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WORLD CATHOLIC NEWS

In August - mid-summer in Europe - the main European-based Catholic News agencies close down for about a month. Zenit, Fides and the Vatican Information Service (VIS) fall silent at this time.

The only exception that I know of is MISNA ( http://www.misna.org/eng/default.htm ) which chiefly reports political and economic news form the underdeveloped world. The Website of the UK paper The Tablet continues to publish a weekly news digest as usual and in the U.S. the daily EWTN service is uninterrupted, though a bit short on fresh news as a large part of its content come form the European services. There are links to both The Tablet and EWTN on the bishops' Website: http://www.catholic.org.nz and click 'News'.

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FROM THE CATHOLIC PRESS

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NZ Catholic' No 142, July 28, 2002
http://catholic.org.nz/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html
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"Listening is important for victims of abuse " Listening to stories of abuse by clergy has been "devastating" for three leaders of the religious orders involved, but all agree it is an important step to healing for the victims... [Related Links: Marist Brothers ... Society of Mary ... St John of God Brothers]

"Hospital chaplains to be mandatory but funding still frozen " Associate Minister of Health Ruth Dyson has told hospital chaplains that spiritual wellbeing is a fundamental human right and hospitals seeking voluntary accreditation must ensure they provide for the spiritual care of staff, patients and their families.... [Related Link: NZ Healthcare Chaplains' Association]

"$752,300 grant to diocesan services " Charitable works by Auckland diocesan agencies have received a $752,300 boost from the ASB Charitable Trust... [Related Link: The ASB Trusts]

From the "Think Page" for young Catholic adults ... 'Just another mother' by Dorothea Russell "Mary, Mother of God - you have heard about her . . . . Usually she is shown as that serene, quiet, queenly lady with baby Jesus on her arm who seems to know everything and is more calm and collected than most of us. Don't get me wrong, I like these pictures, too. Nevertheless, I believe we need a little reality in addition to the piety - let's imagine past the icons....

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Marist Messenger August 2002
http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz
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This month's Messenger contains an insightful article introducing Flannery O'Connor. Thomas Merton regarded her as a genius.

Further inspirational reading in this month's print edition:

Do not be afraid, by Father Denis O'Hagan sm What I have learnt about Prayer. by Bishop Robin Leamy sm My Problem... with Personal Sanctity by Killian de Lacy Flannery O'Connor: Catholic writer by Stephen Sparrow Playing it cool: leisure by Father John Rea sm New Ecclesial movements by Fr. Neal Wilson sm New Beginnings: start again by Barbara Winnston Ellis Eucharist : The Real Presence by Stephen Lowe Mary as Seat of Wisdom by Fr. John Lyons

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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

"School sex claims get full police treatment " NZ Herald 03.08.2002 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=2347661&thesection=news&thesu\ bsection=general Police investigating allegations of sexual assaults by a group of primary schoolboys against girls at the same school say they are handling it as they would any similar inquiry - even though the boys, aged 12 and 13, could never face charges because of their ages. Six girls, aged 11 to 13, from St Joseph's Catholic School in Upper Hutt have complained about being assaulted by boys from the school. All but one of the alleged assaults took place in the school grounds or classrooms....

"`Mr Ranfurly' epithet deserved" (obituary; photo) Otago Daily Times 3-August 2002 http://www.odt.co.nz/cgi-bin/search-display-story-online-new?date=03Aug2002&obje\ ct=0731600360&type=html&WORDS=catholic&DB=Editorial Bob Hanrahan was a man affectionately known in his community as "Mr Ranfurly" because of his love for his town and its history....

"Catholic leader to hear abuse complaints in South Island " ODT Friday, 2-August 2002 http://www.odt.co.nz/cgi-bin/search-display-story-online-new?date=02Aug2002&obje\ ct=K1H50D3655IP&type=html&WORDS=catholic&DB=Editorial An Australian Roman Catholic leader will be visiting Christchurch, Waimate, Timaru, Dunedin, Mataura and Invercargill this month as part of a South Island visit to hear cases of men who were allegedly abused as boys by brothers of a Christchurch Catholic residential school in the 1970s. Br Peter Burke, the visiting Australia-New Zealand head of the order, said yesterday he had not received any fresh complaints in the past few days....

