Dear 'kiwicatholics',

On the New Zealand Catholic Internet this week ...

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

From the 'NZ Catholic' newspaper (final issue this year) at:

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html

'Following Pompallier'

Details of the Jubilee 2000 Totara Point pilgrimage on January 8 and 9. Nice

photo of Kohukohu on the Hokianga harbour.

'Diocese and uni. cooperate'

An agreement between the University of Waikato and the diocese of Hamilton

will enable students on the catechetical studies programme for those

intending to teach in Catholic schools to cross-credit grades to university

qualifications. Links to Hamilton diocese and the Continuing Studies Dept at

Waikato Uni.

'Parish puts hands to the pumps'

Fr Terry Dibble and a group of Auckland parishioners are collecting pumps to

help restore water supplies in East Timor. Link to a related story in the

'NZ Herald'

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

Caritas Update December 1999

http://www.caritas.org.nz/publications/newsletters.html

(download takes a couple of minutes)

In this issue: Director's reflection on choice, justice and reconciliation;

work in progress to rebuild East Timor; why Caritas favours overseas aid in

the form of community development and not individual child sponsorship; the

rediscovery of traditional weaving among women in Honduras for employment

and self-esteem; and the campaign to cancel the debts of impoverished

countries.

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

Marist Champagnat Family News 1999

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/fms/newsletters.html

The second of the two newsletters published by the Marist Brother's New

Zealand Province

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

Catholic Institute of Theology, Auckland. Prospectus for 2000

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/auckland/cit

E-mail cit@theology.ac.nz for a printed copy and more info. about specific

courses.

Most of the new information is on two pages:

CIT's theology degree courses in association with the University of Auckland

are at:

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/auckland/cit/theology.html

Its Continuing Faith Education and Parish Ministry courses are at:

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/auckland/cit/cfe.html#cfe

The CFE courses cover many of the topics raised in our 'kiwicatholic' forum.

One in particular might be of special interest to several of our members, so

here are the full detials:

643 : Spirituality for Single People

" During this day we shall take a relaxed look at some of the issues that

arise from being single in the church: * prayer * community * affirmation

".

Cost: $35.00 ($5.00 discount if pre-paid)

Venue: Catholic Institute of Theology, Newman Hall, 16 Waterloo Quadrant,

Auckland City.

Dates: Saturday 12 August Times: 9.15am - 3.15pm

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

SOCIETIES OF LAYPEOPLE

Here's my own contribution on finding community within the Church.

The NZ Catholic directory's National Organisations section at:

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/directory/direct3a.html

and

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/directory/direct3m.html

lists around 19 national societies of laypeople and that's by no means

complete. Some national groups are listed in the *diocesan* sections of the

Directory (the dio.pages are not on the bishops' Web site), like the peace

movement 'Pax Christi' and Joshua Fellowship for men (home page:

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/hamilton/pastor/joshua ) although Dove

Fellowship for women *is* on the national pages.

The groups on the two pages cover the full spectrum of Catholic

spirituality, from traditional (e.g. Secular Franciscans) to modern (the

Focolare Movement), as well as charitable and social justice groups.

The diocesan centres all have copies for reference of the full National

Catholic Directory, and it may be in public libraries as well.

SUSPENDING MAIL

Here one more time is the routine for suspending posts from 'kiwicatholic',

for instance to prevent message piling up while you are on holiday.

Drop me a note at leon@xtra.co.nz

or ...

* Open the OneList home page at http://www.onelist.com

* Click on the "My OneList" link at the top left of the page

* Next you see a link called 'kiwicatholic' and opposite it on the right a

box headed 'Delivery Options' over a drop-down menu. Click the little arrow

to show the menu options, click on "No Mail/Web only", then click "Save

Changes".

* To start receiving posts again, click on the "Individual Emails" option or

write and let me know.

I didn't think to mention before that even after setting 'No Mail/Web Only'

you can still read the messages to 'kiwicatholic' on the Web site ...

* Open the OneList home page at http://www.onelist.com

* Click on the "My OneList" link at the top left of the page

* Click the 'kiwicatholic' link to open our forum's main page. In the column

on the left of the page click 'Messages' and you can read the latest and

also open an archive.

