Dear friends,

The new Catholic Directory for 2001 is currently being mailed out to those who ordered advance copies. It lists contact information and personnel for every Catholic school, parish, and diocese - and almost all Catholic organisations - in New Zealand recognised by our bishops. It's an invaluable handbook for anyone who regularly contacts Church workers in other parishes, dioceses or regions of NZ. The price per copy is NZ$20 plus postage. It can be ordered from: Catholic Communications Pompallier Diocesan Centre Private Bag, Ponsonby Auckland 1034, New Zealand Phone: + 64 9 378 8017 ; Fax: + 64 9 360 3061 Email: cathcomm@xtra.co.nz

Catholic Communications sends an invoice with the book.

The national portions of the Directory appear in full on the bishops' Web site, starting at: http://catholic.org.nz/cathcom/directory/frdirectory.html , that's to say: the directories of organisations which have a national scope (St Vincent de Paul, Caritas, Young Christian Workers, Catholic Enquiry Centre ...), plus the Chaplaincies, religious orders, seminaries and bishops' pages. I will be updating these Web pages from the latest directory over the next few weeks, and I will report progress in 'News & Notes' each week until it's completed.

Every best wish and all God's blessings.
Mike Leon
'kiwicath' list manager

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RELIGIOUS LIFE

The Discalced Carmelites (an enclosed order of nuns following the rule of St Teresa of Avila - d.1582) were the first religious order in New Zealand to open their own Web site. On it they publish an annual newsletter; the most recent one reports events in the life of the Christchurch Carmel during the Jubilee Year 2000. It is illustrated with hand-drawn watercolour pictures by a member of the community. For an inside view of cloistered life in our time, click over to: http://www.karmel.at/christchurch.nz/ccnews.htm

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FROM THE CATHOLIC PRESS

From: 'The Far East' March 2001 (monthly magazine of the New Zealand and Australian members of St Columban's Missionary Society http://www.columban.org.au/TFE/TrevorTrotter/FarEast.htm

'Prayer for missionaries' (Editorial) For many years we have been asking you to pray for missionaries and the people they serve. We want to acknowledge your cooperation in the missionary work of the Columbans and encourage you to continue to pray for our missionaries and those to whom they are sent ...

'Ministry to overseas Chinese' In October 2000, Chinese Catholics from around the world took part in the first ever Conference for the Apostolate among overseas Chinese, held in Rome as part of the celebrations for the Year of Jubilee. Participants came from Australia, Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia ...

'A dream comes true' For a long time the women of Candela Hill in Lima, Peru, had wished for a place where they could learn new skills, grow in self-confidence, meet new friends and feel a sense of belonging and community...

'Chinese Martyrs' On October 1 2000, John Paul II canonized 120 martyrs of the Church in China. For the Columbans, founded originally to work among the Chinese people, this was an event of great significance. However, due to the exceptionally negative reaction of the Chinese government the occasion was surrounded by controversy outside China and pressure placed upon Catholics inside China ... ( NB: The site's link to the story is faulty. The correct link is: http://www.columban.org.au/TFE/TrevorTrotter/March01_ChnseMrtyrs.htm )

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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 try to hand-copy newspaper Web addresses. Instead Select, Copy and Paste them into your browser's address line]

'A man strongly committed to life and to his community' (photo) Otago Daily Times 31 March 2001 http://www1.odt.co.nz/cgi-bin/search-display-story-online-new?PATH=02Apr2001/edi\ torial/content/ETF0188591ES.html&WORDS=catholic&DB=Editorial Mosgiel has lost a man who will be long remembered for his outstanding civic contributions to the community. John McGhie QM, died earlier this month, aged 81. Despite Mr McGhie being an active and devout Anglican, when he retired he attended the Roman Catholic Holy Cross Seminary, taking a course each year for 12 years ...

'Prester John's Talk of the Times' ODT 30 March 2001 http://www1.odt.co.nz/cgi-bin/search-display-story-online-new?PATH=30Mar2001/edi\ torial/content/ETI02B1705YH.html&WORDS=catholic&DB=Editorial Another 125th anniversary is about to be marked in Otago. Four Christian Brothers arrived in Dunedin 125 years ago on April 2 and within three weeks had established a primary school, the remodelled St Joseph's in Tennison St, with 129 pupils ...

'Sisters are leaving Taranaki in God's hands' (photo) Daily News (Taranaki) 30 March 2001 http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,725035a1885,FF.html The modern-day nun is far from the black cloaked, wimple wearing woman kneeling demurely in the Catholic church's front pews. In fact, they live very balanced lives, comprising work, prayer and plenty of leisure, according to Bell Block Sister Bridget Shannon, the last of a long line of Bell Block's Little Sisters of the Assumption. The Sisters' work is being wound up in Taranaki after 18 years of service in the region ...

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EVENTS

30 April - 28 September 2001 (Sydney, Australia) Kerygma Teams Discipleship Training School, Sydney, Kerygma Teams is a branch of the interconfessional lay-missionary organization Youth With A Mission. It supports Catholic parishes, renewal movements, and groups active in evangelization, mercy ministries, training and cross-cultural missions projects. Its Discipleship Training School is a five month intensive course which helps students to cultivate a vibrant relationship with God, identify their unique gifts and visions, exercise their faith and grow in character. Full details at: http://www.kerygmateams.org/html/locations/australia/index.html

Friday 20 April - Sunday 22 April Eucharistic Convention, Auckland Showground Details at: http://www.eucharistic-convention.com

18-22 April 2001 'Jesus 4 Real' Youth Camps Jesus 4 Real Ministries is an independent voluntary group of adults bringing the reality of Jesus to Catholic teenagers, and training adult leaders for Catholic youth work, through camps and seminars in the Wellington Archdiocese. Web site: http://members.xoom.com/Jesus4Real Contact: (04) 904 7217 ; (04) 905 6636


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EMPLOYMENT

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

Deputy Executive Director, New Zealand Catholic Education Office, Wellington. Details in 'NZ Catholic' 25 March 2001, p.23 and 'Wel-com' March 2001 p.19; and from the Executive Director (Brother Pat Lynch) : nzceogs@xtra.co.nz Home page: http://catholic.org.nz/nzceo Applications close: 6 April 2001