"Pilgrims crowd ancient route to sacred site in France " NZ Herald 31.07.2002 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyI\ D=2346966 St-Jean-Pied-De-Port - For more than 1000 years, the pink sandstone walls of this French fortress town in the Pyrenees have been a welcome sight for the traveller bracing for the daunting southwards trek across Western Europe's most perilous mountain passes. From the middle of the 10th century, St-Jean-Pied-de-Port became the main mustering point for the pilgrimage to the burial site of St James the Apostle in northwest Spain, a shrine ranked after Jerusalem and Rome as the holiest in Christendom....

"Bishop apologises to family" The Press (Chch) 31/7/2002 Summary (full text not available online): The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch has apologised to a family of former parishioners for failing to adequately support them after their 17-year-old son was sexually assaulted by a fellow priest. The boy was the first known victim of Father Alan Woodcock whom Wellington police are trying to extradite from Ireland to face multiple abuse allegations relating to his 20 years as a Marist priest in New Zealand.

"Pressure on United Future's principles" Press Release: New Zealand National Party 31 July 2002 http://www.scoop.co.nz/archive/scoop/stories/a9/a1/200207311542.f2d9d07e.html The heat will come on United Future this week as those that put them into Parliament watch to see if they succumb to the trappings of government, or stick to their principles as they work through a coalition agreement, says National's Gerry Brownlee....

"Big News: Now You've Dunne It, by Dave Crampton " Scoop 31 July 2002 http://www.scoop.co.nz/archive/scoop/stories/03/b2/200207311413.09916bb3.html United Future may well have been the most irrelevant party in Parliament during the last term but it is currently the party everyone is talking about. One of the talking points will be how the eight new United Future MP's - all of them Christians - perform as Parliament's fourth biggest party....

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CATHOLIC WEB TV (Wellington Archdiocesan Media Office) http://www.catholictv.net

Theme of the month: "Having confidence in your culture" This week: Matalina Leaupepe, post-graduate tertiary student and a member of the Wellington Catholic Chaplaincy team at Victoria University Wellington who came to New Zealand from Western Samoa when she was 10 (part two of two interviews)

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EDUCATION

"Good News and the News": July 2002. NZ Catholic Education Office http://www.catholic.org.nz/nzceo/goodnews-news.htm

In the current issue:

** Editorial by Br Pat Lynch

** "Brothers In Action": a De la Salle College initiative in which past pupils assist present ones

** "St Paul's Catholic School, Massey - Facing the Future": the principal describes the educational philosophy of this brand-new primary school which opened at the beginning of this year

** "How is Garin College different?": When staff applied for positions at Garin, New Zealand's newest high school, they were greeted with a paper outlining the expectations for staff in a Catholic school. Many decided the school was too demanding ... others saw a vision of what might be possible

** "Integrated School Teachers Win National Awards"

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NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY TITLES

[If the following titles are not in your local library, you can request them on interloan. Shelf numbers may vary from library to library.]

379.32 SWE "A fair and just solution? : a history of the integration of private schools in New Zealand", by Rory Sweetman. Palmerston North : Dunmore Press, in association with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools, 2002. Subjects: Education and state--New Zealand. Politics and education--New Zealand. Catholic schools--New Zealand. Private schools--New Zealand.

242.8 MER "Dialogues with silence : prayers & drawings", by Thomas Merton. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, c2001.

922.22 HIL "Hildegard of Bingen : the woman of her age", by Fiona Maddocks. London : Review, 2002. Summary: Hildegard (1098-1179) was a medieval German nun - a religious leader and poet, visionary and naturalist, a writer of medical treatises and best known as one of the finest composers of her time.

