Handling of mental health callouts will start transitioning from a police-led response to a health-led response from November 1.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) mental health section chairwoman Helen Garrick said they have seen the police plan for the shift but have not heard anything about how health services are proposing to fill the void. Read more

"

Police have identified 12 ram raids in April 2024, compared to 64 in April 2023.

Provisional police data from April 2017 to April 2024 shows a downwards trend since the peak in August 2022, when there were 86.

There were a total of 433 ram raids in 2022, 288 in 2023, and 67 in the first four months of this year. Read more

Police were called to Acacia Bay Rd, Nukuhau.

However, police have since confirmed no firearm was involved and they are "speaking with the person" involved.

"Cordons are being stood down and the lockdown lifted in the Acacia Bay area," police said.

"Police would like to thank the community for responding to police instructions and their patience and understanding while we resolved the situation." Read more

And South Auckland is the country's ground zero, where 23,000 calls come in yearly for family violence.

The area also has a large Maori and Pacific Islander population, but New Zealand's police force is mostly white.

Encounters between residents and officers summoned to respond to family disputes have often ended with arrests made and children funnelled into emergency state care, where a bewildering bureaucracy of government agencies and community organizations await.

Families regularly fall through cracks between services that compete for funding.

Often, when help comes, it arrives too late, or doesn't reflect the culture of perpetrators and victims.

"By the time you blink, you've got children living in a virtual war zone, and it's been a year down the track with five or six more incidents," said Jonelle McNeil, an operations manager for Barnardos, a New Zealand nonprofit that deals with children and their families impacted by family violence.

Maori are twice as likely to be victims of intimate partner violence compared to all New Zealanders.

Alcohol, poverty and other factors play a role in that.

It is a reflection of the generational trauma facing families whose parents or grandparents moved away from tight-knit, tribal communities to the largely unfulfilled promise of urban jobs.

This is layered over the impact of European colonization that began in the 1800s. (According to scholars who've studied the roots of the issue, violence toward a female partner was unacceptable in Maori society before European settlers enforced a gendered belief system.)

But a new Maori-led response to family violence in South Auckland is showing early signs of success in addressing the problem. Te Taanga Manawa — a Maori term meaning a place of rest and safety — was launched in March, bringing together 13 government, Maori and community agencies, including local police, in a single building.

The multi-agency team ensures a collaborative response that is quicker and more culturally nuanced.

As advocates for law enforcement reform in the U.S. wrestle with racial bias in police violence and seek more effective alternatives to traditional policing, New Zealand's experiment bears watching as a model for how police work and social work can be threaded together.

"It works well because there are no barriers, no bricks and mortar to separate the opportunity to deal with whanau [families] quickly and directly," said Dee-Ann Wolferstan. She is the chief executive officer of Te Whare Ruruhau o Meri Trust, a social justice arm of the Anglican Church, and Te Iwi o Ngati Kahu Trust, the support service of a Maori tribe.

Both organizations are involved in Te Taanga Manawa.

Te Whare began experimenting with a multiple-agency approach to family violence in 2018 by joining with Barnardos and Fonua Ola, a nonprofit organization that serves Pacific Islander families.

The organizations shared information, brainstormed together, and presented one cohesive strategy to each family.

That meant families had just one point of contact, said Wolferstan, "instead of a million."

Within 12 months, more than 90% of families referred to the initiative agreed to participate in programs like parenting classes, a jump from 20%.

In South Auckland, local police still respond to the initial incident. But instead of looking at the incident through just a law-and-order lens — make arrests or remove the perpetrator — they seek the root causes of family violence.

"Is this a food issue?" said Wilkie.

"Are there drug and alcohol issues? Have people lost their jobs? Do the children look malnourished?" Continue reading

In Matthew 18:15-20, he sets out the steps for reconciliation.

First, "if your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone".

If that works, well and good.

If it doesn't, then call him to the table with a couple of others to help resolve the matter.

If that doesn't work, report the matter to the whole community.

If that doesn't work, show him the door. Expel him or excommunicate him.

