Sunday, April 11, 2004

A very happy Easter to all our readers. ML

*********************************************

HOLY WEEK 2004

“Young people, do not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel of the Cross!” http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=580 Vatican City (AsiaNews) At 10.00 a.m. this morning in St. Peter’s Square representatives from youth across the globe, in addition to cardinals, bishops and priest, gathered together in front of Pope John Paul II while waving palm and olive tree branches in the air. The blessing of the palm and olive branches (from Puglia, Italy) kicked off Holy Week celebrations, the seven days that commemorate Christ’s passion, death and resurrection....

John Paul II's Homily on Palm Sunday (full text) http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=51783

Tighter Security as Pope Ushers in Palm Sunday http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4744029

“A Holy Week of suffering for Iraqi Christians” reports Father Nizar Semaan from Mosul. Palm Sunday processions and Easter Night Vigil Mass cancelled for security reasons http://www.fides.org/eng/news/2004/0404/05_2106.html

Tight security for Pope at Easter http://tinyurl.com/ypnxw

Pope: The Body of Christ Nourishes for Service to Humanity The Lord’s Supper Mass at the Basilica of St. Peter http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=608

At Last Supper Christ called all priests of all times by name John Paul II’s Letter to Priests – Holy Thursday 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=592

Pope begins Easter services amid tight security http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2870592a12,00.html

Pope presides at Good Friday amid high security Reuters 10 April 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2871686a10,00.html Rome: Amid exceptional security measures, Pope John Paul presided over a candle-lit Good Friday service at Rome's ancient Colosseum where thousands of pilgrims braved cold and rain to hear the frail, 83-year-old pontiff...

Thousands of Christian pilgrims retrace Jesus' footsteps through Jerusalem http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=world_home&articleID=1582852

Churches take ritual of Passion on to the streets With controversy raging over Mel Gibson's gory blockbuster movie, Christians hope for a revival of interest http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1188831,00.html

Orthodox Christians celebrate annual miracle in Jerusalem Saturday April 10, 2004 http://cbsnewyork.com/international/HolyLand-HolyFire-ai/resources_news_html Jerusalem (AP) - A sea of candles and torches illuminated Christianity's holiest shrine, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, as thousands of pilgrims participated in Saturday's holy fire ceremony, a key ritual of Easter Week. Only the Orthodox churches traditionally participate in the ceremony....

Pope, Sounding Tired, Starts Easter Eve Services http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4796845

Seville's week of passion and penitence Reuters 07 April 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2869332a2180,00.html

Editorial: In the hope of an end to intolerance NZ Herald 10.04.2004 http://tinyurl.com/ywwoo

John Roughan: Imagine a world without religion NZ Herald 10.04.2004 http://tinyurl.com/3ap29

*******************************************

'NZ CATHOLIC'

No 184, April 4-17, 2004 http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz

Tauranga welcomes back returning Catholics Tauranga - "Catholics Returning Home" is a phrase that is becoming part of the vocabulary of St Mary Immaculate parishioners...

West Coast farewells Marist Brothers Greymouth - After 112 years in Greymouth, the Marist Brothers were farewelled on March 7 at Sunday Mass and later at a social evening organised by the parish and the Marist Brothers Old Boys...

West Papuan tells of oppression by Indonesian military Christchurch - A woman who escaped from her homeland as a 10-year-old was in Christchurch last month to speak to a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Women's International League...

Also in the print edition of 'NZ Catholic' ... Petition for referendum on prostitution law needs more support; Entering the murky world of foretelling the future; Contentious liturgy text is due soon; Academy calls for cure to sterility; Catholic judge kept abortion legal in US; False assertions in Da Vinci Code are debunked.

*********************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Bad report for Samoan pre-school The Press (Chch) 05 April 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2866833a7694,00.html The education of Samoan pre-schoolers is being jeopardised by inadequate space and resources at Tafesilafai Pre-school in Christchurch, an Education Review Office (ERO) report says. The pre-school, which is run by a management committee and is responsible to the diocese of the Catholic church, has for two years been embroiled in negotiations with its neighbours over plans to expand its premises....

Spine-tingling moment as King and wife farewelled NZPA 07 April 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2868052a4501,00.html A spine-tingling moment occurred toward the end of the funeral of historian Michael King and his book editor wife Maria Jungowska yesterday. As singer Helen Medlyn soared through the hymn Ave Maria! beneath the wooden eaves of St Patrick's Cathedral, a woman in the Moriori contingent – a group whose cultural renaissance was fuelled by Dr King's writings – launched into a spontaneous waiata. The threads of song, one in Maori, one in Latin, floated together into the still air ...