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EVENTS

26-28 September 2002 Character Education Conference, St Andrew's College, Christchurch, Theme: "Character Education: the other side of the report card" The first national conference of the New Zealand National Foundation for Character Education Details from: The conference convenor, PO Box 194, Oamaru ... fax: 03 432 4036 ... e-mail: conference@cornerstonevalues.org ... Website: http://www.cornerstonevalues.org

26-29 September 2002 "Life, Faith and Family" Conference, Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland Details from Family Life International, PO Box 56 423, Dominion Rd., Auckland 1030 and from: http://www.fli.org.nz

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EMPLOYMENT

(Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies )

(Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz )

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Marketing Officer, Catholic Development Fund, Wellington

Twelve-month contract. Hours negotiable. Details in 'Wel-com' July 2002 p. 19 and from Chris King, tel.: 04 496 1753 ... Website: http://www.catholic.org.nz/cdf_wn/sitecontents **************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy, Palmerston North Diocese

Part-time positions at campuses in Wanganui, New Plymouth, Hawkes Bay and Palmerston North. Details in 'NZ Catholic' 28 July p.21 and from Sue Ryan tel. (06) 353 6755; e-mail: sue.ryan@xtra.co.nz

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CATHOLICTV.NET (Media Office of the Wellington Archdiocese)

This month's topic: Liturgy This week's interview: GE and the Gospel, by Father John Greally http://www.catholictv.net/celebrating/newformatcelebrating4.html

Also on Catholictv.net ... Catholic Youth Ministry: interview with Chris Duthie-Jung, Executive Officer of the National Council for Young Catholics http://www.catholictv.net/giving/newformatgiving2.html

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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

"In Denial" (video report) TV 3 News 08/08/2002 http://xtramsn.co.nz/musicandvideo/0,,6082-1660348-56,00.html "United Future is continuing to deny it is a Christian party pushing a moral right agenda...."

"Head of order meets abuse victims " (photo) TV One Aug 10, 2002 http://onenews.nzoom.com/onenews_detail/0,1227,123128-1-7,00.html The head of a catholic order investigating claims of abuse has now spoken to 50 South Island men about what happened to them in the 1970s. Brother Peter Burke heads the order of St John of God in Australasia and says the stories he has heard of sexual and physical abuse have made him at times question his faith. He is about to travel to the North Island to hear more complaints.... [Related links on the same page: - "Friend of ex-priest speaks " (text report) - "Head of order meets abuse victims (video report) - "Catholic priest faces extradition" (video report)

"Bishop will meet abuse victims " Otago Daily Times 6-August 2002 http://www.odt.co.nz/cgi-bin/search-display-story-online-new?date=06Aug2002&obje\ ct=0805567234&type=html&WORDS=catholic&DB=Editorial The Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurch is opening his doors to people who believe they were victims of sexual abuse by church workers...

"Alleged sexual assaults labelled a game " Sunday Star Times 04 August 2002 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/0,2106,1287431a6442,00.html A 12-year-old boy accused of sexually assaulting female classmates at a Catholic primary school with a group of schoolboys has told police the girls took part in the "game"....

"Keen for alleged to face NZ charges" Otago Daily Times 9 August 2002 http://www.odt.co.nz/cgi-bin/search-display-story-online-new?date=09Aug2002&obje\ ct=0808950199&type=html&WORDS=catholic&DB=Editorial The Catholic church is anxious to have former priest Alan Woodcock returned to New Zealand to face accusations of sexual abuse, for the sake of the alleged victims and the church. Marist Fathers Society of Mary spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer last night said the sooner Woodcock was extradited from Britain and court proceedings begun here, the better....

Related reports:

- "Priest to remain in British custody until extradition hearing " NZ Herald 08.08.2002 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/latestnewsstory.cfm?storyID=2348430&thesection=news&th\ esubsection=general&thesecondsubsection=latest

- "Ex-priest under arrest in Britain " NZ Herald 08.08.2002 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=2348411&thesection=news&thesu\ bsection=general

- "Catholic priest extradited " UTV (Belfast, N.Ireland) 07/08/02 http://www.utvinternet.com/news_disp/indepth.asp?pt=n&id=21641

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EVENTS

26-28 September 2002 Character Education Conference, St Andrew's College, Christchurch, Theme: "Character Education: the other side of the report card" The first national conference of the New Zealand National Foundation for Character Education Details from: The conference convenor, PO Box 194, Oamaru ... fax: 03 432 4036 ... e-mail: conference@cornerstonevalues.org ... Website: http://www.cornerstonevalues.org

26-29 September 2002 "Life, Faith and Family" Conference, Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland Details from Family Life International, PO Box 56 423, Dominion Rd., Auckland 1030 and from: http://www.fli.org.nz

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