In each of these steps, the Matthean community, recalling the words of Jesus, was following the traditional contours for conflict resolution in the Judaean world of their time.

Then comes the distinctive theological gloss from Jesus: "I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven."

Let's recall that earlier in the gospel at Capernaum, after Peter had made his profession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus had entrusted Peter with the keys of the kingdom: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven".

Now this power and commission is given to the whole community.

The scripture scholar Daniel Harrington says, "[T]hat power would seem to concern either the imposing (and lifting) of decrees of ex-communication or the forgiving (and not forgiving) of sins."

According to Harrington, this gospel passage "outlines a clear procedure designed to help the sinner recognise the sin and return to the community. It roots reconciliation and forgiveness of sins in God's mercy, and thus reveals the foolishness of those who try to set limits on their willingness to forgive others." (1)

In our Catholic tradition, the forgiveness of sins has been practised in recent times by the sacrament of confession whereby the penitent confesses their sins to a priest who is bound by the seal of confession.

Three years ago, I was called before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse because I had published an article stating that in all my years as a priest, I had never heard the confession of a paedophile and never expected to.

I said that any information I gleaned in confession about child sexual abuse was unlikely to be of any forensic value to police, as a penitent behind a screen was unlikely to identify himself, his victim, or the time and place of any offence.

I said that any state abolition of the seal of confession would render it even more unlikely that a paedophile would ever present for confession, and would simply take away one very remote possibility that a paedophile might come seeking help which could result in the paedophile being convinced to turn himself in to the authorities.

I appeared at the Royal Commission alongside the respected canon lawyer Fr Ian Waters who explained that the seal of confession covered the sins of the penitent, but not other matters.

I agreed with Fr Waters.

I gave the example of a little girl Sally who comes to confession and tells me that she stole the jelly beans and that her stepfather did something nasty to her.

I said that I could never reveal or act upon Sally's confession of having stolen the jelly beans, but I could act on Sally's assertion about her stepfather in the same way as I could if the assertion were made outside confession.

It would be a matter of pastoral prudence and care for Sally and her family.

There was a difference of opinion on the panel, with the one bishop in attendance, Bishop Terence Curtin who was chair of the Bishops' Commission for Doctrine and Morals, varying his testimony to agree more with the position put by Fr Waters.

I put a suggestion:

Father Brennan: Could I suggest the appropriate course would be to have Bishop Terry's committee of the Bishops Conference put in a particular submission to you articulating what is the received theological view of the Catholic Church in Australia on the seal of the confessional?

Bishop Curtin: Yes.

The Chair: Will we get one view?

Bishop Curtin: Yes, you would.

Father Brennan: That's the advantage of a hierarchy, your Honour.

A panel of the most senior archbishops then appeared before the commission a fortnight later.

Like many, I expected that by then the bishops would have worked out a clear united position on the limits of the seal of confession.

They did not; they publicly disagreed.

The Royal Commission recommended new laws which would abolish the seal of confession.

Those laws have now been enacted.

The Royal Commission recommended that the Australian bishops consult with the Holy See to clarify whether "information received from a child during the sacrament of reconciliation that they have been sexually abused is covered by the seal of the confessional".

Awaiting this clarification, I have as far as possible avoided hearing individual confessions, unsuccessfully proposing to our bishops that we be permitted more often to practise the communal third rite of reconciliation.

On Friday the bishops finally published the Holy See's response that the seal includes "all the sins of both the penitent and others known from the penitent's confession, both mortal and venial, both occult and public, as manifested with regard to absolution and therefore known to the confessor by virtue of sacramental knowledge." (2)

They would say that the seal covers Sally's disclosure that she was abused by her stepfather.

Australian Catholic priests now need to consider three possible scenarios.

Scenario one

What happens if a penitent, now an adult, discloses in confession that he or she when a child was sexually abused by an adult?

In confession, I would simply urge the adult penitent to report the past offence to the relevant civil authorities.

I would not take any further action.

