Sunday, March 12, 2000

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

Many thanks for your reports on the ecumenical services for Ash Wednesday.

Thank you also to Anthony Trenwith for the tip about the Prayer for Lent Web site 'Sacred Space' - http://www.sacredspace.ie - , a step-by-step guide to reflective prayer centred on a daily Gospel passage. I haven't had a chance myself to look around for useful Lent pages on the Internet but if you know of others, please send them in. Ideas for making Lent come alive for children at home and school would be especially welcome.

EASTER TRI-SERIES

To Welliington-area residents: At Easter weekend young adult Catholics from all over the country are coming to St. Patrick's College Silverstream for the Easter tri-series celebration of the liturgy, for three nights: Thursday, Friday and Saturday 20-22 April. If you can offer accommodation for the three nights, please contact Chris Duthie-Jung on: 565 3819 ... (025) 539 246

If any 'kiwicatholic' is actually *going* to the Easter Tri-series, it would be great to read your first-hand report about the weekend.

THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000

The document 'Memory and Reconciliation: the Church and the Faults of the Past' caused quite a stir even outside Catholic circles. There are new links to commentaries on it and articles in the secular press on the bishops' Jubilee News and Events page:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html

There's more to come. Tomorrow, our time, is designated the Jubilee Year's 'Day of Asking Forgiveness' at which Pope John Paul will ask God's forgiveness on behalf of the Church for the times when Christians have been 'counter-witnesses' to the Gospel . By Wednesday there will be more links on the 'News and Events' page to reports about the Day in the Catholic and secular media.

Of the newspaper articles to date, by far the best I've seen is a thoughtful piece by Chris McGillion in the Sydney Morning Herald at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0003/07/features/features6.html

The only flaw in the article that I could see was the use of the term 'non-Catholics'. Most of us are so used to this term, we think nothing of it. I suppose there is no harm in it within Catholic circles, but to the person so described it can appear discourteous. There are several denominations which identify with the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church" of the Nicene Creed. And how would you feel if an Anglican writer or speaker referred to you and your fellow-Catholics as "non-Anglicans"? If you are communicating with a wide audience, please consider a positive alternative such as "other Christians".

MEDIA RELEASES

A press release from Catholic Communications advertises an international architecture competition. Any professional may take part who has designed a recently-built Christian devotional structure. There is a substantial cash prize. Details at:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/news/news.html

Our sponsor NZ Catholic Education Office has two new press releases: 'Schools trying to keep drugs at bay' and 'School Certificate reprieve' at:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/nzceo/media/M1.html

CATHOLIC PRESS

From the fortnightly national newspaper 'NZ Catholic':
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html

'Talkback blasphemy not ruled offensive'
A Radio Pacific talkback host has survived a complaint against him for telling a caller to "take a swallow of the Body of Christ and have a few gins with it". [Links to the Broadcasting Standards Authority and a copy of their decision on the complaint]

'Four secondary head students from one class'
Staff at a small Christchurch Catholic primary school are "chuffed" at the disproportionate success of some former pupils. The pupils were part of the same class at Our Lady of the Assumption School, Hoon Hay. Now aged 17, four are head students at their respective secondary schools and another four hold either deputy-head or other senior student positions. [Photo. Link to Hoon Hay school.]

'St John's students top in NZ '
Two student at St John's College, Hamilton topped the country in School Certificate subjects, in maths and science [Link to St John's College]
***********************************

Next week in 'News & Notes': stories from Wel-com, the diocesan newspaper of Wellington and Palmerston North, and the schools' news and educational resources newsletter 'Lighting New Fires' from NZCEO.

Until next post, every best wish and all God's blessings.

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

Sunday, March 5, 2000

'JUBILEE NEWS AND EVENTS'

This page on the bishops' Web site -http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html - is updated at least twice a week with fresh links. Under the heading 'March 12 - Day of Forgiveness' there are a couple of items about the forthcoming document 'Memory and Reconciliation: the Church and the Errors of the Past' (the English translation is due to be released on Ash Wednesday, our time). The second of these two links opens a really useful summary of the document. Other new features on the page are clearly marked.