JUBILEE EVENTS

The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 commences in Rome on Christmas day

(Sunday NZ time) with the opening of the holy Door in St Peter's Basilica

and Christmas Mass. I'll be updating the bishops' Jubilee pages this week

with print news, audio and video links, and when that's done I'll send a

post about it to our forum.

God bless,

Mike Leon

'kiwicatholic' list manager

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

On the New Zealand Catholic Internet this week ............

*******************
From Wel-com the monthly newspaper of Wellington and Palmerston North dioceses at
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/welcom/front.html :

'Cardinal Williams to celebrate double jubilee this month'
[In December Cardinal Williams celebrates two jubilees: the fortieth of his ordination to the priesthood and the twentieth of his ordination as Archbishop of Wellington. The article describes his background and career in the Church and Archdiocese. Links to St Patrick's College and Victoria University, Wellington; Young Christian Workers; University College Dublin; and the Synod for Oceania]

'Graduation ceremony for Porirua's teenage parents'
[Last month Porirua's school for teenage parents celebrated its fifth birthday with a graduation ceremony attended by the Governor-General. Despite the problems they face as teenage parents - and the school's permanently uncertain funding - the students are making the most of their opportunities to ensure a better future for their children]

'End of era at Compassion Hospital'
[It was the end of an era when Sister Shirley Tunnicliffe retired last month as Administrator of Island Bay's Compassion Hospital and Rest Home. For the first time since it was opened in 1907 the hospital was to have a lay manager and for Sr Shirley it was the end of forty years' service at Compassion Hospital. She describes the highlights of her service to sick and disadvantaged people and her plans for the future. Link to the Sisters of Compassion and Compassion Hospital]

********************
'Champagnat': Marist Brothers' Newsletter - November 1999
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/fms/newsletters.html

Faith Central online community for New Zealand Catholic Schools:
Mary, First Disciple - Internet Resources
http://www.faithcentral.net.nz/inclass/mary.htm

NZ Catholic Education Office newsletter for integrated schools: 'Lighting New Fires' Christmas 1999
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/pubs/lnf/lnf.html

New Web Sites:

De La Salle College Auckland
http://www.delasalle.co.nz/

Christ the King School, Burnside, Christchurch
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kingburn/

Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions rndm
http://rndm.tripod.com/NewZealand.htm

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

Until next week, God bless.

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

Two posts from me today. The other one - headed 'How to limit messages' -

explains how to limit the number of posts in your Inbox from 'kiwicatholic'.

On the New Zealand Catholic Internet this week ............

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

From Wel-com the monthly newspaper of Wellington and Palmerston North

dioceses at

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/welcom/front.html :

'Cardinal Williams to celebrate double jubilee this month'

[In December Cardinal Williams celebrates two jubilees: the fortieth of his

ordination to the priesthood and the twentieth of his ordination as

Archbishop of Wellington. The article describes his background and career in

the Church and Archdiocese. Links to St Patrick's College and Victoria

University, Wellington; Young Christian Workers; University College Dublin;

and the Synod for Oceania]

'Graduation ceremony for Porirua's teenage parents'

[Last month Porirua's school for teenage parents celebrated its fifth

birthday with a graduation ceremony attended by the Governor-General.

Despite the problems they face as teenage parents - and the school's

permanently uncertain funding - the students are making the most of their

opportunities to ensure a better future for their children]

'End of era at Compassion Hospital'

[It was the end of an era when Sister Shirley Tunnicliffe retired last month

as Administrator of Island Bay's Compassion Hospital and Rest Home. For the

first time since it was opened in 1907 the hospital was to have a lay

manager and for Sr Shirley it was the end of forty years' service at

Compassion Hospital. She describes the highlights of her service to sick and

disadvantaged people and her plans for the future. Link to the Sisters of

Compassion and Compassion Hospital]

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

'Champagnat': Marist Brothers' Newsletter - November 1999

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/fms/newsletters.html

Faith Central online community for New Zealand Catholic Schools:

Mary, First Disciple - Internet Resources

http://www.faithcentral.net.nz/inclass/mary.htm

NZ Catholic Education Office newsletter for integrated schools: 'Lighting

New Fires' Christmas 1999

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/pubs/lnf/lnf.html

New Web Sites:

De La Salle College Auckland

http://www.delasalle.co.nz/

Christ the King School, Burnside, Christchurch

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kingburn/

Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions rndm

http://rndm.tripod.com/NewZealand.htm

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

A warm welcome back and many thanks to Christine Lewis who wrote:

>

> I have just returned from learning how to evangelise in Sydney - AND

> evangelising on the streets of Rozelle, one of the older parts of the

> city, a short walk away from the city centre.

>

Such first-hand accounts of faith in action are great to read and inspiring

for the rest of us. May there be many more contributions like this on

'kiwicatholic'.

Until next week, God bless.

Mike Leon

'kiwicatholic' list manager

Dear kiwicatholics,

On the New Zealand Catholic Internet this week:

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

Our bishops pastoral letter for the Jubilee year: 'Faith alive!'

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/bishops/letters/faithalive.html

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

From this weekend's 'NZ Catholic' newspaper at:

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html

'State school to become Catholic one'

[The unused Southern Cross School in Mangere, south Auckland, is to be

leased to the Auckland diocese for use as a Catholic school. It will be the

first of at least seven new Catholic schools in Auckland. Just over 20 per

cent of the people in Mangere identify as Catholics, the highest

concentration in New Zealand]

'Opposing views from Christian party leaders'

[Completely opposing responses from the leaders of the two Christian parties

followed their low polling in the general election]

'Coalition co-operation 'worthy of applause''

[Expectations of the new centre-left Labour Alliance government coalition

by: Sr Kathy Lynch (Sisters of Mercy justice committee), Don and Jackie

Brebner (family policy), Merle van de Klundert (Dunedin justice and peace

office), Dr Kevin Fitzsimons (Association of Catholic doctors), Peter

Richardson (social justice office Hamilton), Des Ryan (Age Concern

Wellington), Carolyn Moynihan (editor of the pro-life newspaper Humanity),

Elsie Flay (schools' policies)]

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

From 'EV 2000' Christmas 1999 (the quarterly magazine of the New Zealand

Evangelisation 2000 office)

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/ev2000

'Now the hard task - converting the baptised'

[Editorial]

'Visit from Little Rock Director'

[Catherine Upchurch, the American director of Little Rock Scripture Study

(which publishes a very popular parish-based Catholic bible study course)

will visit New Zealand in mid-February. Link to the LRSS home page]

'Bringing back the lapsed - an English parish steps out'

[How Our Lady of the Angels parish, Stoke-on-Trent, England carried out a

comprehensive outreach to inactive Catholics within the parish boundaries]

'I flunked the opportunity to share my faith', by our very own

'kiwicatholic' Christine Lewis.

[The article, in fact, recounts how Christine shared her faith brilliantly

with a young mum at Brisbane airport. She kindly told us about it in this

forum after she returned. Photo of Christine and grandchild]

'What are you doing to see-in the New Year?'

[At Koraunui Marae at the Stokes Valley Church of St Frances Xavier, Lower

Hutt, they are going to pray it in. There will be prayer from 7p.m. to

midnight before the Blessed Sacrament on the marae followed by midnight

Mass]

'News from Home and Abroad'

[with links to Alpha New Zealand, the Knights of Columbus' online short

course in the Catholic faith, and the Hearts Aflame Catholic Summer School

home page]

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

If anyone would like a copy of these articles by e-mail, just drop me a line

at leon@xtra.co.nz

VACATION REMINDER:

If you are going on holiday and don't want your mailbox filling up with

posts to 'kiwicatholic', you can suspend them for as long as you like

without quitting our forum. Drop me a note at leon@xtra.co.nz or ...

* Open the OneList home page at http://www.onelist.com

* Click on the "My OneList" link at the top left of the page

* You see a link called 'kiwicatholic' and opposite it on the right a box

headed 'Delivery Options' over a drop-down menu. Click the little arrow to

show the menu options, click on "No Mail/Web only", then click "Save

Changes".

* To start receiving posts again, click on the

"Individual Emails" option or write and let me know

My thanks to Philip, Brian and Anthony for your helpful comments on quoting

from Scripture and I will keep them in mind as I prepare texts for the Web.

