Dear 'kiwicatholics'

Thank you very much for the first-hand reports on the Eucharistic Convention and the Easter Tri-Series weekend (photo on page 4 of this weekend's 'NZ Catholic' newspaper. On the other hand, not a word from anyone about the Wellington Archdiocesan Jubilee celebrations last weekend. If anyone did attend it's not by any means too late to write a note about it. On the other hand, Wel-com newspaper will be published in a week's time and no doubt will give the Jubilee events a good write-up.

Sorry to say I wasn't able to put up the stories from this weekend's 'NZ Catholic' newspaper before Sunday but I hope to get to them on Monday and I will write to 'kiwicatholic' as soon as they're up.

God bless,

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

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JUBILEE NEWS & EVENTS
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html

7 May : Day of the Martyrs and Witnesses
As I type, Pope John Paul is at the Coliseum in Rome paying tribute to thousands of 20th-century Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant martyrs and witnesses for the faith. There is a first set of links to reports about the Day on the Jubilee News page now, and I will update them tomorrow.

NZ CATHOLIC EDUCATION OFFICE
Our forum's sponsor is co-ordinating Catholic Schools' Day on 17 May. Further info. is on the Day's Web page: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/schools/day.html

Issue 2 of NZCEO's newsletter 'Lighting New Fires' is on the Web at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/pubs/lnf/lnf.html The LNF is packed with information about the achievements of our schools, developments in the New Zealand education system and links, links, links to school Web sites, resource Web sites, institutional Web sites ... So even if you already receive the printed copy, please do take a look at the Web version for direct access to many of the places and resources mentioned in it.

EVANGELISATION
It's great to see original material from New Zealand on a new Web site. The latest - at: http://www.ake.quik.co.nz/termon - is: "The Practice of Jesus: commentaries on the readings for the Sundays & holy days of the year of Mark" plus links to related articles. The site's author is Father Bill Fletcher of Otahuhu parish. It is reviewed in this weekend's Net Scene column in 'NZ Catholic'.

The site has a permanent link on the bishops' Evangelisation page at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/frevangelisation.html There you'll also find a link to a full text searchable Bible (Revised Standard Version), another to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (also searchable) and much more.

Dear 'kiwicatholics'

A warm welcome to our several new list members, taking our number to 62 'kiwicatholics', of whom about 43 have .nz e-mail addresses.

Special thanks to Anthony Trenwith and Jonathan Godfrey for their first-hand accounts of the Easter Tri-Series assembly for young adult Catholics.

If you have been to the Wellington Archdiocesan jubilee celebrations this weekend, please write us a few lines about your impressions.

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

JUBILEE NEWS & EVENTS
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html

This page is updated with fresh links to text, audio and video reports at least twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I have cleared it of all but three of the Easter celebrations' links which are now down in the Previous Events section.

May the first - May Day - will be interesting: the Vatican is hosting a Jubilee concert for workers starring Lou Reed, Alanis Morissette and the Eurythmics. And at the Coliseum on Martyrs' Day, 7 May, Pope John Paul II will pay tribute to thousands of 20th-century Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant martyrs for the faith.


TUI MOTU INTER ISLANDS - APRIL 2000
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/tuimotu

'2000 years from what? ' (Editorial)
A summary of recent magazine articles about Jesus' influence on the last twenty centuries and especially today. "The Jubilee challenge is this. How do we in the Christian churches make the clarion call "Alleluia, Christ is Risen" so attractive and penetrating that the people of our time will listen and respond?"

'So who really was there - at the Last Supper? '
Sister Pauline O’Regan reflects on the different messages conveyed by three paintings of the Last Supper: Leonardo da Vinci's (15th century), Jacopo Tintoretto's (16th century) and Bohdan Piasecki's (1998). All three paintings are illustrated.

'A Passionate Man: Johann Sebastian Bach' "
Bach’s great choral works draw us into the text – never more so than in his Passion music. And it reflects his own deep spirituality" suggests retired Otago University Professor of English Colin Gibson. Picture. Link to the J.S. Bach home page

Dear 'kiwicatholics'.

