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'NZ CATHOLIC'
No. 204, January 30-February 12, 2005
http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz
From the current issue ...
$1 million for tsunami appeal Wellington - An overwhelming response from the Catholic community has given nearly $1 million to Caritas for relief work among people affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami....
Priest attends Mt Erebus service Wellington - As 2004 was coming to a close, Fr Ron Bennett from St Joseph's parish in Upper Hutt flew to Antarctica and joined in the 25th anniversary remembrance of the Mt Erebus disaster.....
Challenging set of stations for Christchurch cathedral Christchurch - Beauty, pathos and challenge spring forth from the Stations of the Cross completed by sculptor Llew Summers for the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in its centennial year....
Also in this issue ...
NATIONAL From the civil union debate ... ERO File
FEATURES "Every day an adventure" on ancient pilgrimage ... Little Sisters' century celebrated ... Jamaican parish was mission for Samoan group ... Shelter proves worth ... Church is lent new organ ... Poland's churches are not museums ... Challenging set of Stations for cathedral ... Lent comes early this year ... Location of Holy Grail confirmed by scholar
INTERNATIONAL Pope tells diplomats of priorities for world ... Evidence causes atheist philosopher to waver ... Pope escaped Hitler's kidnap plan ... The Pope: Immigrants' integration needs to be balanced ... Iraq gunmen release kidnapped archbishop ... Australia seminary numbers rising ... Dutch docs want to kill the "tired" ... Famine tax introduced ... Vatican calls meeting to help Asian fishermen ... School becomes homosexual-issue battleground ... "Vegetative" Terri alive, says lawyer ... Bishops say condoms still barred... "Jane Roe" seeks rehearing ... Hopes rise for peace in Sudan ... Prison failings demand new approach: Bishops ... Massgoing "a profound need" ... Late weekend Mass key?
OPINION Editorial: God, nature and the tsunami's toll ... Malcolm Evans, Letters ... Joy Cowley: Searching for the real mystery beyond Dan Brown's theories ... Ronald Rolheiser: Honouring Jacques Dupuis ... Parish Diary: A shock for our society ... Others Say
REGULAR FEATURES Books ... Monitor ... Clips ... Net Scene ... Young Adults ... The Doolans... Family Talk ... Caption Contest ... Who Said? ... Cryptic Crossword ... 40 Years Ago ... Holy Lives ... That Word! ... Photo Prayer ... Scripture... Wit's End.
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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Parachute 05 set to rock out http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/471061%3fformat=html The biggest Christian music festival in the Southern Hemisphere is now open for business. Thousands of musical pilgrims have been heading to Hamilton for Parachute 05 to watch and listen to Christian bands from around the globe....
Parachute Festival Attracts Thousands http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-4061598,00.html More than 22,000 people have flocked to Mystery Creek for the Parachute Christian music festival. It is reported to be the hottest and sunniest day in Hamilton this year....
Sandra Paterson: Encounter with porn http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?ObjectID=10008513 Seeing this is my first column for the year, I was planning on writing something nice and light about my camping adventures on the East Cape. But then, a few days ago, I found a package in my letterbox containing an unlabelled video cassette...
Schools determined to deal with ERO's concerns http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/0,2106,3168997a6497,00.htm\ l Penrose High and St Pius X schools are confident 2005 will be a good year -despite critical reports from the Education Review Office. The schools were reviewed in November and have been told to make major changes before their next inspections at the end of this year....
Human Rights Commission. 'On the Bright Side' - January 2005 http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0501/S00200.htm Here are this month's acknowledgments from the Race Relations Commissioner for positive contributions to race relations in New Zealand ... Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand: For the Celebrating Cultural Diversity programme, 2005....
Priests marrying is conceivable http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/470615%3fformat=html Representatives of the Catholic Church in New Zealand say the idea of allowing priests to break their celibacy is conceivable, but unlikely to happen in the near future...
