Sunday, March 19, 2000

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

THE GREAT JUBILEE - TO THE HOLY LAND

On Monday night our time, Pope John Paul arrives in Jordan at the start of a one-week pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He will visit all the principal localities associated with the life of Jesus of Nazareth as well as the Western (Wailing) Wall and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Starting on Tuesday I will update the bishops' Jubilee News and Events page at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html with links to print, audio and video reports of John Paul's pilgrimage as often as there are interesting reports to add, possibly every day.

Right now on 'News and Events' we have a 'dossier' compiled by the mission news agency Fides entitled: 'The Pope in the Holy Land (part 1) : "Here, little is said of man, nothing of women and almost too much about God." ' The author is an expert on Church state relations in the Middle East. He explains what impact the Pope's visit might have in the region and what kind of reception he can expect. The dossier describes the many Christian communities of the Middle East, with statistics.

The Catholic television broadcaster EWTN will transmit the principal ceremonies of the Pope's visit live and in repeat broadcasts, and my impression is that these broadcasts will also be viewable via their Web site. Under 'VIDEO' on the News & Events page you will see a link to EWTN's home page and a programme of the events to be broadcast. All times shown are NZ Standard Time.

WEL-COM - MARCH ISSUE

From this month's Wel-com, the Wellington and Palmerston North diocesan newspaper at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/welcom/front.html

'Pilgrimage celebrates new life'
Recently people gathered at St Mary's in Otaki, the oldest parish in the Wellington Archdiocese, to celebrate new life in an ecumenical pilgrimage to Pukekaraka Marae. Photo. Link to the Wellington Archdiocese's Jubilee calendar.

'Shaking the Capital - getting ready for the Big One'
Smokefree Capital Shakers netballer Marianne Goodman interviews organiser Chris Duthie-Jung about the Easter Tri-Series weekend at St Patrick's College Silverstream, a national event in the Taizé style for young adult Catholics (18-35 year-olds). Photo. Links to: ... Wellington and Lower Hutt Taizé Music Groups ... the Taizé Community ... Netball New Zealand

'The Lord of the Rings and the Christian faith', by Fr Edmund Little
When Mr Peter Jackson began filming J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, excitement became intense... Rarely in the publicity is it mentioned that Tolkien was a devout Catholic and that his work reflects his Faith. He wrote to a priest friend: "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously so in the revision". [Note: J. R. R. Tolkien's name appears in the list of editorial collaborators of the Jerusalem Bible's first edition (1966) M.L.] Picture of Bilbo Baggins. Links to: ... The Lord of the Rings movie site... the Complete Guide to Tolkien Resources.

NZCEO - LIGHTING NEW FIRES February 2000

Our sponsor the New Zealand Catholic Education Office publishes the newsletter 'Lighting New Fires' for Integrated Schools of which the majority are Catholic. (In New Zealand, the government funds the operating costs of schools with a special character under certain conditions, while allowing them to preserve their character. This arrangement is called 'integration' and schools participating in it are called 'Integrated Schools'.)

LNF reports the achievements of some sixty New Zealand schools and has information about a wide range of educational resources, secular and Christian. The Web edition of the Newsletter abounds in links to the school and resource sites in it, so even if you already receive the printed copy, the one on the Web is well worth a look: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/pubs/lnf/lnf.html

Until next time, God bless.

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager