Sunday, May 10, 2009

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NEWS & NOTES - 10 May 2009

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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Where it all started (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/features/2398474/Where-it-all-started/
'Icon" could be one of the most abused words in the English language. Its traditional religious meaning has long been drowned out by chatter about "iconic" this and "iconic" that, and there's no way that the quiet, and largely unnoticed, visit of an Australian man to Nelson this week could have done anything to rescue the word's original meaning and intent...

Mother Teresa’s associate visits Auckland
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0905/S00107.htm
Canadian-born Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, Mother Teresa’s associate of 20 years and promoter of her canonisation, visits Auckland this weekend ...

Refocusing Aid – Will the Poor be Lost From View?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0905/S00065.htm
Catholic aid and development agency Caritas is deeply disappointed that the government has reintegrated government aid agency NZAID back into the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, and shifted its prime focus from poverty elimination to sustainable economic growth...

Caritas Looking For New Zealand To Sharpen Up On Human Rights
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/caritas-looking-new-zealand-sharpen-human-rights/5/13615
Catholic social justice agency Caritas is looking for New Zealand to sharpen up its human rights record at home, as the government's performance is put under the spotlight by the United Nations (UN) today...

Praise for this makeover
The Dominion Post 2 May 2009 Page: 103
St Mary of the Assumption is a romantic picture postcard of a church, situated down a leafy lane at the fringe of Napier. Built in 1863 for the Society of Mary, it was subsequently enlarged sixfold into the grand Carpenter’s Gothic pile we see today,...

Vows taken again after 80 years (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2381204/Nun-takes-vows-again-after-80-years
A Southland-born Catholic nun is thought to have made history by celebrating 80 years of religious profession. Sister Mary Dominic, 101, was professed a Sister of Mercy in 1929, three years after entering the teaching order in Dunedin...

Flu-fearing faithful keep their distance
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/2381174/Flu-fearing-faithful-keep-their-distance
Churchgoers around South Canterbury had to adjust their communion practices yesterday as a precautionary measure against swine flu...

Flu fears sees halt to Holy Communion at masses (video: St Patrick's
Cathedral, Auckland)
http://www.3news.co.nz/News/NationalNews/Flu-fears-sees-halt-to-Holy-Communion-at-masses/tabid/423/articleID/102320/cat/64/Default.aspx
There was no communion wine at catholic masses throughout the country today, as New Zealand catholic bishops recommended it stop as a precautionary measure while swine flu is around...

Churches respond to flu scare (video: Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington)
http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/churches-respond-flu-scare-2698534
While New Zealand authorities are confident they have got the H1N1 influenza virus under control, there is still plenty of caution being shown - especially on the holy day...

First Mass for new church
Bay of Plenty Times — A002 — 07 May 2009 (full text)
An official Mass and Blessing will open Katikati's newest church on Sunday with an expected congregation of 250. Construction of the Catholic church began in late October and while a target completion date of March 31 was not met, an impressive new facility now stands on Beach Rd. The Mass will be led by Bishop Denis Browne of the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton.

Church complex to be blessed
Hauraki Herald May 8 2009 p.4
The congregation of St Pius X Catholic Church in Katikati is preparing for the opening of its new complex on Beach Road this Sunday ...

‘Comfortable’ priest felt for people deeply
Waikato Times 9 May 2009 Page: 20
Monsignor Pat Holland was a joyfully rotund Roman Catholic priest who loved all people, and was loved in return.

Oggi Advertising wins eight year battle over school's billboards
The National Business Review 2009 - 8 May 2009
After an eight-year battle, Gordon Frykberg's Oggi Advertising has won a dispensation from the Auckland City Council bylaws allowing three billboards to stay on the grounds of St Francis Schools at Pt Chevalier, Auckland. Under this arrangement, the school and parish had earned $254,000 over 15 years...