CHURCH DIRECTORIES

Five of our six dioceses - all except Palmerston North - have full Web sites packed with useful information such as the addresses of all their parishes, schools and diocesan offices and Mass times for every parish. As well, a 'national organisations' directory is on the bishops' Web site. It lists contact information and brief descriptions for scores of Catholic religious orders chaplaincies, laypeople's organisations and publishers plus contact and biographical information about our bishops.

All this information is yours at the click of a mouse. I strongly recommend that you open the Catholic bishops' home page -http://www.catholic.org/newzealand - and click on Bookmarks/Add bookmark or Favorites/Add Favorite near the top of the screen so you can go straight to it whenever you need it. At the Catholic home page you see one button named 'National Directory' - which opens the 'national organisations' table of contents - and another marked 'Dioceses and Parishes' which opens a list of the six dioceses in the form of links to their home pages.

'GOD AND GOVERNMENT: THE NEW ZEALAND EXPERIENCE'

The book with this title has just been published by the University of Otago Press. You can read a detailed description of it plus ordering info. on two Web sites: http://www.newsroom.co.nz/Story.asp?S=15731 and http://www.scoop.co.nz/archive/scoop/stories/4d/49/200003020049.f66bc957.htm l

Topics written about include: whether and to what extent New Zealand is a secular society; religion in New Zealand history; government support for churches; immigration and religious pluralism; religious education (contributed by NZCEO's Brother Pat Lynch); and New Zealand's Christian political parties.

Until next post, every best wish and all God's blessings.

Mike Leon 'kiwicatholic' list manager

Sunday, February 27, 2000

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

A very warm welcome to our several new members. 'News and Notes' is a weekly post to tell you what's new on the New Zealand Catholic Internet. I also sometimes advise about alternative ways of receiving posts to 'kiwicatholic' and occasionally give details of events in the coming week likely to interest our forum members.

Today - Sunday 27 February from 4pm - the congregations of Auckland churches will come together for "Church in the Park", an evening service of praise and worship, dance performances and a shared meal at Victoria Park, Fanshaw Street, Auckland City. More details are here: http://challengeweekly.co.nz/News.htm If you go along, please write a line or two about the event for 'kiwicatholic'.

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

From Tui Motu InterIslands, February 2000
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/tuimotu

"Therapy in the the context of ecology" by Des Casey Des is a counsellor and family therapist in Henderson, Auckland who asked his colleagues at a recent conference of the NZ Association of Counsellors: what is the point of all we do if the planet itself is destroyed? Photos. Links to: Forest & Bird Protection Society; the NZ Catholic bishops' pastoral letter 'A Consistent Ethic of Life'; the Waitangi Tribunal; and the Young Christian Workers International Web site

"Stand-off at Waitangi" by Cabrini Makasiale A reflection on the recent dispute over whether the Prime Minister should be permitted to speak on the Waitangi marae. Link to a newspaper report describing the background to the controversy.

From NZ Catholic newspaper Sunday 27 February
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html

"Compassion Sisters cancel debt of $100,000" To truly celebrate the Jubilee Year and the millennium, the Sisters of Compassion at Island Bay, Wellington are writing off a $100,000 debt owed to them by the neighbouring Tapu Te Rangi Marae. Photo. Links to the Sisters of Compassion and the Environment and Conservation Organisations of New Zealand (ECO) conference at Tapu Te Rangi Marae.

"America's Cup people join in parish life" Participants in the Americas Cup yacht regatta and their families have become members of the St Patrick's Cathedral congregation in central Auckland over the past months. Two became Eucharist ministers while here and several children took part regularly in the children's liturgy. Photo. Link to America's Cup 2000

Church seeks fairer accident compensation deal The Church will probably not take advantage of an accident compensation concession signalled by the Government earlier this month. Link to the Accident Compensation Corporation


The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 - News & Events
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html

Pope John Paul's pilgrimage to Egypt and Mt. Sinai - February 24-26 Press, audio and video reports of John Paul's welcome to Egypt, his addresses to the Egyptian Catholic and other Christian communities and his visit to Mount Sinai.