No change to rule on celibacy http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/0,2106,3167905a6530,00.html Catholic priests are in short supply, but no approach is coming from Christchurch to relax the rule on celibacy. The Vicar-General of the Christchurch Catholic diocese, Monsignor Gerry O'Connor, said he was unaware of any talks among Canterbury priests on celibacy...
Church dweller leaves of own accord http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/470617%3fformat=html Parishioners at St Annes Catholic Church in Harihari, in the South Island, have been told their confessions remain secret despite the fact that a squatter has been living in the roof for years. Police were going to remove the man, known locally as Mr Fritz, who was refusing to come down from his hiding place, but he has come down of his own accord....
Solo mums 'can't wait to return to work' http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3167736a10,00.html Most women on the domestic purposes benefit want to get off it and start working, a Hamilton solo mother says. ...
Teacher 'in sin' departs http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/0,2106,3165798a6530,00.html A Catholic teacher who was rejected for a full-time job, partly because he was "living in sin", no longer works for the school concerned. Sean Thomson spent the last three of a 20-year Catholic teaching career working part-time at St Joseph's School in Rangiora....
[The full text of the following news item is not available free of charge on the Radio NZ Website. It can be read in full via the 'Newztext' service provided by many public libraries to their borrowers] Catholic Church To Ban Civil Unis From Churches Radio New Zealand Newswire - 23/01/2005:10:42 The Catholic Church says civil unions ceremonies will be banned from their churches. Lyndsay Freer, the communications director for the Catholic Church, says neither heterosexual or homosexual civil unions will be held Catholic churches....
The tsunami questions man about his limits and the reasons for evil, says Card Sodano http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2413
Film Highlights Slain Priest Who Stood Up to the Mafia http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=65132
Turin Shroud Older Than Thought http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050124/shroud.html
Polish court fines satirist for mocking name of the Pope http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=604592
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FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES
Christians from every denomination meet where Jesus was baptised http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2448 Amman (AsiaNews) - About 15,000 Christians from Jordan and the Holy Land came today to the shores of the Jordan River to the spot where, according to tradition, Jesus was baptised. Holy Mass was celebrated by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, with seven leaders of other Churches with a presence in the Holy Land. Protestant leaders from both sides of the Jordan were also present....
The gentle power of a saver of souls: 'Father Joe: the man who saved my soul ' by Tony Hendra (book review) http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/book_review.cgi/past-00219 From the outside this looks like a standard personal-growth potboiler. But 'Father Joe' turns the nostrums of the self-help manuals inside out. We find life not by searching for it, but by being so caught up in the lives of others that we forget our own needs completely. By being loved, and by being shown how to love....
Gentle into that good night http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi/tablet-00974 When I was 18, I went with my sister to see our uncle in a place that was then called St Joseph's Hospice for the Dying, in east London. It's an uncompromising name and we were nervous, not relishing the prospect of witnessing terrible terminal agonies at close quarters. But we were very fond of him and we braved it. It was astonishing....
What the Pope's Message Says About the Elderly http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=65462 Vatican City, Jan. 27, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Bishop André-Mutien Léonard of Namur, Belgium, was called to Rome to present this year's papal Lenten Message, which is an appeal to love the life of the elderly. In this interview with ZENIT, Bishop Léonard, 64, explains that the theme of the message -- "Loving the Lord ... means life to you, and length of days" -- is particularly forceful, as the one who writes is an elderly man who shows the world every day that all life is worth living...
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SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ
Pope's Message for 60th Anniversary of Liberation of Auschwitz: "No One Is Permitted to Pass by the Tragedy of the Shoah" http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=65463
The Holocaust gives Europe a chance to think about its faults and future, says Father Jaeger http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2444 Rome (AsiaNews) - David-Maria A. Jaeger is a Franciscan priest, the only Israeli-born Catholic priest raised by Jewish parents. He is well-placed to look at the past and talk about what in many European countries has already become an annual recurrence: Holocaust Remembrance Day....
New Zealand remembers Auschwitz http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/470715%3fformat=html About 100 people have gathered at an Auckland synagogue to remember the deaths of more than a million Jews and others killed at Auschwitz. Other victims of Nazi atrocities totalled an estimated 5.5 million. Catholic and Protestant clergy also were sent to concentration camps as well as Jehovah's Witnesses...