Bic Runga back from Paris TV One Apr 07, 2004 http://onenews.nzoom.com/onenews_detail/0,1227,266237-1-455,00.html After eight months in Paris Bic Runga is back in New Zealand for a tour with a difference. The New Zealand singer-songwriter has shunned the usual nightclubs and stadium venues, instead opting for playing acoustically in churches....

Runga gives taste of her church tour NZ Herald 07.04.2004 http://tinyurl.com/373nd Cast in an eerie blue light and framed by a cavernous ceiling, Bic Runga cut an angelic figure on the stage of Grafton's Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Kiwi singer was home to perform a selection of songs from her upcoming 16-date, one-month Acoustic Church Tour, her first homeland gig since she moved to Paris eight months ago....

Cosmo offers sex, shopping and 'spirituality' Straits Times (Singapore) http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,244441,00.html? London - The British edition of Cosmopolitan, the glossy bible of sex and shopping for single girls, has launched a new monthly column on 'spirituality'. 'I've come to the painful realisation that men and shoes are not enough to make me happy,' the magazine's new spirituality editor wrote in the March edition ...

Church officials say Israel is delaying granting of visas to 138 church workers http://cbsnewyork.com/international/Israel-CatholicClergy-ai/resources_news_html Jerusalem (AP) : Israel has delayed granting visas to dozens of Roman Catholic clergy, church officials said Wednesday, and Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah called it an issue of survival for the church in the Holy Land...

******************************************

'THE PASSION'

Film rating sets 'new benchmark' for violence NZPA 06 April 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2867823a11,00.html Chief censor Bill Hastings said today lowering the rating of Mel Gibson's film The Passion of The Christ would set a "new benchmark" for acceptable levels of violence in films. Fifteen-year-olds can now see the bloody Biblical blockbuster without supervision after film distributor Hoyts successfully appealed against its R16 rating in time for the Easter holidays....

Censor Uses Listener Column To Slur The Passion Press Release: Society For Promotion Of Community Standards Inc. Monday, 5 April 2004, 10:01 am http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0404/S00016.htm In an article in the Listener (27 Mar. – 2 Apr., 204 p. 12) entitled “What I’m Reading”, Bill Hastings, the Chief Censor of Film and Literature, made comments that raise serious questions about his suitability to hold this statutory appointment....

Tourists off on 'Passion' film pilgrimages http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=406292004 As Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ opened across Italy this week, where it is expected to break box office records, a small town in the country’s Basilicata region is whipping up plates of "fettuccine alla Mel", in preparation for the Easter weekend tourist onslaught. For two months last year, Gibson and his company set up shop in Matera, filming the graphic sequences of Christ’s last hours, the bloody scenes of his torture and his crucifixion....

"The Passion" takes Italy by storm Wed 7 April, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/23l3k

Doha: After seeing “The Passion” Muslims start searching for the Gospel In just 3 days more than a 1/10 of the population has seen the film. http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=600

Manila: ‘The Passion of the Christ’: “A milestone in the cinema history” http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=599

Seoul: “The Passion” welcomed by Protestants and Catholics http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=593

Malaysian Muslims offended by “The Passion” http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=584

*******************************************************

FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES

Pope says Eucharist and Priesthood tied together until the end of time http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=603 Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “Christians want to see us above all as men of prayer. Whoever comes into contact with us must be able to experience God’s mercy and faithful love in our words and behavior”, urged John Paul II in today’s Holy Thursday mass at St. Peter’s Basilica as a “veritable prelude to the Pascal Triduum”....

"The Knights as they were?", by Chris Welbourne. 'Aurora' (Diocese of Mailtalnd-Newcastle, NSW, Australia) Issue 45, April - May 2004 http://www.mn.catholic.org.au/newsroom/auroraissues/aurora45_p11story.htm It was in about 1960 that I became aware of the existence of the Knights of the Southern Cross or the Black Knights as they were sometimes called. Research led me to believe that the Black Knights were like Catholic Masons, an organisation formed to counter the anti-Catholic practices of the Masonic lodges....

Bishops' Conference statement on TV abortion documentary Independent Catholic News (UK) 6 April 2004 http://www.indcatholicnews.com/abortdoc.html Archbishop Peter Smith, chairman of the department of Christian Responsibility and Citizenship of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has issued the following statement with regard to a forthcoming Channel Four documentary on abortion....

Catholic church backs channel 4 abortion documentary Ekklesia (UK) 5/4/04 http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_04045abortion.shtml The Catholic church in England and Wales has said that a controversial channel 4 documentary which will show footage of an abortion "could prove a powerful anti-abortion message, highlighting the full horror". My Foetus, to be screened this month, will show a "vacuum-pump" abortion. It will be the first abortion to be shown on television in Britain....