Next month there will be possibly the most controversial events of the whole Jubilee Year: the publication on 2 March of "Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Faults of the Past," a statement by an international theological commission chaired by Cardinal Ratzinger. This will be followed on 12 March (the first Sunday of Lent) by a "Day of Asking Pardon," with Pope John Paul presiding.

The document attempts to explain how the Church - in the form of the Body of Christ - remains holy, while the Church - in the form of its individual members - is made up of sinners. It calls on Christians to learn from past errors - it gives examples - so as to clarify and purify their understanding of the faith and the mystery of the Church.

Our Jubilee News & Events page will carry a link to the full text of "Memory and Reconciliation" and to constructive press comments about it.

Also in March Pope John Paul goes on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and that will be fully covered too on News & Events.

Until next post, God bless.

Mike Leon 'kiwicatholic' list manager

Sunday, February 20, 2000

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

OneList's handy 'Daily Digest' option puts all the messages to 'kiwicatholic' into a single e-mail to send once day. However it also has a drawback. If there's a message in the Digest you want to reply to, and you click your e-mail screen's 'Reply' button, the whole daily digest is copied into your reply. If you receive the posts to 'kiwicatholic' this way, please take care to delete all the messages that are not the one you're replying to.

In this week's Internet edition of the American newspaper 'National Catholic Reporter' there is a series of articles about the Religious Life (in the Catholic tradition, this refers to the special calling of members of religious orders). They are principally about the Mercy Sisters who have adapted most successfully to changing times. The articles focus not on why young people *don't* join the Congregation, but on those that *are* joining, people of the most impressive qualities.

Please recommend the series to any one you know who is considering a religious vocation, and to friends and relatives who are members of religious orders. You might consider printing out some or all of the articles to pass on. The first page of the series is:
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/021800/rellife.htm

If you don't often do so, you might like to drop in at our bishops' 'Catholic Press' page -
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/frpress.html where - chances are - you'll be pleasantly surprised.

On our 'JUBILEE NEWS & EVENTS' page:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html
updated on Wednesdays and Saturdays ....

February 18: Jubilee of Artists:
"The partnership between art and faith must be renewed." Pope John Paul's message to artists

February 18-20: Jubilee of Permanent Deacons:
Three new reports

February 24-26 : Pope John Paul's pilgrimage to Egypt
A special report by the missionary news agency FIDES on the Christian history and communities of Egypt.

Next week in 'News & Notes': Tui Motu InterIslands magazine's first issue of the year, focusing on the environment, plus stories from next weekend's 'NZ Catholic' newspaper.

God bless,

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

Sunday, February 13, 2000

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

With Bishop Denis Browne's blessing, 'kiwicatholics' Ingrid and Willie Turner - wikpa@hotmail.com - are leading a Married for Life course in Hamilton on 22 February. The courses are sponsored by Marriage Ministries International, a movement for strengthening Christian marriages : http://www.marriage.org/nz (click on 'Groups in New Zealand' for a link to a fine photo of our Ingrid and Willie)

On the New Zealand Catholic Internet this week ...

CATHOLIC PRESS

From 'NZ Catholic', our national fortnightly newspaper
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html :

'Abortion review may be accepted by SPUC'
[Philip Lynch of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child believes an announced Government review of abortion law may be acceptable, as long as it looks at making practice consistent with the intent of the lawmakers. Photo. Links to Justice Minister Phil Goff's press release announcing the review, and SPUC's reply to it.]

'Sex-drugs grading called misdirected'
[Brother Pat Lynch, the director of the New Zealand Catholic Education Office says the Government's intention to assess the knowledge of fifth-formers on sexuality and drugs is inappropriate. Photo. Links to NZCEO and the Ministry of Education's new draft health syllabus.]