Holocaust a "Stain on History," Says Vatican Address at U.N. Recalls Liberation of Nazi Camps by the Allies http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=65321
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CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
MEDIA RELEASES
http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php
Pope John Paul calls on media to promote peace and mobilise aid (26 Jan 2005) In his message to mark the Catholic Church's annual World Communications Day, Pope John Paul emphasised the enormous potential of the media for promoting peace and building bridges between peoples....
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
Alternative priests' council hits back on mandatory celibacy Sainthood prospect for mother who died refusing abortion Pope's Lenten message urges respect for elderly Iraqi bishop says voting is a moral duty Cardinal says 'faith in Christ' the focus of ecumenism Bishop stands up to Vatican on retirement requirement
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CARITAS AOTEAROA NZ
http://www.caritas.org.nz
NEWSROOM
Whatever happened to community responsibility? 26 January , 2005: Mr Brash's proposals for welfare reform would see greater responsibility for the needy and vulnerable in our society passed from the State to church and community agencies, as was the case in the 1990s, says Catholic social justice agency Caritas...
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CHRISTCHURCH CARMELITES' NEWSLETTER
Every year, the Sisters of the Christchurch Carmel publish a newsletter on their Website, illustrated with photographs and small watercolour drawings by a member of the community. In the Christmas 2004 Newsletter, at http://www.karmel.at/~chch/ccnews.htm , the Sisters write about the highlights of the community's year, and Sister Cushla contributes her personal account of the day of her Solemn Profession, with photographs of the event.
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"THE WORD FROM ROME"
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
A weekly column by the National Catholic Reporter's full-time correspondent in Rome, John L. Allen Jr.
Summary of the column for January 28, 2005 : Week of Prayer for Christian Unity; 'One strike' abuse policy being looked at; Praise for Fr. Marcial Maciel and the Legionaries of Christ; Condom discussion takes nuance and clarity; A 'war between the generations'; The little Madonna of Civitavecchia and Medjugorge; More on the American sex abuse scandals
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EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
Pastoral Development Co-ordinator, Hibiscus Coast Catholic Parish (St Francis, Manly; St John the Evangelist, Orewa) http://www.hbcparish.org.nz Further details in 'NZ Catholic' Jan 30 - Feb 12 2005 p. 19, and from The Secretary, Staffing Committee, St John's Parish, 180 Centreway Road, Orewa. E-mail: Jamarell@xtra.co.nz
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Saturday, January 29, 2005
Sunday, January 23, 2005
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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Funeral frolics upset Catholics NZ Herald 20.01.05 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10007295 The Catholic Church will move quickly to introduce formal guidelines for funeral services in New Zealand if funeral-goers become as unruly as some of their Australian counterparts....
Last orders called on rowdy funerals By Johann Vannisselroy Otago Daily Times Jan 20, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/3le3g If you want to crank up Metallica, tell a dirty joke or scull a beer at the next funeral you attend, your chances are better if it's not being held at a Roman Catholic church....
The call to aid http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/0,2106,3163357a12816,00.html The Press (Chch) 22 Jan 2005 As thousands flee disaster zones, a group of skilled New Zealanders head the other way. Warren Gamble finds out what drives aid-agency workers...
NZ silent for victims of tsunami (photo) The Press (Chch) 17 January 2005 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3158805a10,00.html From the broken hearts of family and friends to a line of honour on a Christchurch beach, New Zealanders stood silent to remember victims of the Asian tsunami yesterday.
"Thank you Holy Father, my captors were moved your words" abducted Catholic archbishop Casmoussa said in an interview with Fides a few hours after his release http://www.fides.org/eng/news/2005/0501/19_3919.html Mosul (Fides Service) - Gratitude to Pope John Paul for his prompt intervention was the first thought voiced by abducted Iraqi Catholic Archbishop of Mosul an interview a few hours after his release....