Happy Easter everyone. If you open any of these links on the bishops' pages, please take a second to open the home page also -http://www.catholic.org/newzealand - for its Easter morning message.

God bless.
Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

JUBILEE NEWS & EVENTS
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html

This (Sunday) morning the page has been updated with links to text, audio and video reports of the Good Friday commemorations in Rome and Jerusalem. I will update the page with fresh links again on Monday and Tuesday, including any reports of Easter commemorations in New Zealand that I can find on local Web sites.

'NZ CATHOLIC' - Sunday 23 April
htp://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html

[NOTE: When I set up this weekend's 'NZ Catholic' stories, I only had the main text; I still haven't seen the actual headlines, so I had to invent them! I will correct them when I get my copy, or when some kind soul emails me and tells me what the actual headlines for the three stories are. M.L.]

'Bishops support registration of same-sex couples'
A system of registration which would give same-sex couples rights in law without the right to marry is supported by New Zealand's Catholic bishops in a submission to the Ministry of Justice. (I gather what the bishops are supporting is legal recognition of the relationship between any two adults who accept a duty of care for each other and their families; for example a solo mother who invites her sister to live with her and share the tasks of childminding and household management. This relationship would not be deemed "in the nature of marriage" and any sexual element would be not be a matter of enquiry for the courts. ML) [Link to the Ministry of Justice's Discussion Document: 'Same-Sex Couples and the Law']

'Bishop Dunn: I am not urging contraceptive use'
Bishop Pat Dunn of Auckland is adamant he does not back the use of contraceptives, despite newspaper headlines to that effect on April 16 and 17. Bishop Dunn says that, in the articles concerned, he acknowledged the widespread use of artificial contraceptives, but he was not supporting or recommending their use. [Photo]

'Change of plans for Bp. Pompallier's reinterment'
The wishes of some Maori landowners have dashed plans for the reinterment of the remains of Bishop Pompallier at the site of New Zealand's first Mass at Totara Point. But at the same time, an offer from a retired farmer promises hope of reburial nearby at Purakau, the site of New Zealand's first Catholic mission in 1838. [Photo of Kohukohu, near Totara Point]

Dear 'kiwicatholics'

Many thanks to Jos van Iersel for the report on the Alpha dinners in Dargaville. If any other 'kiwicatholics' attended the dinners (to launch the Alpha courses for new Christians), it would be great to read your impressions here.

There appears to be some confusion about Fr Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955). Some of his published works were subject to restrictions in his lifetime and cautions after his death but they were never condemned by the Church. You can read the article about him in the Encyclopaedia Britannica by entering 'Teilhard de Chardin' in the Britannica's search slot at http://www.britannica.com

On the New Zealand Catholic Internet this week ...

... you will not find Wel-com, the diocesan newspaper of Wellington and Palmerston North. Unfortunately technical difficulties prevented me from getting the stories from the latest issue on the Web before today, but I hope to complete the task on Monday. This particular issue reports on next weekend's Archdiocesean 150th Jubilee Celebrations, which will be really something, creative, inspiring and devotional, and people in other dioceses might possibly want to visit Wellington for the occasion. I will post again as soon as the stories are up.

GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html

Anthony Trenwith: thanks very much for the link about World Youth Day. As it's some way off yet (August) I haven't put any links up about the Day on the Jubilee News page yet, but as August approaches there will be plenty. I am also not far off putting up the first draft of the bishops' new 'For Young Catholics' Web pages, and that will have a section devoted to World Youth Day reports.

