Sunday, August 18, 2002

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POPE JOHN PAUL IN POLAND

This weekend Pope John Paul is back in his homeland for a brief visit, the eighth trip to Poland of his pontificate, making it his most-visited country outside Italy. He is in Cracow, where he lived during the Second World War and where he was ordained a priest and served as bishop and archbishop. He will dedicate a shrine of the Divine Mercy devotion and pray at his parents' gravesite.

Text, audio and video reports of the visit are on the Yahoo! News of Pope John Paul page, at: http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/World/Pope_John_Paul_II/and on the BBC's European news page, at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe

The full text of the Pope's addresses and homilies during the visit will be placed here as soon as they are translated: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/travels/sub_index/trav_poland-200\ 2.htm

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FROM THE CATHOLIC PRESS

'NZ Catholic' No 143, August 11, 2002 http://www.catholic.org.nz/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html

"Spirit of John Paul II touched NZer at WYD " World Youth Day participant Sandra Morphett says the spirit of Pope John Paul II reached her in Toronto last month as though he knew her.... [Related Link: World Youth Day 2002: Speeches and photos]

"CWL offers bishops its views on sex abuse cases " Last month's biennial Catholic Women's League conference voted 150-17 in favour of sending a letter to New Zealand's bishops about how they should deal with sexual abuse by priests..... [Related Link: NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference: Principles and procedures in responding to complaints of sexual abuse]

"Church must learn from abuse cases " The Society of Mary, and the Church as a whole, have to take a hard look at themselves in the light of incidents of clerical and religious sexual abuse, says Marist vicar provincial Fr Tim Duckworth... [Related Link: Society of Mary NZ ]

From the 'Think Page' for young Catholic adults ... http://www.catholic.org.nz/cathcom/press/nzc/Think.html 'The old fogeys', by James Now, be honest. Have you ever sat in a church pew and wondered why you are sitting there listening to some old priest go on about stuff that has no relevance to you at all? Ever disagreed with a teaching of the Church and said "What possible authority could 'they' have? They don't live my life?" I have....

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CATHOLICTV.NET (Media Office of the Wellington Archdiocese)

Catholic Youth Ministry: Parish-based programmes for adolescents and young adults (part two of an interview with Chris Duthie-Jung, Executive Officer of the National Council for Young Catholics) http://www.catholictv.net/giving/newformatgiving3.html

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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

"Pilgrimage a huge thrill for Taranaki Catholic students " The Daily News (Taranaki) 17 August 2002 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dailynews/0,2106,2023404a6554,00.html An ordeal of broiling heat and intense cold could not lessen the impact of a pilgrimage to Canada for four Taranaki students. They were among 800,000 young Catholics from 150 countries who gathered in the open air in Toronto for an all-night vigil followed by a three-hour Mass celebrated by the Pope....

"More women join in allegations of abuse " The Press (Chch) 17 August 2002 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/0,2106,2023275a6530,00.html More women are coming forward with complaints of physical abuse by Catholic nuns at Christchurch's Nazareth House, who are the subject of a group action. Ann from Whangarei, one of five women taking legal action against the Sisters of Nazareth for incidents in the 1950s and early 1960s, said the girls lived in constant fear of punishment from the nuns.... Related report: "Five sue nuns over alleged child abuse " http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/0,2106,2021486a6530,00.html

"Auckland Rugby History: Where Did It All Begin?" Xtra MSN Sport 16/08/2001 http://xtramsn.co.nz/sport/0,,5661-681513,00.html If you trek from John Street in Ponsonby to Liston Park in Ellerslie you take a tour into the evolution of Marist rugby in Auckland. The pathway has not always been smooth. It has traversed two world wars and the hard times that every sporting club goes through. But the club survived them all, more by stint of hard work and good management than by any divine intervention you would expect in a club emanating from one of Auckland's great Catholic colleges, Sacred Heart....

"Handbag goes astray at Mass " NZ Herald 13.08.2002 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyI\ D=2349185 When Lynette Lowe's handbag disappeared while she was attending Sunday Mass, she was shocked and shaken. After going to the police station from St Mary's Catholic Church in Tauranga, the 61-year-old grandmother went home and cancelled bank and credit cards....

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PARISH WEBSITE

The Website of St Mary's Parish, Papakura has opened at http://catholicpapakura.org.nz It was designed by 'kiwicath' forum member Julian Waters. Among its features is the weekly parish bulletin. It illustrates how - be it ever so humble - the weekly bulletin is not at all too insignificant to publish on a Website; on the contrary, it fulfils several useful roles. It provides ready-made fresh content for the site so that visitors have a reason to keep coming back. It is a window on the life of the parish for anyone weighing up whether to join, and it provides names and contact numbers so they can do so in a non-scary way.

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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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