"The churches take a lot of money from the people and we need to change the attitude of ministers," she said.

"They are not God. They go to church that supposedly help(s) the people to embrace values that are written in the bible, but they don't."

Leulua'ialii was speaking after Samoa's court of appeal has ruled that the Elders Committee of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa's removal the elder was illegal.

The judgment said dismissed elder's right to observance of the principles of natural justice was not honoured.

The supreme court, last year, had ruled in favour of the church.

Woodroffe has been acting on behalf of a Congregation Christian Church elder Reverend Kerita Reupena who whom the Elders Committee removed from his position while he was serving in Queeensland.

The sacking followed an internal dispute over the tenure of another minister in Sydney and a separate issue of allocation of church money to a parish on the island of Savai'i.

In 2015 Reupena took legal action against the Elders Committee for unlawful dismissal.

In May of that year the court issued an injunction which reinstated Reupena to the position.

The church ignored the injunction while also seeking a clarification from the Chief Justice.

Subsequently Chief Justice Patu ruled against Reupena's claim and dismissed the case.

The Chief Justice also dismissed an interim injunction.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• sobserver.ws
• samoaobserver.ws
• Image: samoaobserver.ws

At a Mass at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on September 27, the Pope expanded on readings of the day in which Jesus and Moses chided their followers for narrowness.

"To raise doubts about the working of the Spirit, to give the impression that it cannot take place in those who are not ‘part of our group', who are not ‘like us', is a dangerous temptation," Pope Francis said.

"Not only does it block conversion to the faith; it is a perversion of faith!"

Francis warned against being "scandalised by the freedom of God, who sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike, bypassing bureaucracy, officialdom and inner circles".

Rather, "faith opens a ‘window' to the presence and working of the Spirit", the Pope said.

Francis urged families to show love by attention to small daily signs "which make us feel at home".

Earlier in the day, Francis warned about 300 bishops against an unbalanced Christianity.

"A Christianity which ‘does' little in practice, while incessantly ‘explaining' its teachings, is dangerously unbalanced. I would even say that it is stuck in a vicious circle," he said.

"A pastor must show that the ‘Gospel of the family' is truly ‘good news' in a world where self-concern seems to reign supreme!"

The bishops were in Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families.

The Pope called on bishops to move away from stale denunciations about the state of the world, and instead engage with young people.

"We need to invest our energies not so much in rehearsing the problems of the world around us and the merits of Christianity, but in extending a sincere invitation to young people to be brave and to opt for marriage and the family," Francis said.

On leaving the US, the Pope singled out the canonisation of St Junipero Serra and prayers for peace at Ground Zero in New York as occasions which had particularly moved him.

Sources

• The Guardian
• Crux Now
• ABC
• Full text of Pope's homily at Philadelphia
• Full text of Pope's address to bishops at World Meeting of Families
• Image: Reuters

"That is pretty much what I found during two weeks of lectures and sermons across New Zealand."

Gushee identified 4 overlapping challenges to religion which he believes are common to both countries.

1) Both countries are becoming more secular

Steadily shrinking percentages of the people in both New Zealand and the United State claim Christian commitment.

2) Churches are suffering from thinning understandings of the meaning of commitment

"When I first became a "born-again" Christian in the 1970s, the expectation and practice was that we would be in church three times a week - Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night — along with the weekly tithe of 10% of income to the church."

"But both in New Zealand and here, high commitment these days looks more like one to two visits a month, and giving is more irregular among many."

3) Our denominations and congregations are affected by politicised ideological and moral divisions

The left/right polarisation on today's sex-related social issues looks pretty similar in New Zealand churches to what it looks like in the United States.

Some of these differences are contributing both to internal conflicts and difficulty in mustering a public voice.

4) Our pastors struggle to meet the challenges of the era.

• They do everything they can and still numbers decline
• They start contemporary services for younger people while retaining traditional services for the Boomer set
• They try to shepherd flocks that are hard to get a grasp on because it's a different congregation every week
• They have to navigate theological, ethical, and political land-mines, any of which can blow up already vulnerable congregations

Gushee also noted some significant differences between the two countrys:

• Politics in New Zealand overall falls further to the left. New Zealand is much more like a European liberal social democracy
• New Zealand is much more "green"
• New Zealand is much more peacemaking-oriented. This extends to most Christians as well
• He was impressed by New Zealand's efforts to build a genuinely bicultural society in relation to its indigenous Maori population — and a genuinely multicultural society related to other immigrants
• Christian voices in the public square appear overall to be stronger in the United States than in New Zealand. The general sense is that public discourse hums along in New Zealand without a significant Christian presence
• Earlier denominational efforts to fund public-issues research or public-affairs officers seem largely to have been abandoned

Source

• davidgushee.religionnews.com
• Image: davidgushee.religionnews.com

Archbishop Georg Ganswein told a university publication he didn't know why some pastors want to propose what is not possible.

