The money became available when, in 2016, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd returned the proceeds from the sale of property in Halswell in the south-west of Christchurch.

The diocese had given the land to the sisters in the 19th century to establish an outreach known as Mount Magdala.

A committee has been formed to make recommendations to the bishop on how the funds should be allocated.

From the beginning of next year, trusts, parishes and schools in the Canterbury region will be able to apply to the fund for grants to support their work with people in need.

The funds will be available to help women, children and families in the Canterbury region so as to honour the original intention of Mount Magdala.

Mount Magdala was the brainchild of Fr Laurence Ginaty who, in the 1870-80s, had been working as a prison chaplain.

As a result of this work, Ginaty became aware of the plight of many women and children living in poverty.

He wanted to establish a place for them to live in and, while there, develop skills that would allow them to improve their lot.

It took years of hard work before this vision began to take shape but, with the help of two sisters of the Good Shepherd, Mount Magdala was established in 1888 on the small farm at Halswell.

At its height, Mount Magdala was home to 25 sisters, 159 young women, 62 orphans and eight workmen.

But, as the nature of social outreach changed, numbers dwindled and Mount Magdala closed in 1966.

The land was sold to become part of the Aidanfield subdivision.

In the Te Reo translation of the Bible, the word ‘hoatu' appears a number of times. In particular, Matthew 7:9-11 refers to God knowing the needs of his children and giving them what they need.

Source

• Inform
• The Marist Messenger
• Image: 3.bp.blogspot

Fourteen women, six men and ten children are killed by a member of their family every year on average.

Now the Government is considering making family violence a stand-alone offence.

Domestic violence is gaining the attention of the Vatican.

Last year, a Catholic psychologist who met with the Pontifical Council for the Laity said violence between partners is a massive problem globally.

In June Pope Francis said Family separation can be "morally necessary".

Catholics will be looking to the Synod on the Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and the Contemporary World hoping that the Synod will provide some practical pastoral insights that will address the causes of domestic violence.

Former chief Family Court judge, Peter Boshier, who is now also a Law Commissioner, says that while changes in the law may help what is really needed is a change in attitude.

Anti-family violence advocates say they would support a specific criminal charge for domestic abuse, but it should not be seen as a silver bullet.

On Sunday Justice Minister Amy Adams promised a crackdown on family violence but further details will not be released until later in the week in a discussion paper.

Family violence-related offences are likely to be reclassified, which would make it easier for agencies to keep track of statistics, she said.

The level of domestic violence in New Zealand is disturbing:

• A report by UN Women was released in 2011 canvassed 22 developed nations about subjects including domestic violence and maternal mortality. New Zealand was ranked either at or near the bottom of the countries in the study in both areas.
• New Zealand has had the highest rate of intimate partner violence out of 14 OECD countries in the decade 2000 to 2010.
• The Family Violence Review Committee report revealed 139 people, including 37 children, died from family violence and related homicides between 2009 and 2012 - an average of 35 a year.
• Figures released in June this year showed police conducted more than 100,000 investigations into family violence in 2014.
• 41 percent of all police response time deals with domestic violence.
• Government spends an estimated $1.4 billion each year addressing family and sexual violence.

It has been estimated that 90 per cent of family violence goes unreported.

Trevor McGlinchey, the executive office of the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS) has pointed out that, "Some government funded social services organisations report it's been over ten years since they last received a cost of living allowance for the services they deliver."

"The increase in inflation over that period is over 27%."Read his full blog

Source

• tvnz.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• 3news.co.nz
• Image: radionz.co.nz

The woman - known as "Misila" - was one of four women saved by missionaries in January after a measles epidemic killed several people.

The women were accused of being witches by a "witch-finder" who was paid by villagers to identify the believed source of the measles outbreak.

Anton Lutz, a Lutheran missionary, said the woman was axed to death last week.

"What we're hearing is that on Monday about 10 men came and axed her while she was with her family," he told ABC News.

New laws in Papua New Guinea mean now that any 'black magic killing' is treated as murder and punishable by death.

However despite the reforms, the belief in witchraft continues to spread and there have been increasing reports of violence against women in many remote parts of the country.

"It's a very specific ancestral belief that this group has about all sickness and death being the result of these spirit beings that live inside of mostly women and their children," Lutz said.

Police said the villagers later agreed to perform a stone-turning ceremony in which they turned over stones to indicate that they would no longer make accusations of witchcraft.

Source

• abc.net.au
• independet.ie
• telegraph.co.uk
• Image: AFP/Photo/Simon Maina

Captain Allan Clark, in charge of the Salvation Army of Palmerston North corps, said the women's hostel would shut by the end of June.

Clark was unable to say how many people the Housing NZ-owned home catered for in a year, nor how much it cost to run, but did say it had been "financially unsustainable" for years.

Changes to the Ministry of Social Development's funding meant there was "a great deal of uncertainty" about future funds. The Salvation Army had to cut costs and the hostel was a large one that helped relatively few people, he said.

"We need to help more people at reduced operating costs."

Mr Clark said up to four needy families would stay at the house.

Source

• Manawatu Standard
• Image: Salvation Army Australia