Sunday, August 8, 2004

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

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Aged care sector facing crisis Scoop 6 August 2004 http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0408/S00069.htm A decade of under-funding in aged residential and homecare support services has left the aged care sector facing a crisis of survival. This key message emerged from the NZ Council of Christian Social Services’ (NZCCSS) Conference in Auckland which ended today...

Chaplaincy service to ask Board to help http://tinyurl.com/5t4nb Otago Daily Times 4 August 2004 Dunedin's hospital chaplaincy is undergoing a financial crisis and will be seeking funding support from the Otago District Health Board (ODHB) to keep the service afloat. The chaplaincy contract from the Government was reduced from $56,000 to $36,000 last year under a funding change to a population-based allocation, forcing an initial cut back from three full-time hospital chaplain positions to 2.5. To make matters worse, churches, which are dealing with their own financial strains, have been withdrawing support...

Public art works are an everyday part of our lives. Otago Daily Times 5-August 2004 http://tinyurl.com/53k66 When Billy Connolly last played in Dunedin he had fun at the expense of the“plastic cross in St Paul's cathedral. As a former altar boy, he probably enjoyed taking the mickey out of the church. He is not the only person to find themselves bemused by this transparent cross...

Iraq's Christians fear persecution by compatriots Otago Daily Times 2-August 2004 http://tinyurl.com/4mxom Numbering about 750,000, Christians are a minority in Baghdad and, even as secular Iraqis worry about the growing tide of Islamic fundamentalism so long repressed under Saddam Hussein, their Christian compatriots are feeling the effects closer to home. They are anxious about their place in the new world around them; one that often sees them as collaborators with their American occupiers...

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

FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES

O’Connor, a Christian from India, may soon be free Solidarity from the whole Christian world. Bishop of Arabia: “Ours is a catacomb Church”. http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1245 Riyadh (AsiaNews) – “I am confident that the Lord will turn this mess into a message and my test into a testimony,” said Brian Savio O’Connor when he greeted two representatives from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh who recently visited him in prison. O’Connor is an Indian Catholic jailed for allegedly preaching Christianity...

“Christian migrants as prophets of communion and solidarity.” An interview with Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao, President of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People. http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1238 Rome (AsiaNews) – Emigration in Asia is the new frontier of missionary action. Migrants not only seek to escape poverty, but also desire to share their culture and faith. For this reason, emigration is nourishing a new missionary trend. In light of it, the Parish must become a “second home” for migrants, a place where they are welcomed with open arms in a spirit of hospitality irrespective of their religion...

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

CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ

MEDIA RLEASES

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php

Church Leaders express grave concern at Darfur tragedy (full text) Church Leaders in New Zealand, are gravely concerned at the terrible tragedy developing in Darfur and say the suffering and violence in Sudan has been going on for too long. Effective international action is needed to support and advance conflict resolution efforts. In turn they ask the people of New Zealand to show compassion and generosity towards those in need in Darfur and Chad. The full statement is available from: http://www.cws.org.nz/Emergencies/Church-Leaders.asp

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/index.php

Bishops in call to boost effort to safeguard Great Barrier Reef Nun challenges media mischief on Timor oil Catholic women 'more likely' to have abortion Irish bishops critical of book on moral theology Hoax weeping statue church chases missing donations Milan Jesuits appoint female rector

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

MARIST MESSENGER (Society of Mary, NZ)

http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz

From the August 2004 issue ...

The Focus by Fr Carl Telford sm for August 2004 is about the sacrifice of the Mass From October 2004 the entire Church will celebrate the Year of the Eucharist

How to pray, some helps. Prayer is the fuel of faith and love

Another chance for some by Br John Blewman fms Br John tells the wonderful story of a special marist school in Fiji

Dedicated to the Mother of God, Fr Grahame Johnsen sm died on 24 May 2004

The sacrament of the present moment by Fr John Kelly ocso Abandonment means accepting that God is in charge and control, not us! Easier said than done.

Also in the print edition ...