Speaking of Bible translations, readers might like to add the following two

links to their Web browsers' Bookmarks/Favorites lists:

On the Web site of the Auckland Catholic Institute of Theology at:

http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/auckland/cit/links.html#thebible

there are links to four Catholic translations - the Latin Vulgate, the

English Douai-Rheims Bible, La Bible de Jerusalem (in French) and the daily

Lectionary readings from the New American Bible of the U.S. Catholic

Bishops' Conference.

In the same section are links to the Hebrew Bible (in Hebrew, that is!) and

the Greek New Testament.

The final link in this section is well worth listing on its own. It's the

complete Revised Standard Version, including all the books of the

Catholic/Orthodox Bible. You can search for every occurrence of every word

in it, or open it chapter by chapter. The start page is:

http://etext.virginia.edu/rsv.browse.html

Until next week, God bless.

Mike Leon

'kiwicatholic' list manager

Dear 'kiwicatholics', On the New Zealand Catholic Internet this week: ********************* From the November issue of Tui Motu InterIslands at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/tuimotu Editorial: 'Time for a change' [ a brief commentary on the forthcoming General Election, and on businessman Hugh Fletcher's views on business and social responsibility] 'Whose country is it anyway?' [A review by Tom Cloher of Jane Kelsey's book 'Reclaiming the Future: New Zealand and the Global Economy'. Link to a paper by Jane Kelsey, 'Life in the economic test-tube'] 'Where is the priesthood going?' [A conversation between Fr Paul Andrews, an Irish Jesuit teacher and pediatric psychotherapist, and Dr Anna Holmes, a Christchurch G.P. about changing perceptions of the Catholic priesthood with particular reference to Ireland. Link to the Irish Jesuits' home page.] ******************** New publications by our sponsor NZ Catholic Education Office : 'Lighting New Fires' and Catholic Schools' Supplement, November 1999 http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/pubs/lnf/lnf.html [News and notes for teachers in integrated schools* with many links to education resources on the Internet] 'Good News & the News' October 1999, plus a Special Edition http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/pubs/gnatn/index.html [This "broadsheet of good practice in integrated schools" contains fewer - but more detailed - reports than LNF on educational innovations in our Catholic schools. One which especially caught my attention is in the Special Edition: 'How Liston College**, Henderson - a boys-only school - is reversing the trend of recent years by which boys are doing increasingly less well at school than girls. The school identified the characteristic ways in which boys learn and adapted its teaching accordingly] * Schools which are integrated into the state school system while preserving a special character. ** In New Zealand 'college' almost always refers to a high school. ********************* Now some administration matters. From time to time messages are sent to 'kiwicatholic' which are really private communications intended for me as the list manager, mostly from members leaving the list. In that case it's better to write directly to me at leon@xtra.co.nz My address appears at the head of all my weekly posts. My thanks to Brian for the complimentary comment. Kelly Neal wrote: > > I was mistakenly under the impression that "kiwi" was a monthly > "newsletter" about catholic topics/happenings etc. in new Zealand. I am not > interested in receiving regular emails about the topics that you and your > members discuss in your forums: > On the Catholic home page under 'E-mail forum' I described 'kiwicatholic' like this: ************* "'kiwicatholic' is an e-mail forum sponsored by the New Zealand Catholic Education Office. After joining, a member may send an e-mail message to its correspondence address. The message is automatically copied to all the other members, creating the forum. "Our topic is "Catholic life in New Zealand", including overseas events of interest to New Zealand Catholics ... "Since 'kiwicatholic' opened in March 1999 it has carried weekly news of the New Zealand Catholic Internet, reports of current events in dioceses and parishes around New Zealand, members' views on matters of faith and discussions on the future of our Catholic schools. Members have also established a prayer ministry ..." ************ Is this a fair description of our forum? Could it be made clearer while still being kept short? Kelly also couldn't find the 'unsubscribe' option on the OneList Web site - http://www.onelist.com - and I sympathise with that. *I* have trouble finding my way around it! Members can leave simply by sending an e-mail message addressed to: kiwicatholic-unsubscribe@onelist.com or by writing to me a leon@xtra.co.nz The other option I need to mention now - and I'll repeat in each post up to Christmas - is the option of suspending messages from 'kiwicatholic' to your e-mail address without quitting the list altogether. This is particularly handy if you are going on holiday and you don't want to be flooded with messages when you come back. To do this: * Open the OneList home page at http://www.onelist.com * Click on the "My OneList" link at the top left of the page * You see a link called 'kiwicatholic' and opposite it on the right a box headed 'Delivery Options' over a drop-down menu. Click the little arrow to show the menu options, click on "No Mail/Web only", then click "Save Changes". Or ...... write to me and I'll do to for you :-) When you want to start receiving posts again, do the same, but click on the "Individual Emails" option (or write to me. I won't complain, honestly). On the topic of marijuana use, the NZ Ministry of Health has published a report called "Cannabis: the public health issues". I have only read the summary but just from that the report looks like a really good starting point for a serious discussion. To read the summary and find the link to the full report open the Ministry's search page at: http://210.48.125.104/searchweb.nsf/$SearchForm?Searchsite enter 'marijuana' in the search slot, click Search, then click the link the search finds. A warm welcome this week to Ray McGarry at Holy Family Parish, near Wigan in the heartland of English Rugby League. Thanks for your intro. Ray. You join a fair number of 'kiwicatholics' in other countries. We would welcome your observations from an English perspective on the issues that concern us all as Catholics. You wrote: > We have an interest in Maori culture, and would welcome information > on how to obtain recordings of any Masses which have been put to the > traditional music/vocal rendition of the Maori. The two organisations mostly likely to help you are both based in Auckland, so to save time I suggest you write directly to Auckland Catholic Communications at cathcomm@xtra.co.nz and ask them to pass your request on to: 'Te Runanga o Te Hahi Katorika ki Aotearoa' ('Te Runanga' for short), our bishops' national Maori advisory council and 'Tamaki Maori Mission Team and Community' which is an Auckland diocesan group. Finally folks, if its freezing and raining where you are as it here, what better way to pass the afternoon than a virtual tour of Wigan Borough via its very fine Web site, starting at: http://www.wiganmbc.gov.uk/pub/council/wmbguide/contents.htm Until next week, God bless. Mike Leon 'kiwicatholic' list manager