8th International Youth Forum comes to a close. Archbishop Rylko tells young participants: “ Not only at university but in life Christ relies on each one of us. “The success of this Forum - Archbishop Rylko concluded- depends on you: now, put out into the deep!” http://www.fides.org/eng/news/2004/0404/05_2105.html

Ratzinger regrets church centralism at König funeral The Tablet (UK) http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/register.cgi/citw-past-00173 There have been times when the Vatican has intervened too often in the affairs of a local church, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has admitted. He made the surprise remarks to journalists following the Requiem Mass in Vienna of its former Archbishop, Cardinal Franz König. In a Tablet article in March 1999, König deplored what he described as the Vatican’s “inflated centralism” and accused the curial authorities of appropriating the tasks which properly belonged to bishops’ conferences....

***********************************

CATHOLICTV.NET

http://www.catholictv.net

Bishop John Dew: At the Beginning of a new Millenium - Pastoral Areas, Part Two

Fr. John Greally: Celebrating Lenten Liturgy, Part two

Peter Healey's Art Exhibition: "Celtic Knots and Hotspots" FR Peter Healy S.M, an artist for over 20 years, has launched an exhibition of his paintings at the Wellington City Council artist’s venue, “Thistle Hall“. Peter Roe S.M. explores the themes of Peter’s art with the artist...

***********************************

'LIGHTING NEW FIRES' (NZ Catholic Education Office)

February 2004 http://nzceo.catholic.org.nz/lightingnewfires.shtml

(in the main newsletter ... ) Responses to the Review of the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act ... Media Spotlight on Integrated Schools ... Furniture and Equipment Modernisation Update ... Boards of Trustees and Indemnity Insurance ... Amendments to the Law on Smoke-free Environments ... Changes to Health and Safety Legislation ... Planning for Better Student Outcomes ... ERO Reviews and International Students ... Living Heritage Awards ... Education for Sustainability ... Did You Know? – Tertiary Statistics ... Boards of Trustees Elections ... Wellington Schools are Sun Smart ... Principals’ Induction Programme Extended ... The Real Game – Career Education ... Improved Assessment for Years 9-10 ... Research to Lift Educational Achievement ... Congratulations: achievements of Catholic schools throughout New Zealand

(in the Catholic schools' Supplement ... ) Starting the School ... Year New Year’s Honours ... Mercy on the West Coast ... Congratulations to Principals New to Catholic Schools ... Caritas Research on Children at Work ... Children’s Prayer for World Peace ... Rosary Campaign ... 2004 Slavery Abolition Year ... College Summer School ... Mentoring Student Leaders ... Lenten Lesson Plans and Solidarity Day ... Schools Build Their Joint Ethos – Two Excellent Ideas... Special Character Messages in Newsletters ... Some Interesting Websites ... An Interesting Idea ... Music on CD and Live From Fr Chris Skinner SM

***********************************

CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ

http://www.cathcom.org.nz

International News: Pell says Gibson film will heighten Good Friday observance ... Vatican reports slight increase in priest numbers ... Martini says Church should be more democratic ... China arrests another Catholic bishop ... Preparation on schedule for family gathering ... Caritas director says Rwanda anniversary challenges all

*************************************************

"THE WORD FROM ROME"

http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/

A weekly column in the National Catholic Reporter by the paper's full-time Vatican correspondent John L. Allen

Summary of the column for April 9, 2004: The maestro of the pope's own Sistine Chapel Choir; The priest shortage; Altar servers or altar boys; Roman pilgrimage to 'Station Churches'; Human trafficking; Relations between the Holy See and Israel; The next big story coming out of Rome - liturgical abuses

*************************************************

EVENTS

Jesus 4 Real Ministries http://www.jesus4real.org.nz "A voluntary lay ministry committed to building up the faith in Catholic teenagers" Camp for Years 11-13: Wednesday 14 April to Sunday 18 April, Paraparaumu (near Wellington). Full details on the Website and from Anne and Andy Lovell, tel (06) 364 3141

Auckland Catholic Eucharistic Convention, 16th to 18th April 2004 http://www.eucharistic-convention.com Logan Campbell Theatre, Auckland Showgrounds, Greenlane Road, Auckland. Two-page write-up in 'NZ Catholic' March 21-Apr 3 p.14-15 Full details on the Convention's Website.

***************************************************

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 ]

Diocesan General Manager, Hamilton Catholic Diocese ( http://www.hn.catholic.org.nz ) Details in 'Wel-com' April 2004, p.17 and from Greg Tims tel. 021 628 222; Naomi McGowan terl. 07 958 7466; fax: 07 839 1863; e-mail: naomim@mlc.co.nz Applications close 19 april 2004.

Director of Catholic Youth and Young Adult Groups, St Vincent de Paul society ( http://www.svdp.org.nz ) Details in 'Wel-com' April 2004 p.17, and from District Council Presiddent, Society of St Vincent de Paul, PO Box 309, Whangarei.

*************************************************