'Overseas service draws volunteers'
[Article on the work of Catholic Overseas Volunteer Service. Link to the COVS home page and a job description for the (currently vacant) position of National Coordinator]

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

'Jubilee pilgrimages to Paraparaumu and Otaki'
[Photos. Link to Wellington Archdiocese Jubilee events calendar]

'Government considering radical rethink of abortion laws',
[Marilyn Pryor, Associate Editor of Wel-com and past-President of SPUC, is confident that the proposed legislative changes can improve the present situation in a pro-life direction. Graph: Abortions in New Zealand 1976-1998. Same links as the related 'Wel-com' story]

'Day for single mothers in Blenheim'
[Report of the day and its aftermath, organised by the Wellington Archdiocesan Family Ministry. Details of Family Ministry training courses in Wellington and Nelson. Link to Wellington Archdio. Commission for the Family]

NEW WEB SITES

On Faith Central, a resource site for religious education in New Zealand
Catholic schools: Biblical Studies - http://www.faithcentral.net.nz/inclass/biblical.htm

Family Life International: http://www.fli.org.nz
"FLI promotes the sanctity of life and the dignity of the family by teaching and fostering chastity, marriage preparation and Natural Fertility Regulation according to Christian morality and the teachings of the Catholic Church."

JUBILEE - NEWS & EVENTS
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html

Links to latest reports on the Jubilee of the Sick and of Health workers (concludes tomorrow, our time), and to Pope John Paul's homily for the Jubilee of the Consecrated Life.

The next major event will be John Paul's pilgrimage to Egypt and Mount Sinai in ten days' time.

God bless,

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

Sunday, February 6, 2000

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

On the New Zealand Catholic Internet this week ...

News & Events of the Great Jubilee
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/jubilee/news.html
The main event in Rome this week is the Jubilee of the Sick and of Health
Workers, 9-12 February. Among the pilgrims for this Jubilee will be
'Superman' Christopher Reeve, now a paraplegic. If any one has a right to
say to these pilgrims "I know how you feel", it's 79-year-old Pope John Paul
and I would think that this particular encounter will be the one people
remember long after the Year is past. Our Jubilee 'News & Events' page of
press, audio and video links is updated every Wednesday and Saturday.

Christchurch Carmelites: Christmas Newsletter
http://www.karmel.at/christchurch.nz/ccnews.htm
It's a remarkable fact that the Christchurch community of this contemplative
(enclosed) order of nuns was the New Zealand pioneer among local religious
orders on the Internet. Their Christmas Newsletter is a visual feast, and if
you read nothing else you have just got to read the (true) story of Herman
and the Cargo of Death. If you understand Web page addresses you will see
that - once again - a local community has accepted the offer of their
parent body to host their pages free of charge. The '.at' after 'karmel'
stands for 'Austria'; the Austrian Carmelites maintain the international Web
site of their order.

CathSoc - Auckland University Catholic Students Association
http://www.cda.org.nz/cathsoc
This new web site is composed and maintained by 'kiwicatholic' Andrew
Trenwith who is also the Webmaster for the diocese of Auckland -
http://www.cda.org.nz/main.htm

For good measure, I have to the bishops' main 'Education' page all the Web
sites I could find (nine so far) for New Zealand tertiary education
chaplains. The Education page is at:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/education/education.html

Links to all the new pages are in "What's New" on the bishops' Web site:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand

In next week's News & Notes, online articles from the latest issues of 'NZ
Catholic' and 'Wel-com' newspapers. A little later N&N will feature articles
from our national evangelisation magazine 'EV 2000', the independent
Catholic monthly 'Tui Motu InterIslands' and NZ Catholic Education Office's
'Lighting New Fires'.

God bless,

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager

Sunday, January 30, 2000

Dear 'kiwicatholics',

Here we go: the first of the 'News and Notes' series of (more or less)
weekly posts, with summaries of stories in the New Zealand Catholic
Press online, plus news of the New Zealand Catholic Internet.

CATHOLIC PRESS

From this weekend's 'NZ Catholic' newspaper, at:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathcom/press/nzc/front.html

'ICEL bishops discuss attack from Vatican'
Bishop Cullinnane's report from the London meeting of the International
Committee on English in the Liturgy which has been in strife with the
Vatican Congregation for liturgical texts. Photo. Links to: Web site of
the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy (includes a monthly
newsletter) ... Cardinal Medina Estivez' letter criticising the ICEL.