"The pain of separation is ever more intensely felt in the face of the challenges of a world waiting for clear and unanimous witness of the Gospel from all believers in Christ" the Pope said at the general audience during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity ... http://www.fides.org/eng/news/2005/0501/19_3924.html
French cardinal carries out pope's mission at Auschwitz a place with painful personal meaning http://tinyurl.com/3zmrj Paris (AP) When the pope called with a delicate request, Paris Archbishop Jean-Marie Lustiger hesitated at first. Pope John Paul II wanted Lustiger to represent him at ceremonies to mark the liberation of Auschwitz. Lustiger, a Jewish convert to Catholicism, lost his mother at the concentration camp....
Catholic organization screening priests on cruise ships Associated Press 17/1/05 http://www.abcactionnews.com/stories/2005/01/050117priests.shtml The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has started screening those celebrating Mass on cruise ships, a plan geared toward preventing former, rental and even fraudulent priests from ministering to Catholic passengers...
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CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
MEDIA RELEASES
http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php
Historic gathering for Catholic Church in New Zealand (19 Jan 2005) For the first time since the arrival in New Zealand of the first Catholic orders of religious women and men some 170 years ago, a general assembly of those orders will take place later this week. It will be held at St Catherine's College in Kilbirnie, Wellington from 20 to 23 January...
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
Condom controversy continues The controversy unleashed yesterday by a spokesman for the Spanish Catholic Bishops' Conference has caused much confusion in headlines around the world. The Spanish Bishops have denied any change. Bishop Prowse in Melbourne defended the Roman position and said there would be no change in Australia.
Australian resources for Year of Eucharist released The Australian Catholic Bishops yesterday issued a program for the celebration of the Year of the Eucharist, focusing on the importance of celebrating Sunday Mass.
Total Catholic aid to Tsunami recovery effort now at $500m The Vatican Information Service indicated yesterday that Catholic aid agencies around the world have now contributed more than $500m to the Tsunamic relief effort. In Australia, Catholic Mission, has set up what it describes as an "unprecedented solidarity fund".
Goodall case causing more embarrassment to Church Fr Terence Norman Goodall, 64, from Penshurst, yesterday admitted two counts of indecent assault in the Sydney District Court. He will be sentenced next week.
Two guilty for murdering Colombian Archbishop The two murderers of Colombian Archbishop, Isaias Duarte, were sentenced to a combined total of 71 years gaol for the crime.
Posthumous marriage annulments on rise in Italy According to a report in The Independent (UK) Roman Catholic Italy is witnessing a boom in demand for posthumous marriage annulments with many unions hitting the rocks as soon as one of the partners is lowered into the ground.
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FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES
Candlelight vigil and mass for Zhao Ziyang http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2393 Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - At least 20,000 people are expected at a candlelight vigil to honour the former Chinese Communist Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang. Catholics who remember him as the party reformer shall hold a requiem mass for him this Sunday, January 23....
Where Was God During the Disaster? Civiltà Cattolica Points to 3 Lessons of Tsunami http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=65065 Rome, Jan. 20, 2005 (Zenit.org).- There are at least three lessons to be learned from the tsunami, says the latest issue of the review Civiltà Cattolica: the precariousness of human beings, the need for solidarity and the need for conversion....
New Plenary Indulgence to Mark Year of the Eucharist http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64735 Vatican City, Jan. 14, 2005 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II has approved a special plenary indulgence to mark the Year of the Eucharist....
On the Why of Indulgences http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64859 Rome, Jan. 17, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Instead of a "mercenary" attitude toward the indulgences offered during the Year of the Eucharist, this period must be lived with an attitude of openness to God's mercy, says a theologian....
Is Rolling Stone Afraid of the Bible? Christianity Today, January 17 2005 http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/103/53.0.html The latest issue of Rolling Stone just arrived in my office. It's loaded with ads that promise us the world, but nary a word about a new Bible. Zondervan, the nation's largest Bible publisher, tried to buy an ad in RS for Today's New International Version (TNIV), but got turned away. There's no use of the word "God" or "Christ." But apparently Rolling Stone objected to the word "truth" in the ad's text. "It doesn't quite feel right in the magazine," the general manager of RS's parent company told USA Today....