I would not foresee any problem with my complying with the state law while at the same time honouring the seal of confession.

Scenario two

What happens if a child penitent discloses in confession that he or she has been sexually abused by a named or identifiable adult? (3)

I would treat that information in the same way as if it were disclosed to me outside confession.

I would take appropriate action to set in train any mandatory reporting requirements of the state.

This would not be a breach of the seal of the confession as I understood the seal to be when I was ordained a priest 35 years ago.

It would not be a breach of the seal of confession as I have understood it to be, on receipt of competent canonical advice which I had sought a number of times in the lead up to the royal commission.

If my action were now deemed by the Holy See to be a breach of the seal, resulting in my ex-communication, I would take heart that Australia's one canonised saint Mary MacKillop was excommunicated for a time.

In good conscience, I could take no other path.

Scenario three

What happens if a penitent confesses child sexual abuse?

I would honour the seal of confession. I would not disclose the abuse to anyone.

I would be prepared conscientiously to refuse to comply with the new civil law on the basis that: it works an unwarranted interference with freedom of religion; it is a law which, if anything, will render children less safe; and it is a law which is unenforceable as a prosecution could occur only if the child abuser disclosed to authorities their confession.

As Justice Kennedy of the US Supreme Court would say, this law "seems inexplicable by anything but animus toward the class it affects". (4)

In my 35 years as a priest when the civil law honoured the seal of the confession, I never had a paedophile confess his sin to me in confession.

Now that the legal privilege over the seal has been withdrawn, I think it all but inconceivable that any abuse will be confessed.

Criminal lawyers, family lawyers and investigative journalists, all of whom continue to enjoy a privilege of non-disclosure, are far more likely than a priest in the confessional to hear the details of such abuse.

The only detailed human rights assessment made of the withdrawal of the privilege from priests was by retired Justice Dodds-Streeton who conducted an inquiry for the ACT Government investigating compliance with the ACT Human Rights Act 2004 which is supposed to guarantee "the freedom to demonstrate (one's) religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching, either individually or as part of a community and whether in public or private".

She concluded, "In our opinion, the imposition of an obligation to report child sexual abuse based on information obtained in or in connection with a religious confession is unlikely to result in many detections of, or successful prosecutions for, either child sexual abuse or breaches of the reporting obligation itself.

Where sexual abusers of children are Roman Catholics who would otherwise attend confession, they will probably avoid confession altogether; or alternatively, they may exploit the potential under the rite of confession prevalent in Australia to confess anonymously and non-specifically, in order to avoid disclosures that will lead to their detection or oblige the priest to report." (5)

If she had any experience of the Catholic rite of confession, she could have added that any penitent is likely to confess in such generic terms as to leave the confessor completely ignorant of all key details of any offence.

In future, I will do all I can to avoid ex-communication or breach of the civil law. But I will not put children at risk.

I urge our bishops and the participants at the forthcoming plenary council to consider changes to church law in Australia so as to enhance the protection of children and to make the sacrament of reconciliation more fit for purpose in a society which decries the scourge of child sexual abuse and which denies the prospect of rehabilitation of child sex offenders.

The Catholic Catechism notes: "The power to "bind and loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church." (6)

We need doctrinal judgements and disciplinary decisions which give the highest priority to the protection of innocent children.

Our bishops and the plenary council delegates should take as their starting point the Holy See's expressed desire to ‘spare no effort in collaborating with civil authorities to pursue every avenue to end the scourge of sexual abuse.'

Contrary to the received wisdom of our recent royal commission, I should add that I agree completely with the pastoral and prudential observation of the Holy See:

"It should be recalled also that the confessional provides an opportunity - perhaps the only one - for those who have committed sexual abuse to admit to the fact.

"In that moment the possibility is created for the confessor to counsel and indeed to admonish the penitent, urging him to contrition, amendment of life and the restoration of justice.

"Were it to become the practice, however, for confessors to denounce those who confessed to child sexual abuse, no such penitent would ever approach the sacrament and a precious opportunity for repentance and reform would be lost."

We all have a responsibility to confront and arrest the wickedness of child sexual abuse in our community and in our church.

We need to put children first.

We need to maintain the hope that every person is redeemable.

We must heed those words of Ezekiel:

If I tell the wicked, "O wicked one, you shall surely die",
and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way,
the wicked shall die for his guilt,
but I will hold you responsible for his death.
But if you warn the wicked,
trying to turn him from his way,
and he refuses to turn from his way,
he shall die for his guilt,
but you shall save yourself.

• Fr Frank Brennan SJ is the Rector of Newman College, Melbourne, a professor of law and the former CEO of Catholic Social Services Australia.
• Extract from homily, 6 September 2020.
  [1] Harrington, D. J. (2007). The Gospel of Matthew. (D. J. Harrington, Ed.) (Vol. 1, p. 272). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.[2] See https://www.catholic.org.au/images/Observations_of_the_Holy_See_to_the_Recommendations_of_the_Royal_Commission.pdf[3] Justice Dodds Stretton, Analysis Report: Implementation Of Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses To Child Sexual Abuse Recommendations Regarding The Reporting Of Child Sexual Abuse, With Implications For The Confessional Seal , 14 January 2019, notes at p. 79: ‘s 327(5) of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) and s 316A(2)(f) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) provide for a defence if the victim of an alleged offence does not wish the information to be disclosed, provided that the alleged victim is over the age of 16 (under the Victorian offence) or 18 (under the New South Wales offence). The Victorian offence requires that the victim have capacity to make an informed decision about whether or not the information ought to be disclosed.'[4] Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996) at 632[5] Justice Dodds Stretton, Analysis Report: Implementation Of Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses To Child Sexual Abuse Recommendations Regarding The Reporting Of Child Sexual Abuse, With Implications For The Confessional Seal, 14 January 2019, page 24

  [6] Catechism of the Catholic Church, #553, at https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1L.HT

They called for new legislation to address racial inequities in the country.

And they urged people to vote.

Among the speakers Friday was a son of Martin Luther King Jr and Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, whose killing in 2012 led to the Black Lives Matter movement.

He urged participants — who watched on television, online and in-person — to continue the work of the 1960s with what his father called the "coalition of conscience" by seeking a country that seeks love and health and dispels fear and hate.

"To achieve that America, we need to raise our voices and cast our votes," King said. "There's a knee upon the neck of democracy and our nation can only live so long without the oxygen of freedom."

The Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, and other speakers echoed some of the same themes enunciated by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his "I Have a Dream" speech at the first march in 1963.

"We come in the same spiritual lineage," said Sharpton, organizer of the Commitment March, after members of King's family addressed the crowd. "'cause I want this country to know that even with your brutality you can't rob us of our dreams."

Sharpton announced the event — also called the "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" march — as he preached at the funeral for George Floyd, a Black man who died in May under the knee of a white police officer.

Standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial before thousands, Sharpton said that Black people have long fought bigotry. But he noted that members of the interracial crowd that gathered in the same spot where others marched in 1963 have the power to move beyond their circumstances.

"We are the dream keepers, which is why we come today — black and white and all races and religions and sexual orientations — to say that this dream is still alive. You might have killed the dreamer but you can't kill the dream."

Before the throngs of people started marching to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the granddaughter and a son of the famous civil rights leader took turns at the microphone to speak where their predecessor had appeared 57 years before.

"Americans are marching together — many for the first time — and we're demanding real, lasting structural change," said Martin Luther King III.

"We are socially distanced but spiritually united. We are masking our faces but not our faith in freedom."

"There are two systems of justice in the United States," said the father and namesake of Jacob Blake, the man who was shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday.

"There's a white system and there's a Black system. The Black system ain't doing so well. But we're going to stand up."

Sybrina Fulton, also addressed the crowd saying her favourite Bible passage is Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not unto your own understanding."

"Even though it looks dark, I want to tell you to be encouraged," she said.

"Don't stop saying Black Lives Matter. Don't stop peaceful protesting. Don't stop praying. Don't stop unifying. Stand together," she said.

Source RNS

"This is my love letter to New Zealand for all you've done for me after escaping a country that made me feel like a natural-born refugee and becoming a well-rounded human to show the same enduring openness you've given me," says Kelvin Taylor.

Taylor is an actor, dancer and model. He travels frequently between Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

He is known for his character portrayal of George Kerr, the Jamaican 800m runner who went up against Peter Snell in the 1960 Rome Olympics, in the TVNZ International Emmy Award Nominated Documentary "The Golden Hour."

He has also been described as a controversial journalist and social commentator.

"In light of Black Lives Matter and the current state of world, I wanted to thank the New Zealand people for doing their part to help this world, not just for African Americans but for everyone."

"What I've seen in New Zealand contrasts to the US protests, which often appear insidiously complex and at times infiltrated outside of their genuine intentions."

He thinks the word black distracts from the message.

It is a colour code invented by German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1779 he says.

"I prefer to say African to humanise myself more than a colour. To be specific is to be respected and I myself do not want to be painted, or paint others, as one hue."

Taylor thinks the police angst in America does not need to be shared in New Zealand.

"The police in New Zealand are lovely but underpaid and sometimes under-staffed."

He says accountability is needed any organisation that is often self-governed: "but comparison is the killer of compassion.

Keep our love with all things individual, not painted grouped together with police, ethnic groups, genders or walks of life."

Source

• wikipedia.org
• nzherald.co.nz
• ghgossip.com
• starnow.com.au
• Image:kelvintaylor.com

He said this when speaking at a vigil for George Floyd which was held at St Peter's Church in Willis St, Wellington on Wednesday.

"The events that led to the death of George Floyd are shocking. The complete absence of humanity, or even fairness ... it rightly triggered an outcry in the United States and across the globe."

"In this context, it is right that we gather to reflect on our own situation in Aotearoa."

Coster believes New Zealand's style of policing was different from that seen in other countries.

However, he acknowledged that criminal justice outcomes for Maori, in particular, are appalling.

"This is not a situation that we should ever accept, and I do not accept it," he said.

Coster wore plain clothes on Wednesday and said he acknowledged the police uniform could be seen as a barrier to human connection.

"Despite the uniform, the police force is an organisation made up of individuals, who are also a part of our communities."

One of his aspirations as police commissioner is to bring humanity into every police interaction.

"We need to recognise that there is almost always a life course and certain circumstances that lead people to the places they are in when we deal with them," Coster said.

"We deal with people at the worst times of their lives, and do that day in, day out."

On Tuesday Coster told Stuff the morale of the police in New Zealand is being affected by the worldwide protests against police racism: "It's quite a difficult time to be in policing," he said.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

They have been offering the unlicensed drivers free courses instead of giving them tickets.

Police say the campaign is necessary in order to reduce offending rates.

More than a quarter of all court proceedings against Pasifika people are for road and vehicle-related crimes.

It is part of a "prevention-first" approach, police Pasifika national strategy launched a year ago: O Le Taeao Fou, Dawn of a New Day.

However, not everyone is happy about the strategy.

O Le Taeao Fou, Dawn of a New Day. identifies some of the key crime and safety issues Tamaki Makaurau Pacific Responsiveness manager Willi Fanene said.

He also said it was an initiative rolled out across Tamaki Makaurau and not just south Auckland.

Fanene said it is not a new method and it is one of their most common ways of engaging with Pasifika people.

"Our officers regularly engage with our Pasifika community through the church."

Auckland councillor Efeso Collins says the tactic is misguided.

"The police decision to have roaming armed cops on the streets of Manukau, alongside the offer of driver licensing programmes in churches, is irreconcilable in my view."

"I find it incredulous (sic) that they now want to sing hymns with parishioners at Sunday mass."

Collins said the same outcomes can be achieved by forwarding driver licence-programme information to be disseminated at schools and youth groups.

Police say ministers they have liaised with have been grateful for the opportunity, but some church leaders aren't convinced.