'SMSM vocations too numerous for novitiate'
The novitiate of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary in
Avondale is up for sale because it hasn't got room for all the new
novices. It's moving to premises in Sydney. Photo. Link to the
international Web site of the Marist Missionary Sisters - SMSM

'Auckland priest takes on global roles'
Mt Wellington parish priest and Vietnamese community chaplain Fr Andrew
Nguyen Huu Le has accepted a role as special adviser to the United
States Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom. Photo.
Links to: "The Heart of a Priest", a talk by Fr Andrew ... a
biographical background on Robert A Seiple, the ambassador mentioned in
the story ... an interview with the Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City
(Saigon) .. and a link to the Asian Catholic news service UCAN.

NZ Catholic newspaper is sending me the text and pictures for its chosen
stories this year, whereas before I was scanning them from the printed
copy. If the new arrangement holds up, I will soon have time to include
a full table of contents for each issue of 'NZC' to draw to attention to
the rich variety of other articles and information in our national
newspaper.

And speaking of newspapers, for an insight into how the other half
lives, drop in on 'Challenge Weekly' http://challengeweekly.co.nz
It's New Zealand's only weekly Christian newspaper and many of the
issues raised in it come up in 'kiwicatholic' also. Actually, only a
fortnight ago the home page title at the top of the screen read: "New
Zealand's only *Christian* newspaper". I wrote to the editors pointing
out that they were being a bit rough on 'NZ Catholic' and 'Wel-com' and
behold: they changed the title.

NEW WEB PAGES

New sites on the New Zealand Catholic Internet include:
Geraldine Parish, South Canterbury (created by 'kiwicatholic' Elizabeth
O'Brien);
the Capuchin Franciscans (responsible for the Secular Franciscan Order
in NZ);
Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions RNDM.
The 'Media releases' page of our sponsor NZ Catholic Education Office
announces a new school: Mary McKillop in Mangere, south Auckland, and
some reflections on education and New Zealand society by the director of
NZCEO Br Pat Lynch, recently returned from a Unesco conference overseas.

Links to all of these are on the 'What's New' page of the bishops' site
at: http://www.catholic.org/newzealand

The RNDM and Capuchin* sites are good examples of how simple it can be
for our religious orders and larger apostolates to have a presence on
the Internet. In both cases a single page gives basic background
information on the Order's New Zealand activities with local contact
details. This won't need updating very often.

The page is linked to the international Web site maintained by the
parent religious order, where readers can find out all they need to know
about the historical background and specific apostolate of the Order,
which also hosts the New Zealand page on its server and quite possibly
composed the page. In other words, there's nothing to it, where a local
Catholic group has an international parent body with its own Web site.

Let's pray that there will soon be many more of these simple but useful
pages filling in the colourful mosaic of Catholic life in New Zealand on
the World Wide Web; and that through them, many of our fellow-Kiwis will
be drawn to "come and see" where and how we live our life of faith.

* "Cappuccino" in Italian. Brown habit, brown coffee see?

THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000

The bishops' home page now has a prominent link by this title to all our
resources and links on the Jubilee. The "News and Events" page carries
links to New Zealand and overseas press, audio and video reports on the
main events of the Jubilee Year.

I update the News and Events page at least twice a week so you might
want to bookmark it separately in your browser. Open this page:
http://www.catholic.org/newzealand/cathom/jubilee/news.html
then open the browser's 'Bookmarks' or 'Favorites' menu and click either
'Add to Favorites' or 'Add Bookmark' as the browser may be.

PARACHUTE FESTIVAL EXTREME ..

... is the major annual Christian music festival in New Zealand; home
page: http://www.parachute.co.nz
It takes place on Waitangi weekend 4-6 February at Totara Springs Camp,
Matamata. There'll also be a sports tournament and guest speakers. To
any 'kiwicatholic' who goes to the Festival: please consider sending a
short report to your e-mail forum.

Every best wish and all God's blessings,

Mike Leon
'kiwicatholic' list manager