more