Reverend Frank Ritchie said he understood what police were doing but there was a better way to go about it.

"I think a better way to go about it would have been to organise something like a community event."

"I'm against anything that encroaches on that Sunday space and that feeling of safety that people have."

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• Image: hail.to

CNA reports the excessive force was deployed as peaceful pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong escalated into violence.

Video on social media shows at least four riot police officers entering offices at the Church and violently subduing a protester.

Another angle of the incident shows a police officer planting a hammer into the backpack of a protester as he lay prostrate.

Claims on social media implicating a deacon working at the Church as having called the police have been countered.

The Church says the deacon hurried to the scene as soon as the police began making the arrests.

"On his arrival, however, those protesters were already under arrest and shortly later they were escorted to the police car and taken away. Therefore, it was in fact not Deacon Simon Chan himself who allowed the police to enter the church compound," the diocese said.

In response to queries as to why the church allowed the police to enter to arrest the protesters, the diocese stated, "there is no way for a church to guarantee that those who enter it will not be arrested according to the law."

"We deeply regret that the above incident has taken place."

"It is our earnest hope that the current turmoil in Hong Kong will come to an end and that the local situation will be back to normal as soon as possible," the diocese concluded.

The largely peaceful protests began earlier in the year.

The protests are in response to a proposal in the Hong Kong legislature that will allow mainland China to extradite alleged criminals from Hong Kong.

Christians and advocates have widely opposed the bill.

They fear the Chinese government will use the powers to further tighten its grip on the free exercise of religion.

• Source: CNA

Viersen police have shared a speed camera photo on Facebook that shows a dove in flight covering the face of a Renault Twingo driver caught doing 34 mph (54 kph) in an 18 mph (30 kph) zone. Read more

Police are delivering safety tips and going through emergency plans with religious organisations to ensure people are - and feel - safe when they pray.

Last week anti-Muslim leaflets were placed on cars while people attended church services in Palmerston North.

All Saints Church and the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit both had leaflets left on cars during their services on Sunday.

The leaflet made claims Muslims had been deceived and included hateful remarks about Allah and the prophet Muhammad.

Andy Hickman, a minister at All Saints thought the leaflets might be connected to the churches holding services in solidarity with the Muslim community the weekend of the Christchurch Mosque shootings.

Police visited on Friday, to let them know that the person responsible had been caught and spoken to.

At Wellington's Kilbirnie mosque, police have also provided guidance.

"Police will still provide us with some security once the month of Ramadan will start, while also we discussed how we can have our own systems ready as well," says Tahir Nawaz, from the International Muslim Association of New Zealand.

This focus on safety is being viewed positively by an expert in the field of religion and security.

"That's a really healthy thing for New Zealand police to do," says Dr Wil Hoverd of Massey University.

"I think there are broader community concerns about what happened in Christchurch - and being able to reassure other religious communities of how they can be safe is really important."

The news item about this topic on TVNZ's Facebook page provoked a large number and a great variety of comments.

Source

• tvnz.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: screenshot tvnz.co.nz

Speaking at a police graduation ceremony the Prime Minister said the Police Commissioner had yet to fully implement his decision last year to weed out at least one half of police 'couples' in the force.

He is giving Commissioner Fuiavailili Egon Keil until the end of the year to act on a directive forcing couple to chose which of them would remain police officers.

Calling it a "lingering problem" Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi says family ties affect the police response to crime.

The rule is to also apply to those police officers who are having extra-marital affairs.

"Police officers knew of colleagues who were having affairs", he said.

The relationship between Samoa's police commissioner and the Prime Minister, who is also Minister of Police has been tense.

In July Samoa's Police Commissioner Fuiavailili Egon Keil, survived a government vote of confidence by 'the inch of his finger'.

Fuiavailili's three year tenure has been marred by controversy, including his arrest on dozens of charges of gun possession, intimidation and an attempt to procure, incite and counsel murder.

Fuiavailili, who is originally from the United States, was chosen ahead of three other applicants for a post.