Fairly quiet on the Jubilee front again last week as the Church gears up for the first celebration of Jesus' Resurrection in the new millennium. On the current Jubilee News page you will find links to reports about two "Jubilees within the Jubilee" - for workers (May 1) and the April 9 Jubilee of the Franciscan Family, plus some other new links. I will be updating the Jubilee News page on Wednesday with links to text, audio and video reports of the first days of Holy Week, and again on Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

EDMUND RICE FAMILY NEWSLETTER
http://mysite.xtra.co.nz/~edmundnews/page3.html

This is the monthly newsletter of the Christian Brothers in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. In March, sixteen student leaders from schools associated with the Christian Brothers in New Zealand and Rarotonga gathered at Long Bay, Auckland for a five day Student Leadership weekend.The April newsletter has reports and photos about the weekend.

EV 2000 MAGAZINE - ISSUE 20, 2000
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/ev2000

'EV 2000 ' is our national quarterly evangelisation magazine. Every issue is packed with interesting articles on the theory and practice of evangelisation in New Zealand and other countries. The Web edition of this first issue for 2000 contains the following full text articles and features:

'Where have all the Catholics gone?' (Editorial) by Fr Paul Shannahan
'Outreach to the Inactive', by Cardinal Winning and the Glasgow Archdiocese's Pastoral Action Office
'A Catholic Understanding of Evangelization', by Bishop Michael Putney (Brisbane)
'Great things can happen when school and parish work together' (outreach to inactive-Catholic parents of children at Catholic schools) by Fr Jim Lyons, SS Peter & Paul's parish, Lower Hutt
'Catholics getting involved in ALPHA!' by Fr Bruce England, Parish Priest at Levin and the Catholic Representative on the Alpha leadership
'News from home and abroad'

All that, plus photos and lots of lovely links.

Wishing you a happy Holy Week

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

Dear 'kiwicatholics'

On the New Zealand Catholic Internet this week ...

CATHOLIC PRESS : 'NZ CATHOLIC' SUNDAY APRIL 9
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html

'Positive response to bishop's offer'
Despite reactionary comments, including being told to "butt out", Bishop Patrick Dunn has received a mainly positive response to his pledge last month to give financial and every other possible help for women to choose life instead of abortion ... [Photo of Bishop Pat with his arms full of small human beings. Link to the Family Life Pregnancy Centre]

'College nips bid to push drugs at "kiddy level" '
Six pupils have been expelled from St Paul's College, Auckland after "a calculated attempt to infiltrate drugs into the college at the kiddy level". The boys say they were given marijuana leaves by another boy at the bus stop and two admitted smoking some on the school grounds ... [Photo. Link to the NZ Herald's interview with the father of some of the boys] (For overseas readers: "college" usually means "high school" in New Zealand, and "drugs" in connection with a school generally means marijuana, which grows like weeds in some parts of the country.)

'Uncertain future for famed Futuna Chapel'
The Wellington property developer who bought the Futuna Conference and Retreat Centre in Karori last month says there is "nothing definite" about plans for its award-winning chapel. Eyal Aharoni, director of the Prime Property Group which paid approximately $2.9 million for the property, said it would be used for residential properties, possibly a retirement village ... [Photo. Link to the Society of Mary and Wellington City Council's Futuna
Chapel page]

NEWS (CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS)
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/news/frnews.html

'Auckland's Catholic bishop launches pro-life initiative and pledges help in crisis pregnancies'
Bishop Patrick Dunn, the Catholic Bishop of Auckland, has given a personal undertaking that he will give every possible help to girls and women contemplating an abortion, in order that they may choose life for their baby. [Link to Family Life Pregnancy Centre]

'Sisters of Mercy celebrate 150 years in Aotearoa-New Zealand'
Mercy Sisters from Ireland, where the Congregation was founded in the 19th century, as well as Sisters from many other countries, will be guests at next month's jubilee celebrations to mark 150 years since the first Mercy Sisters stepped ashore in this country. [Link to the New Zealand page of the MercyWorld Web site]

EDUCATION - CATHOLIC SCHOOLS' DAY, MAY 17 2000
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/schools/day.html

Once a year all the Catholic schools of New Zealand organise special events to draw the attention of parents and potential pupils to the benefits of a Catholic education. The Day is coordinated by our 'kiwicatholic' forum's sponsor, the NZ Catholic Education Office. On this new page NZCEO describes the resources it will be distributing to our schools for Catholic Schools' Day this year, and lists forty activities which schools large and small can do to mark the Day.