The Theology of the Body ... The Triangle of Praise ... But God protect me from friends ... How I try to be a Marist spouse and parent ... Three saints for August ... To Jesus through Mary: what does Totus tuus mean?

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

THE FAR EAST

St Columban's Missionary Society of Australia and NZ

http://www.columban.org.au/tfe/tfe_current.htm

From the July 2004 issue ...

From the Director: A missionary tells stories about God One of the best tasks I ever had was being involved in training young men to be Columban missionaries. The training took a long time so I got to know them well. As they spoke of what was going on in their lives it was marvellous to see what God was doing in them...

Horizons and changing frontiers, by Ray Scanlon For the last five years I have been on the staff of the Columban International House of Studies in Chicago, USA. This is where our Columban students come to live and learn theology with a view to being ordained as missionary priests. began this venture in 1998. Chicago was chosen as the location because of the presence of the Catholic Theological Union, a good School of Theology, for students preparing for cross-cultural missionary work...

A mission in her own land, by Leanne Hester If you visit the Columban parish spread throughout the aboriginal mountain villages of Taiwan, you will meet a woman who will introduce herself as “Vinai.” Vinai is an Atayal name, yet this woman, known for most of her life as Lin Tz In, is not an aborigine. She is Hakka, one of the Chinese ethnic groups in Taiwan. To the Columbans and the Atayals, she is regarded as Vinai and becoming more like one of them...

A life of devotion, by Sr Mary O’Dea It was the needs of the poor in China that touched the hearts of the first Columban Sisters who, despite the enormity of the challenge, were willing to leave all and respond to their needs. Today, the cry of impoverished people in our segregated world continues to speak to our hearts...

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

"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 August 6, 2004 : Christian churches bombed in Iraq; 'On the Collaboration of Men and Women'; Saint Mary of the Snow and Cardinal Law; The English translation of the Mass; The Vatican and sports; Notes on ecumenism. New head of 'Communion and Liberation' on Europe's state of confusion

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

EVENTS

Worship and Healing Conference, 27-29 August 2004 St Patrick's College, Silverstream Sponsored by the Archdiocesan Service Group for Catholic Charismatic Renewal Details from Cherylynn Passmore, tel: (04) 526 6914; fax: (04) 526 2189; e-mail: cherylynn.passmore@xtra.co.nz


Schools Of Evangelisation http://www.wave.co.nz/~jlewis/SOE.html

Gisborne: New Life weekend September 17 - 19 2004 Venue: St Mary's Parish centre Campion Road, Gisborne. Starts 7 pm Friday - to 5 pm Sunday presented by members of the Hamilton Diocesan and Gisborne Schools of Evangelisation Teams. Contact: Huia - huiawhite@in2net.co.nz - or phone Doreen 06 868 4399 or Huia 06 868 4256

There is a link to our own family web site which goes through to the SOE's for NZ, Australia and Mexico (where they began - Sorry only in Spanish there at the moment!)

Visit to Hamilton by Canadian Musician and Evangelist Greg Magirescu. Concerts and testimony Thursday August 19, 7.30 pm at the Catholic Hall, Te Aroha Friday August 20, 7.30 pm at the Cathedral, Grey Street, Hamilton Saturday August 21, 7.30 pm, St Columba's, Frankton, Hamilton, 7.30 pm Sunday August 22, Tauranga - to be arranged Monday August 23, St Mary's Church, Rotorua, 7.30 pm

Visiting Schools for lunch time concert and testimony -Sacred Heart, Hamilton, Thursday 19 August Aquinas College, Tauranga, Monday 23 August John Paul 2 College, Rotorua, Tuesday 24 August

Seminar on Liturgy and Music Saturday August 21, 10 am - 3 pm Marian School - new buildings Contact: Father Michael Armstrong 07 854 9221

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

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 ]

Presenters, 'NZ Catholic' newspaper 'NZ Catholic' wishes to employ skilled communicators to promote the paper at parish Masses. Details in 'NZ Catholic' July 25 August 7 p.22 and from Dennis Augustine, 'NZ Catholic', PO Box 147 000, Ponsonby, Auckland 1034