Sources

• RNZ
• RNZ
• Image: RNZ

Claire Horton, from Tauranga, said Carlos Namana, who brutally beat and kicked her then partner to death had done his time and she hoped he wasn't being kept in jail longer just because he had killed a police officer. Continue reading

Police said Fr Raja Reddy engineered the kidnapping and attack on Bishop Prasad Gallela last month and this was motivated by "greed for money and power".

According to police, the suspects confessed to four earlier attempts to kidnap the bishop between April 6 and 15.

Continue reading

The souvenirs carried the Pope's photo without permission, as well as illegally carrying the Vatican coat of arms and the emblem of the papal tiara.

The merchants selling the trinkets wanted to take advantage of increased tourism to Rome associated with Jubilee Year of Mercy, police said.

Three people were arrested on charges of counterfeiting, receiving stolen goods and breaching copyright.

Continue reading

Samoa's Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture closed Avele College in Apia on Friday for the protection and security of its students.

The St Joseph's Day sports at St Joseph's College were cancelled to send a message to students that the behaviour at the brawl is unacceptable.

The director of Catholic education in Samoa, Aeau Chris Hazelman, met Don Bosco's principal and other senior officers of the schools to devise a way forward.

On Wednesday, Samoan police arrested three students and more arrests were made on Thursday.

This followed further brawling at the bus terminal behind the burnt flea market at Savalalo.

Mr Hazelman issued an apology to the whole Samoan nation.

Speaking on behalf of the Catholic schools involved, he said there is no excuse for the students' behaviour.

"We have decided to let the law carry its course and we will support the police in their investigation," he said.

Police reported that students with links to the violence used social media sites like Facebook to post videos and pictures.

Mr Hazelman asked parents to more closely monitor social media activity by their children.

Late last year, police in Samoa were called on to intervene after ongoing fights between school students at the Tafusi Markets.

Three years ago, an increasing number of brawls and student fights prompted the Samoan Ministry of Education to push Bible studies in public schools as a counter measure.

Sources

• Radio New Zealand
• Radio New Zealand
• Radio New Zealand
• Samoa Observer
• Image: Radio New Zealand

About 100 worshippers at the 10am service at the Anglican St Matthew-in-the-City on March 6 heard the shouting from outside, which included the word "abomination".

St Matthew's is known for being supportive of LGBTI causes.

Continue reading

The school was one of 13 schools around New Zealand to receive a bomb threat that day.

The calls came between 11.20 am and midday.

These came after 27 schools around New Zealand received bomb threat calls on February 24 and 25.

Police were called to St Thomas More Catholic School after it received the bomb threat call last week.

A Bay of Plenty police spokesman said the school was evacuated according to the school's protocol.

He said all students and staff were safe while police worked through the incident.

A Facebook post from St Thomas More Catholic School on the day said everyone was safe and advised parents to not come to pick up their children as the school was in lockdown.

About 2pm another post was made asking parents who were able, to come collect their children at Arataki Reserve just behind the school.

While the school was on lockdown, nearby aquatic and leisure centre Baywave was also put on temporary lockdown.

Bay Venues chief executive Gary Dawson said police asked them to keep everyone inside Baywave until clearance came from police.

Police have said the bomb threat calls to schools involved the use of a synthesised voice.

Officers were investigating a number of lines of inquiries to establish the origin of these calls.

Police are continuing to work with the Ministry of Education and individual schools to gather information.

Sources

• Bay of Plenty Times
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Bay of Plenty Times

Ten people, including six priests, have now been accused of being involved in the death of Fr K.J. Thomas.

His body was found inside St Peter's Pontifical Seminary in Bangalore.

Police have filed charges in a Bangalore court.

According to the police investigation, Fr Thomas was killed because of an ethnic rivalry between the Kannada-speaking minority and a Tamil-speaking migrant majority.

The priests will be arrested when a court issues warrants.

To date none of the accused priests have been defrocked and are still free to celebrate Mass.

Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore said that he "knows nothing" about the progress of the case.

Continue reading