Sunday, June 29, 2003

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"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (St Matthew's Gospel 16:13-19)

[From the Gospel Reading for the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul, Apostles]

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FROM THE CATHOLIC PRESS

Renewing the parish: 4 Speak up for God s sake, by Marian Tolley The Tablet (UK) 21/06/2003 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi?tablet-00755 Parish renewal begins when readers of the World proclaim it in the conviction that God is speaking. Then congregations sit up and listen....

Renewing the parish 5: At the Spirit café, by David Payne The Tablet (UK) Saturday, 28 June 2003 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi?tablet-00759 To support new fire, parishes need small groups. But how to form them? The director of Catholic Evangelisation Services explains the CaFE programme...

Timor Leste: Help us if you can Catholic Leader (Brisbane) 29 June, 2003 http://www.catholicleader.com.au/index.php?pgnum=2.5 East Timor, now officially called Timor Leste, may have celebrated its first birthday as a nation, but assistance is still badly needed. Salesian Brother Michael Lynch, a regular visitor to Australia's near neighbour, tells of the new country's needs...

Half empty or half full? Crunching numbers to look at Church's future http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20030620.htm Catholic News Service Jun-20-2003 Vatican City (CNS) -- Statisticians are supposed to be brutally honest, and the Vatican's number crunchers are no exception. So when the latest figures on the Universal Church came out in June, there was good news and bad news -- good enough to put a smile on the faces of Vatican optimists and bad enough to raise eyebrows among the worrywarts...

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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

"Prostitution Reform Bill Passes in New Zealand" Crosswalk.com http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1206715.html Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - By a single vote, New Zealand lawmakers Wednesday passed a bill decriminalizing prostitution, following months of sustained lobbying by religious and public policy groups who worry about the likely consequences of the proposed changes....

"Sex-trade law won't mean more brothels: mayor" Mytown.co.nz: Hawkes Bay 26.06.2003 http://tinyurl.com/fhdk [Comments on the decriminalisation of prostitution by among others Msgr. Tim Hannigan of Napier and the Anglican bishop of Waiapu John Bluck]

"Bringing law to a lawless land" (photo) NZ Herald 28.06.2003 http://tinyurl.com/fhdn The proposed Anzac intervention in the Solomon Islands could find career British policeman William Morrell, 48, in charge of a multi-national force aimed at returning the rule of law to what was once known as the Happy Isles. William and his wife Mary have been married for 27 years and are kindred spirits in that easy-going way that successful long-term couples have. The parents of two grown children, they say their Catholic faith is a vital component in their happy life....

"An eye for hidden lives" (photo) NZ Herald 26.06.2003 http://tinyurl.com/fhdq [Review of a retrospective exhibition of the work of art photographer Anne Noble at the New Gallery, Auckland] Extract: The most impressive of all of Noble's groups is the one she made when living In the Presence of Angels, among Benedictine nuns, an environment only a sympathetic Catholic woman could penetrate. This essay provides the outstanding photographs in the show with the most telling details, which are a combination of piety and oddity, quiet and hidden passion....

"State school ministry's priority " Otago Daily Times 25-June 2003 http://tinyurl.com/fhds Wanaka Primary School is further up the queue for capital funding than the Catholic primary school proposed for the town, the Ministry of Education says. The primary school board fears plans by Dunedin Bishop Len Boyle to open a Catholic school from a temporary Brownston St site next year will disrupt negotiations with the ministry for land for a new middle school and funds for new classrooms....

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'WHALE RIDER'

US Catholic Bishops' Conference Movie Reviews http://www.usccb.org/movies/w/whalerider.htm [Extract] Evocative coming-of-age tale set among contemporary New Zealand Maoris where a 12-year-old girl (Keisha Castle-Hughes) secretly trains to become the warrior-like tribal leader against the fierce objections of her tradition-bound grandfather, the aging chief (Rawiri Paratene). Castle-Hughes makes a radiant debut as the loving child whose youth belies her emotional and spiritual maturity. Indeed, her willingness to sacrifice herself for her people is Christ-like, and her ability to forgive her grandfather's many slights deeply touching. Writer-director Niki Caro sensitively weds the ancient culture's rites to hardscrabble times, in the process dramatically exploring the role of community, change, and father figures in the formation of youngsters....

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EVENTS

August 14-16 2003 New Zealand Catholic Schools' Convention Wellington Festival and Convention Centre http://nzceo.catholic.org.nz/2003convention.shtml

September 2003 'NZ Catholic' newspaper's National Art and Faith Competition Closing date: September 19 2003; works to be in by September 30; exhibition opens October 3. For paintings of a spiritual nature demonstrating the vitality, joy and hope found in Christian beliefs. Three categories, including one for works relating to Mary the mother of Jesus, and one for icons. Prizes to the value of $4750 Entry forms from "Art competition", NZ Catholic, PO Box 147-000, Ponsonby, Auckland 1034. Tel: (09) 524 8322. E-mail: artrel@xtra.co.nz