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BETHLEHEM: FRANCISCANS BESIEGED
(For daily reports on the situation, see: http://www.fides.org/home-ing.htm ('Breaking News')
Please help the Franciscans in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem by writing to one or all of the following addresses, enclosing a copy of the Fides report below, and politely asking the secretary of the community or congregation concerned to pass your message on to their President:
The Secretary Wellington Jewish Community Centre Email: bethel@ihug.co.nz
The Secretary Beth Shalom Progressive Jewish Congregation, Auckland Email: info@bethshalom.org.nz
The Secretary Auckland Hebrew Congregation E-mail: jay-el@ihug.co.nz
************************************* "Custody appeals to Jewish Communities all over the world"
http://www.fides.org/home-ing.htm ('Breaking News')
Jerusalem 12 April 2002 (Fides) – The Franciscan Custodians of the Holy Land have decided to launch an appeal to Jewish communities all over the world to pressure the Israeli government to order that the electrical power supply at the Franciscan monastery in Bethlehem be turned on again and that water be supplied to the Friars, now at the end of their strength. The Custody tried to convince the Israeli authorities to do this but the only reply was "do not disturb us again".
Custody spokesman Father David Jaeger OFM, told Fides: "The friars cannot resign themselves to the consequences. This is why we rely on our "elder brothers" the Jews, and on the traditional goodwill between the Jews and the Franciscan family. We recall the heroism of Franciscans who saved many Jews from the Shoah, hiding them in numerous monasteries, including Assisi. Today we ask their help".
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EVENTS
APRIL 21 World Day of Prayer for Vocations
Each year, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations is held on the 4th Sunday of Easter (this year 21 April). At Masses, Catholics will pray for those who have served, and are serving, as priests and religious, and that many more will join them.
The World Day Web page of the Australian Catholic Vocations Ministry, at: http://ozvocations.catholic.org.au/day/index.html offers resources for preparing the Eucharist for this day. There are Parish Bulletin inserts, Penitential Rite options, the Pope's message, and more.
On the New Zealand bishops' Website at http://www.catholic.org.nz click the 'Vocations' link for a wealth of vocations-related information. In particular ...
"Vocations to the Religious Life" with a directory of the amazing number and variety of religious orders which serve the New Zealand Church, most of which now have their own Web sites; and ...
"Stories of Faith", in which New Zealand Catholic laypeople, priests and religious give their personal testimonies about the challenges and rewards of their vocations.
APRIL 19-21 Catholic Network of Marriage Educators Conference, War Memorial Centre, Marine Parade, Napier Details from Oncall Conference Management, 20 Cambridge Terrace, Taradale, Napier Tel: (06) 844 9956. E-mail: c-moore@clear.net.nz ; or Lyn Brown, tel. (06) 844 5176. Mobile 027 4877489 Media Release: http://www.catholic.org.nz/newsF.htm
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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Bishop's journey a moving occasion (photo) NZ Herald 8 April 2002 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=1293750&thesection=news&thesu\ bsection=general Members of the Catholic community carried the returned remains of the father of New Zealand Catholicism through central Auckland yesterday in an emotional journey marking another stage towards his final resting place ....
Pompallier hikoi journeys through Northland The Northern News 11 April 2002 http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,1163955a1927,FF.html St Anthony’s Catholic church in Kaikohe is preparing for Wednesday’s overnight vigil of Bishop John Baptiste Francois Pompallier’s remains. Visitors to the church and those accompanying the hikoi through Northland will be accommodated marae-style on mattresses for a night sharing stories and tributes about the Bishop’s life as well as prayers, hymns and mass.....
Deirdre lends a guiding hand (photo) The Southland Times 08 April 2002 http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,1159477a1942,FF.html Ask Deirdre Jolly how many branches there are in the national Catholic Women's League she heads and the reply comes quickly: 88. This month she is attending annual League diocesan meetings throughout New Zealand and fitting in two northern training sessions for the Citizens Advice Bureaux...
Sisters move after 119 years (photo) Otago Daily Times Thursday, 11-April 2002 http://www.odt.co.nz/cgi-bin/search-display-story-online-new?date=11Apr2002&obje\ ct=0410270148&type=html&WORDS=catholic&DB=Editorial A 119-year tradition has ended with the relocation of two Dominican Sisters from Queenstown to Arrowtown. Sisters Molly Griffin and Joan Bennett recently moved from the two-storey convent in Beetham St, Queenstown, to a smaller home in Arrowtown but they promise their presence in Queenstown will continue....
"Pompallier's Prized Possession" (photos) New Zealand Historic Places magazine. November 2001 http://www.historic.org.nz/magazinefeatures/2001nov/2001_11c_single.htm The Gaveaux press at Pompallier is one of the country's most interesting and important historic artefacts. At Pompallier, visitors invariably respond with awe as they hear how the press here was brought across two oceans and set up in this building. More than 30,000 books were printed on it between 1842 and 1850. These were some of the first books made in New Zealand and some of the first books in the Maori language.....
Michael King: At the edge of memory NZ Herald 08.04.2002 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=entertainment&thesubsectio\ n=&storyID=1293040 This is the story of Michael King's great-uncle by marriage, Maurice Belgrave, who arrived in New Zealand in 1908 and became a successful Hamilton draper and businessman. He insisted he was a Gaelic-speaking Scottish Presbyterian (this seemed to explain his slight accent), although he converted to Catholicism to marry one of his shop assistants, Margaret Hartnett. The couple had three sons and became, King says, "a prominent Catholic clan", well respected in the city. Yet all this, King reveals, was invention, although during his life "Bel", as Maurice Belgrave was known by those close to him, gave his family no clues about his identity and history....
Catholic Schools Still Going Strong: Despite Abuse Scandal and Financial Strains, Catholic School Officials Remain Upbeat The Associated Press 9 April 2002 http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20020409_1090.html Leaders of America's Roman Catholic schools can recite a daunting list of challenges: tight finances, teacher retention, shifting demographics. But the ever-growing sex abuse scandal among clergy has left the vast network of schools, run mostly by lay people, largely unscathed....
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CATHOLICTV.NET http://www.catholictv.net (Produced by the Wellington Archdiocesan Media Office)
Theme of the month: Work, Family and Leisure. Finding the Balance
Interview of the week: Sr Anna Nicholls talks to Phillip Birch, a self-employed landscape gardener.
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NEWSLETTER
Marist Family Newsletter April 2002 The latest Marist Family News April 2002 is available on the Marist Brothers' Website at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/fms Some of the main points are listed below, but the whole newsletter is interesting reading.
News of the Provincial and Regional Chapters ... Marist World scene is available to all Marist Family members at http://www.champagnat.org ... Obituaries: Brother Terry Payne and Brother Daniel Traynor ... Marist Hill closes early this year ... Close links between Marists and Bishop Pompallier ... Book Launch : The Marist Brothers and Maori by Br Edward traces the interaction between the Marist Brothers and Maori from the years 1838, when the first Brother arrived with Bishop Pompallier, to 1988 ... Brothers' schools in Pakistan ... Marists in the Congo ... Pacific Novitiate in Fiji: sixty five young men from twenty seven countries professed their first vows last year
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BOOK REVIEW
The Three Johns, by Richard Kew http://www.latimer.org.nz/reviews/articles/three_johns.shtml Reflections on George Weigel's "Witness to Hope, a biography of John Paul II" and "John Stott the Early Years", a biography by Bishop Timothy Dudley Smith
I had intended to make this a serious comparison of the lives of three men, all named John, and all of whose biographies I have read in the last few months: John Paul II, John Stott, and John Spong. As I thought, prayed, and reviewed the source materials, making several false starts, I eventually concluded that Bishop Spong just could not be made to fit with this plan. The reason is simple. For me, at least, it is impossible to find legitimate points of comparison when attempting to put him alongside the other two, each of whom I perceive to be a towering figure....
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LOGOS PROJECT (NEW WEBSITE)
http://www.logos.org.nz/
The LOGOS Project (Inc) is a ministry to young Catholics in the diocese of Auckland. It is run under the direction of the priests and brothers of the Society of Mary (Marists) in agreement with the Bishop of Auckland.
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EMPLOYMENT
(Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies )
Qualified Early Childhood staff member, Marian Early Childhood Centre, Panmure Details in NZ Catholic April 7 2002 p.21. Applications close 18 April 2002
Regional Youth Worker (Tauranga), Hamilton Diocese To develop youth ministries in the Bay of Plenty region. Details in 'NZ Catholic' April 7 2002 p.21 and from Naomi McGowan tel 07 838 2079; e-mail: naomim@mlc.co.nz Applications close Friday 19 April 2002