JUBILEE YEAR NEWS & EVENTS
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html

This page is updated with fresh links at least twice a week. All is fairly quiet in Rome at present as Pope John Paul enjoys a good long rest between his strenuous week-long pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the strenuous week-long ceremonies of Easter Week, 16-23 April (Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday). However he took time out to address the Italian National Association of Magistrates on their special Jubilee day concerning "concrete problems and weaknesses that beset Italian Justice". Our page has links to a couple of reports about the event.

Meanwhile, back in New Zealand we have scheduled ...

20 - 23 April (Easter Weekend)
"Easter Tri-Series" National Easter Experience for young Catholic adults, St Patrick's College, Silverstream, 20-23 April. Article: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/welcom/page2.html#story2 Contact: Chris Duthie-Young: cduthie-jung@clear.net.nz

29-30 April
150th Anniversary of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington, Events Centre, Queen's Wharf

Next week there'll be (at the very least) stories from the Wellington/Palmerston North diocesan newspaper 'Wel-com'.

Until then, every best wish and all God's blessings.

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

Dear 'kiwicatholics'

A quiet week on the New Zealand Catholic Internet, however there are a few new Web sites up recently.

'WHAT'S NEW'

On the 'What's New' page of the Catholic bishops' Web site at http://www.catholic.org/newzealand you will see links to nearly a dozen Catholic schools' sites which have opened recently (under 'Education'); and under 'Lay Organisations' a link to the new site of the Catholic mothers' spirituality and support group 'Marian Mothers': http://marianmothers.faithweb.com/

JUBILEE EVENTS

I'm not sure what's next on the international Jubilee calendar. although I'm back to the regular routine of updating the Jubilee News and Events page twice a week - http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html But here in little old NZ we are preparing to celebrate the first Easter of the new millennium with more than the usual gusto, namely ...

20 - 23 April (Easter Weekend)
"Easter Tri-Series" - National Easter Experience for young Catholic adults, St Patrick's College, Silverstream, 20-23 April. Article: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/welcom/page2.html#story2 Contact: Chris Duties-Young: cduthie-jung@clear.net.nz

29-30 April
150th Anniversary of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington, Events Centre, Queen's Wharf

I'll mention these and other events again in the days leading up to Easter. PLEASE keep your favourite e-mail forum in mind when you attend these events and send us a note of your impressions of them for the benefit and interest of us all.

And that's about it this week. Shortly, perhaps next week, there will be articles up from the latest issue of our national Evangelisation magazine EV 2000 - http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/ev2000 and not long after I hope to finish the first draft of a new section for young Catholics on the bishops' site, which I will invite you all to look over and give me your comments before it goes public.

Until next week, God bless.

Mike Leon 'kiwicatholic' list manager

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

FROM 'NZ CATHOLIC' 26 March
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html

Our 'kiwicatholic' e-mail forum has a good write-up in NZC's Net Scene column today, so we may hear a few new voices in the coming days.

On the paper's Web site ...

'Tauranga celebrates 160 years of history'
History was re-enacted on the waterfront at Tauranga this month in the form of an emotionally-charged Mass which attracted hundreds of Catholics. The March 5 Mass, one of Hamilton diocese’s Jubilee pilgrimage events, celebrated the arrival of Bishop Jean Baptiste Francois Pompallier to Tauranga 160 years ago, direct from the Bay of Islands where he had been present at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Photos of local children in period costume (a must-see). Links to Hamilton Diocese's Jubilee Page .... Tauranga's St Mary Immaculate Parish

'Futuna and chapel in tender process'
The Society of Mary is considering tenders received for the purchase of the Futuna Conference and Retreat Centre in Karori, Wellington, including its internationally-renowned chapel. Photo. Links to the Society of Mary ... Wellington City Council's building heritage page about Futuna Chapel

'Anglicans, Catholics share ashes'
Anglicans and Catholics shared cathedrals, churches, choirs and ministers for Ash Wednesday liturgies to begin the lenten season. Reports from four dioceses. Photo. Link to a daily calendar of meditation, prayer and action for Lent.