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NZ CATHOLIC BISHOPS' CONFERENCE

http://www.cathcom.org.nz

'Catholic Bishops oppose “Three strikes” Bill' (6 May 2009)
New Zealand Catholic Bishops and Catholic social justice agency Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand will oppose the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill at the Law and Order Select Committee’s first hearings on the legislation on Wednesday 6 May. In a joint submission, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference and Caritas said the Bill runs the risk of having the exact opposite effect to that intended of protecting the community from violent offenders...

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INSPIRATIONAL TV - http://inspirationaltv.net

** Referendum Time **
Should smacking by parents be a criminal offence? Comments by Sister Marcellin, a member of the steering committe of 'Every Child Counts' http://www.everychildcounts.org.nz

** Fruit aplenty **
A reading and discussion of John 15:1-8 with Very Rev. Frank Nelson and Father James Lyons at St Paul's Cathedral, Wellington.

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'BEING FRANK' - http://www.beingfrank.co.nz

New Zealand Catholic Blogs. Some current topics ...

'Our Father' (the gift of the Lord's Prayer) ... “On closer inspection, these are loafers” (about the film "End of Days") ... A Burning question (to kill or not to kill) ... The call to work, with St Joseph the Worker (a reflection for the feast of St Joseph the Worker) ... The flu and the liturgy ... Don’t you stick your tongue out at me! ... Bye bye to the family dog… the family drive… the family dinner… (the “death of the traditional family”)

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PERIODICALS AND NEWSLETTERS

NZ Society of Mary. 'Marist Messenger' - May 2009
http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz

NZ Catholic Education Office. 'Lighting New Fires' - May 2009 with Catholic Schools' Supplement
http://www.nzceo.catholic.org.nz/pages/resourcesubpages/lighting-new-fires.html

Catholic Diocese of Christchurch. 'Inform' - April 2009
http://www.chch.catholic.org.nz/?sid=25

NZ Marist Brothers. 'Marist Family News' - March 2009
http://www.maristbrothers.org.nz/Marist%20Family%20News.htm

The Nathaniel Centre: The NZ Catholic Bioethics Centre. 'The Nathaniel Report' Issue 27 April 2009
http://www.nathaniel.org.nz

'Tui Motu InterIslands' - April 2009
http://www.tuimotu.org

Society of Eucharistic Adoration. 'Newsletter' - January 2009
http://www.divinenet.org.nz/adoration.html

St Columban's Mission Society. 'The Far East' - May 2009
http://www.columban.org.au/publications/the_far_east.html

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ALL THINGS CATHOLIC, by John L. Allen, Jr.

http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic

Coverage of the Pope's Mideast Trip

John L. Allen Jr. is traveling with Pope Benedict XVI in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories May 8-15. Read NCRonline.org daily for his dispatches from the Holy Land.

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WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz

http://www.romereports.com (video)

http://www.youtube.com/vatican (news of Pope Benedict - video)

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EVENTS

NZ Catholic Tennis Wind-up
Renouf Tennis Centre, Brooklyn Road, Wellington
Saturday and Sunday, May 30-31 2009 (Queen's Birthday weekend)
Details and registration at: http://www.nzcatholictennis.org.nz , in 'Wel-com' May 2009 p.15 and from Brian Kennedy, briken@xtra.co.nz tel: (04) 479 9153; 027 675 8844

Knights of the Southern Cross. Pauline Year Writing Competition
Topic: Why is Saint Paul important? What does Saint Paul say to me?
$1,000 in total prizes divided between three age categories. Details in 'Wel-com' May 2009 p.17 Closing date: 6 June 2009

'Be the Change': NZ Catholic Education Convention
29 - 31 July Wellington Convention Centre
Full details and registration: http://www.conference.co.nz/cathed09

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EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Vacancies section of the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz ]

[Vacancies for Catholic youth workers are advertised on the Vacancies page of Connect.org.nz: http://www.connect.org.nz ]

Reasearch and Advocacy Officer, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand (part-time)
http://www.caritas.org.nz
Details in 'NZ Catholic' issue 315, May 3 - 16, 2009 p. 26, in 'Wel-com' May 2009 p.14, and from Claire Beaumont, tel: (04) 496 1742; e-mail: claire@caritas.org.nz Applications close 22 May 2009.