Dear kiwicatholics, On the Catholic bishops' Web site this week ... From the 'NZ Catholic' newspaper at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html 'Theological college will take over Salvationist citadel' The former Newton citadel in Ponsonby Rd, Auckland will be the new college for theological education of Catholic priests for New Zealand and overseas. 'Bankrupt' social policies deplored' Christians must find a voice to resist the growing inequalities that are a feature of New Zealand society say the Catholic bishops in a joint statement for the Great Jubilee. [I will put the Statement on the bishops' Web site this coming week and at that time there will be a link to it from this story - ML] Generous Scot makes $50,000 gift A $50,000 gift got the restoration fund for Newton's St Benedict's Church off to an upbeat start, even before it had been officially launched. The donor was Catholic Scottish businessman Sir Tom Farmer, in New Zealand early this month representing Ford America. Also up this week is the final issue for 1999 of 'Lightning New fires', the newsletter of our sponsor the New Zealand Catholic Education Office, at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/pubs/lnf/lnf.html In short paragraphs it records the achievements of New Zealand's integrated schools*, of which the majority are Catholic schools. The newsletter also draws teachers' attention to new teaching resources available through the Ministry of Education and elsewhere. As always, the Web version of the Newsletter contains links to the home pages of all schools mentioned which have a Web site, and to many of the on-line resources described in it. [* schools with a 'special character' - often Christian - which they are permitted to preserve while receiving a measure of state funding] Last week I mentioned a tussle in our parish over the location of the weekday Masses and communion services. We know now that they will return to the parish church at the beginning of December, there to stay until numbers fall off again around the start of next winter. In the meantime my wife and I have started attending the services in the hall so if there were any hard feelings among the regulars about our absence, hopefully that's all cleared up. Certainly nobody's tried to break my fingers at the sign of Peace :-) God bless, Mike Leon 'kiwicatholic' list manager