THE GREAT JUBILEE - IN THE HOLY LAND

I hope it's no coincidence that visits to the bishops' Web site are well up on the weekly average during the Pope's Holy Land pilgrimage. No way of knowing for sure, but I would *like* to believe one of the reasons is the Jubilee News and Events page -http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html - which I have been updating every day during the pilgrimage.

On the current News & Events page you will find links to print, audio and video reports of Pope John Paul's visit to Nazareth yesterday, the Mass on the Mount of Beatitudes the day before and the Pope's visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

That historic visit to Yad Vashem woke up a few characters in the public religious affairs forum (Newsgroup) 'nz.soc.religion' to the fact that something was happening in the Holy Land. As a result of a few exchanges I put together a Web site bibliography on the Catholic Church and the Holocaust which I have attached below this message.

NEW WEB SITES

A number of school Web sites have opened in recent weeks. Links to them all are on the 'What's New' page of the bishops' Web site at http://www.catholic.org/newzealand

The latest issue of the Edmund Rice Family Newsletter is on-site at: http://mysite.xtra.co.nz/~edmundnews/

I have had a note from Margaret Jefferies (whom I don't know personally) about a forthcoming seminar called 'Spirit at Work in New Zealand' scheduled for Friday 27th - Sunday 29th October 2000 in Christchurch.

Its topic is : "Building workplaces that capture the hearts of those who work within them, where the whole person is valued and enabled to contribute to their full potential, thus connecting and contributing to the whole of life ... where open communication, sound values, spiritual awareness, compassionate leadership, a sense of purpose and community, interconnectedness, creativity, personal responsibility and enjoyment are explored to enhance all life and uplift organizational synergy and productivity ..."

For more information drop a line to Margaret at: PO Box 237 LYTTELTON Ph 03 328 9260 Fax 03 328 9261 Email: Margaret.Jefferies@clear.net.nz

I think that's it for this week. The bibliography on the Church and the Holocaust follows, four lines down.

Every best wish and all God's blessings,

Mike Leon 'kiwicatholic' list manager

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The definitive study of the Catholic Church's response to the Holocaust is Pinchas Lapide's 1967 book 'Three Popes and the Jews'. It is extensively quoted in: 'Catholic Heroes of the Holocaust' http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/heroes.htm

The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial's pages commemorating the Pope's visit carry several accounts of Catholic rescuers. http://www.yadvashem.org.il/pope/index.htm

'Holocaust Heroes': The role of the Churches in saving Jewish victims of persecution http://www.holocaust-heroes.com

'The Church and the Jews in the Third Reich', by Lothar Groppe SJ Catholic resistance to Nazi persecution of the Jews, compiled in part from contemporary German sources. http://www.cdn-friends-icej.ca/antiholo/church3rd.html

The Francis and Jacob Hiatt Collection of Holocaust Materials: 'Catholics and the Holocaust'. Articles. http://www.holycross.edu/departments/library/website/hiatt/cathholo.htm

Pope Pius XI's Encyclical Letter 'Mit Brennender Sorge' (1937) -actually authored by Eugenio Pacelli (Pius XII) - called the racist nationalism of the Nazi regime a perversion, reminded the German Catholic faithful that Jesus was a Jew and called on them to resist the regime to the death. http://listserv.american.edu/catholic/church/papal/pius.xi/p11brenn.txt

Pius XII's Encyclical Letter 'Summi Pontificatus' (published October 1939, just after the Nazi invasion of Poland) condemns racism and the substitution of the Fatherland for God http://listserv.american.edu/catholic/church/papal/pius.xii/p12summi.txt