"Perhaps they give in to the spirit of the time; perhaps they allow themselves to be guided by the human applause caused by the media . . . ."

But the true measure to be guided by is the Gospel, the faith, healthy doctrine, Tradition, the archbishop said.

The Church must help divorced and remarried Catholics, but not in a reductive way, he said.

"The Church must also be very sincere with faithful living in this situation. It's not only about saying: ‘They can, they can't'."

"It's important to get close to them, to create contact and maintain it because they are members of the Church as everyone else, they are not expelled and even less so excommunicated."

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He said this in an address to the Vatican's Congregation of Bishops on February 27.

The Pope told the office they should not seek prelates who are mainly concerned with doctrinal matters.

Rather the Church needs "guardians of doctrine, not to measure how far the world lives from the truth it contains, but to fascinate the world, to enchant the world with the beauty of love, to seduce it with the free gift of the Gospel".

"The Church does not need apologists of its causes nor crusaders of its battles, but sowers humble and confident of the truth, who . . . trust of its power," the Pontiff continued.

Francis invited the congregation to review the teachings of the early Church to "look for some criteria" in choosing bishops.

The Pope asked them particularly to consider how the apostles chose a replacement for Judas, following his betrayal of Christ.

"The bishop is first and foremost a martyr of the risen one," the Pope stated.

"His life and his ministry must make credible the Resurrection."

"The courage to die, the generosity of offering their own lives and to be consumed by the flock are inscribed in the ‘DNA' of the episcopate," he continued.

Recounting the Old Testament story of Sodom, when Abraham negotiated with God not to destroy the city if there could be ten righteous people within its boundaries, Pope Francis said bishops must be "courageous in intercessory prayer as Abraham".

"A man who lacks the courage to argue with God on behalf of his people cannot be bishop - I say this from the heart, I am convinced," he stated.

Pope Francis listed several desirable virtues in potential bishops, including a "capacity for healthy, balanced relationships", "upright behaviour", "orthodoxy and fidelity" to Church doctrine and "transparency and detachment in administrating the goods of the community".

"We don't need a manager, the CEO of a business, nor someone who shares our pettiness or low aspirations," the Pope said.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Religions News Service
• Catholic News Service
• Image: The Catholic Sun

The Pope said he wants these candidates to be "pastors who are close to their people, fathers and brothers, who are meek, patient and merciful".

Pope Francis said the best priest to choose as bishop, or the best bishop to choose to head a larger diocese or archdiocese, is one who is wedded to his diocese — "the spouse of one church, who is not constantly seeking another".

"I will comment [more] about this when it's not being recorded," the Pope told the nuncios, who laughed.

Pope Francis said one of the most important tasks nuncios have is studying the needs of vacant dioceses and helping him find appropriate candidates to be appointed bishops.

He referred to the "delicate task of carrying out inquiries" into candidates and said: "Beware of those who are ambitious, who seek the episcopacy."

He said candidates for the episcopacy must be real pastors and shepherds, able to watch over their flock, keep them united, protect them from danger and, especially, nourish their hope, "sustaining with love and patience the plans that God is working within his people".

"Shepherds need to be in front of their flocks to indicate the path, in the midst of the flock to keep them united, behind the flock to make sure none is left behind," the Pope said.

A good prospective bishop will "love interior poverty as freedom for the Lord" and live that externally with a simple lifestyle, and he won't have the "mindset of a prince", he added.

Speaking of the hardships involved in the Vatican's diplomatic service, Pope Francis described the nuncios' life as "nomadic".

He said they were never being able to put down roots or have their own "flock" to tend to. They must always begin anew in different national and ecclesial contexts; in short, living with a suitcase at hand.

Sources:

Catholic News Service

Vatican Radio

The Role, Function and Duties as Apostolic Nuncio and Delegate

(Archbishop Charles D. Balvo)

Image: Clerical Whispers

Black Protestants have been nearly twice as likely as other Christians to hear about the election, and nearly half have heard voting messages favouring incumbent Barack Obama.

Fewer white churchgoers have heard messages supporting a candidate. Those that did were more likely to favour challenger Mitt Romney.

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