Dear 'kiwicatholics', Noeline Sapwell, the faithful maintainer of the 'kiwicatholic' prayer ministry, wrote: >This week I am asking you all >to please say a prayer for me :) >I will be making my Secular >Carmelite profession at a Mass this Sunday at >2.00p.m. >I would really appreciate your prayers. You shall have them Noeline! May God bless your pilgrimage of faith under the banner of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. Three stories from this weekend's 'NZ Catholic' newspaper on the bishops' Web site at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front/html **************************** 'Nelson is site for new college' A new Catholic co-educational college is to break new ground - it will be the only Catholic college in the South Island part of Wellington archdiocese. On October 14 Cardinal Thomas Williams and the mayor of the Tasman District Council, John Hurley, formally signed a sale and purchase agreement for land for the new college ... [U.S. readers: a "college" is a high school] 'Poor housing highlighted in new report' Wellington - The Government's housing policies have led to more than 115,000 people, including 50,000 children, living in crowded conditions, says a report by the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services ... [Link to the Ministry of Housing's home page where you won't find the CCSS report.] 'Newcomers given warm welcome in Hastings parish' Some applied innovation and creativity have made sure that visitors and new parishioners always feel welcome at Sacred Heart parish in Hastings. The parish has a "New Parishioners" stand in the lobby of the church, staffed every Sunday by parishioner Angela Minton (right) ... ************************** Now at this point, due to a technical hiccup, on looking right you *might* see a picture of Brother Richard Dunleavy, the new secretary general of the Marist Brothers, whose picture appeared in the previous issue. Click your browser's 'Refresh' or 'Reload' button to get the true picture. I am on to this glitch now and will take steps in future to ensure that only the latest photos appear with the latest stories. Oh, and Brother Dunleavy wishes it to be known that he is not now - nor has he ever been - Angela Minton. The reason there's no link to the text of the CCSS housing report is that no Web site has a copy of it. I spoke to the Council's Secretary about this and explained the advantages of publishing on the Web: there's nothing more to do after putting it up, but anyone interested can read, print out and photocopy the report in unlimited quantities, so there's never a shortage and you get a very wide audience. Alas, the Council hasn't the staff to maintain a Web site and apparently couldn't find an existing one to put the report on. Our eldest son Michael (25) wrote this week about his experiences as assistant manager at the Wellington Men's Night Shelter. Mike jnr is also the manager of the Wellington City Mission foodbank and a budget adviser there. Pauline has already responded to his post. He stays at the Night Shelter from Saturday evening to Tuesday evening so his next opportunity to respond will be Wednesday evening. The topic of schools came up during the week. It happens that this weekends' 'NZ Catholic' newspaper also has two items from the Hamilton diocesan Catholic schools' conference: one by the Treasurer, Bill English and the other by the chief review officer of the Education Review Office (the government's school performance watchdog) Dr Judith Aitkin. Bill and Mary English's children attend Sacred Heart convent school in Wellington. He writes that "when people go to a Catholic school they believe the teachers [there] should believe in God ... I know there are teachers who pray with the children but who don't believe in God - my children have had that experience and it confuses them". What is the legal position regarding religious belief and the employment of teachers in the Catholic school system? I know from the advertisements for staff that applicants "must be willing to take a full part in" all aspects of school life. But is it legal to refuse employment on the grounds that someone doesn't believe in God? What if they said they did, and later "I've thought about and now I don't!" In the other item Dr Aitkin writes about a young girl whose mother is " single, a Catholic by baptism, alcoholic by profession .... It is her integrated Roman Catholic school .. that has keep her father and her aunts and uncles and grandmothers in touch with her, paid her bus fare, given her lunch, not minded about her unofficial uniform, fostered her intelligence." A few lines below there's a copy of a letter in this weekend's 'NZ Catholic'. Every best wish and all God's blessings. Mike Leon 'kiwicatholic' list manager ***************************** Women I am writing in the hope that through your paper I might be able to make contact with individual women and groups of women who are already - or who would like to - form a Catholic women's network. I believe that it is time for Catholic women in New Zealand to be united in bringing attention to the need for women to have an environment in the Church which gives them the ability to explore their spirituality as women. We also need to influence the Church to form structures that will give just recognition to the leadership roles of women within the Church and to the way in which women experience leadership. The aims of such a group would be mainly to share resources that feed and nourish women; to promote education for women in theology, Scripture and Church teaching; and to promote the formation of structures that will recognise and foster the use of the special gifts and talents of women in leadership roles within the Catholic Church and society. I am aware of groups of women which are already doing this but believe it is time for women to call for change in the Church with one united voice. Too many women have left the Church because they have no place within it. I believe we are called as women to effect change for future generations. Teresa Homan, 10 Garnet Grove, Upper Hutt.