Dear friends,

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

This past week more than five hundred Catholic lay leaders from all over
the world came to Rome to celebrate the Jubilee of Laypeople and attend
the Jubilee Congress of Catholic Laity with the theme: "Witnesses of
Christ in the New Millennium." On the bishops' Jubilee News page
there's full coverage of the event in the form of links to reports of
the Jubilee celebrations and the proceedings of the Congress. Here's a
summary:

** "... the most important thing is to awaken this great giant, the
world of Christian laity" : Interview with Bishop Stanislaw Rylko,
Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Laity

** "If you live Christianity without compromise, you can light up the
world." Pope John Paul's homily at the Eucharistic Celebration for the
Jubilee of Lay Faithful

** Witnesses of Christ in the New Millennium: special reports by FIDES
on the apostolates of lay Catholics in underdeveloped countries

**********Congress of Catholic Laity**********

** In his message to the Congress's opening session John Paul II called
for a "serious examination of conscience" by all Catholics worldwide,
[asking] "What have I done with my baptism and confirmation? Is Christ
really at the center of my life? Do I have time for prayer in my life?
Do I live my life as a vocation and mission?"

** Summaries of presentations to the Congress by representatives of the
United States, Europe, East Asia, Africa and the Middle East

** "A Christian's call to holiness is the very foundation of the lay
apostolate"

** Globalisation and Christian witness in America: Congress address by
Harvard Law School professor Mary Ann Glendon

** "The real problem is not in being a minority, but in becoming
irrelevant or useless for the world." Archbishop Stanislaus Rylko, the
secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, in his address to the
Congress of the Laity

** "People are not persuaded by continuous repetition of the Christian
message, but are touched by a personal encounter" : The Congress's final
statement

** "Open paths for the Gospel on all the world's frontiers ... Christ is
the cornerstone for every genuinely human construction": Closing address
by Guzman Carriquiry, undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for the
Laity

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

FROM THE CATHOLIC PRESS

Three full text stories from this weekend's issue of 'NZ Catholic'
(December 3, 2000) at:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/page2.html

'Founder of St Vincent de Paul Society in NZ a saint? '
The principal founder of the St Vincent de Paul Society in New Zealand
and Australia is being proposed for canonisation. Charles Gordon O'Neill
- engineer, architect and a member of Parliament in New Zealand - is to
be the subject of a formal research project by the Australian Catholic
University ...
[Links to the St Vincent de Paul Society, New Zealand and a biographical
article in the Sydney Catholic Weekly.]

'Reminder on health services '
Catholic schools are being reminded to make sure student health care
services are consistent with Catholic moral teaching. A policy on
school-based health services is being sent to all Catholic secondary
schools at the direction of the board of directors of the Catholic
Education Office, and proprietors of Catholic integrated schools ...
[ Links to NZ Catholic Education Office and the Ministry of Education's
Health and Physical Well-being Curriculum Statements.

'Concerns raised over proposals on adoption law '
Homosexual and unmarried couples will be able to adopt children if
recommendations of the Law Commission become law. So will single males.
The recommendations fly in the face of responses to a section on
adoption and joint parenting in a Ministry of Justice discussion paper,
"Same Sex Couples and the Law". Eighty-two per cent of respondents
opposed same-sex couples being able to adopt children ...
[Link to the New Zealand Law Commission's report 'Adoption and its
Alternatives: A Different Approach and a New Framework'

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

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

[You can open links to world news of religion in the secular press on
the bishops' News page at:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/news/frnews.html ]

[Please don't attempt to hand-copy these newspaper database links. Click
directly on them after connecting to the Internet or Select, Copy and
Paste them into your browser's address panel.. ]

'Sing a song of Christmas cheer '
NZ Herald 2 Dec. 2000
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=entertainment&thesubsectio\
n=&storyID=162784
Christmas carols are capsules of faith, memory and celebration that mark
the passing of the years as reliably as birthdays or seasons. But what
are the stories behind the carols? Where did they come from?.........
( According to this article, 'Twelve Days of Christmas' is not simply
the tale of a generous suitor, but an underground Catholic catechism
created in England in the centuries when Catholicism was outlawed.)

'Right philosophy and advance planning make all the difference at Xmas '
NZ Herald 2 Dec 2000
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=entertainment&thesubsectio\
n=&storyID=162787
....... And where does God fit into the framework of the modern,
stressed-out Christmas? Lindsay Freer of Catholic Communications is
up-beat. "Our cathedral and every parish church has them swinging from
the rafters." Certainly at St Patrick's Cathedral 1200-odd people, of
varying degrees of piety and drunkenness, squash themselves into pews
for midnight Mass and carols every Christmas Eve as "people who consider
themselves Catholics, in other words 'retired,' feel the need to go"
.........

'Catholic college ready to go '
Nelson Mail 29 November 2000
http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,517892a1931,FF.html
The way has been cleared for construction to begin of Garin College, the
new Catholic secondary school planned for Richmond. A planning appeal
against the college by Nelson Bays Meat Producers has been withdrawn
after negotiations between the company and the Catholic Education
Management Board ......

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EVENTS

Christmas Day December 2000 10 am TV One
Re-broadcast of Celebrate Jesus 2000 (4 November), an open-air
celebration which brought together 25,000 members of all the Christian
denominations in the Wellington region, to celebrate our Saviour and
our faith.

29 Dec 2000 to 7 Jan 2001
Hearts Aflame Catholic Summer Camp. Sacred Heart College, Auckland.
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/heartsaflame

26-29 January
Parachute Festival Extreme: Totara Springs, Matamata
http://www.parachute.co.nz/para2001/para2001.htm
The major annual Christian music festival

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

EMPLOYMENT

(Vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies )

Receptionist, Catholic Diocese of Auckland
http://www.cda.org.nz/main.htm
Full-time position, word processing skills required. Further details
from 'NZ Catholic' 3 December 2000 p. 23 and from Cecilia or Myra, tel:
378 4380; fax: 376 2829; email: ceciliav@cda.org.nz or from:
Administration, Private Bag 47904, Ponsonby, Auckland

Principal Coordinator. Relief Co-ordinator (2 paid positions), Pregnancy
Help Inc. Auckland.
Further details from 'NZ Catholic' 3 December 2000 p. 23 and from Betty
Edmond, tel.: 309 5115; fax 309 5114; PO Box 5329 Wellesley Street,
Auckland.

Religious Education Consultant, Catholic Education Centre, Wellington
Required to work with Religious Education in parishes, with Samoan
Sunday School teachers and secondary schools. Further details from 'NZ
Catholic' 3 December 2000 p. 23 and from The Director, Catholic
Education Centre, PO Box 1937, Wellington. Tel: 04 496 1710; fax: 04 496
1715 ; E-mail: pbray@wcec.org.nz
Closing date: 6 December

Finance /Administration Manager, The Leprosy Mission.
The Leprosy Mission New Zealand is an international Christian aid
agency.
Further details from 'NZ Catholic' 3 December 2000 p. 23 and from Linda,
tel: 09 630 2818; PO Box 10 227 Auckland 1030. E-mail:
linda@tlmnz.org.nz
Closing date: 14 December 2000

Principal, Catholic Institute of Theology
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/auckland/cit
The Catholic Institute of Theology is a centre for theological
education, inquiry and research established by the Catholic Bishop of
Auckland. Further details from 'NZ Catholic' 3 December 2000 p. 23 and
from Professor Michael Pender, CIT Council Chairperson, 16 Waterloo
Quadrant, Auckland
Closing date: 31 January 2000

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Until next week, God bless.

Mike Leon
'kiwicath' list manager