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CARITAS AOTEAROA NZ
http://www.caritas.org.nz
Government Tsunami Funding Package Positively Received 18 January, 2005:"The additional $58 million pledged today, together with the $10 million already given, is a great boost for the relief and recovery efforts; but in order for aid packages to equate to success on the ground, many other issues need to be addressed," says Caritas Director Mike Smith....
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"THE WORD FROM ROME"
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
A weekly column by the National Catholic Reporter's full-time correspondent in Rome, John L. Allen Jr.
Summary of the column for January 20, 2005 : Christians in Iraq; The pope and the rabbis; More on Pius XII and Catholic-Jewish dialogue; Spain stirs debate on condoms.
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EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
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EVENTS
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Funeral frolics upset Catholics NZ Herald 20.01.05 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10007295 The Catholic Church will move quickly to introduce formal guidelines for funeral services in New Zealand if funeral-goers become as unruly as some of their Australian counterparts....
Last orders called on rowdy funerals By Johann Vannisselroy Otago Daily Times Jan 20, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/3le3g If you want to crank up Metallica, tell a dirty joke or scull a beer at the next funeral you attend, your chances are better if it's not being held at a Roman Catholic church....
The call to aid http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/0,2106,3163357a12816,00.html The Press (Chch) 22 Jan 2005 As thousands flee disaster zones, a group of skilled New Zealanders head the other way. Warren Gamble finds out what drives aid-agency workers...
NZ silent for victims of tsunami (photo) The Press (Chch) 17 January 2005 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3158805a10,00.html From the broken hearts of family and friends to a line of honour on a Christchurch beach, New Zealanders stood silent to remember victims of the Asian tsunami yesterday.
"Thank you Holy Father, my captors were moved your words" abducted Catholic archbishop Casmoussa said in an interview with Fides a few hours after his release http://www.fides.org/eng/news/2005/0501/19_3919.html Mosul (Fides Service) - Gratitude to Pope John Paul for his prompt intervention was the first thought voiced by abducted Iraqi Catholic Archbishop of Mosul an interview a few hours after his release....
"The pain of separation is ever more intensely felt in the face of the challenges of a world waiting for clear and unanimous witness of the Gospel from all believers in Christ" the Pope said at the general audience during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity ... http://www.fides.org/eng/news/2005/0501/19_3924.html
French cardinal carries out pope's mission at Auschwitz a place with painful personal meaning http://tinyurl.com/3zmrj Paris (AP) When the pope called with a delicate request, Paris Archbishop Jean-Marie Lustiger hesitated at first. Pope John Paul II wanted Lustiger to represent him at ceremonies to mark the liberation of Auschwitz. Lustiger, a Jewish convert to Catholicism, lost his mother at the concentration camp....
Catholic organization screening priests on cruise ships Associated Press 17/1/05 http://www.abcactionnews.com/stories/2005/01/050117priests.shtml The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has started screening those celebrating Mass on cruise ships, a plan geared toward preventing former, rental and even fraudulent priests from ministering to Catholic passengers...
*************************************************************
CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
MEDIA RELEASES
http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php
Historic gathering for Catholic Church in New Zealand (19 Jan 2005) For the first time since the arrival in New Zealand of the first Catholic orders of religious women and men some 170 years ago, a general assembly of those orders will take place later this week. It will be held at St Catherine's College in Kilbirnie, Wellington from 20 to 23 January...
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
Condom controversy continues The controversy unleashed yesterday by a spokesman for the Spanish Catholic Bishops' Conference has caused much confusion in headlines around the world. The Spanish Bishops have denied any change. Bishop Prowse in Melbourne defended the Roman position and said there would be no change in Australia.
Australian resources for Year of Eucharist released The Australian Catholic Bishops yesterday issued a program for the celebration of the Year of the Eucharist, focusing on the importance of celebrating Sunday Mass.
Total Catholic aid to Tsunami recovery effort now at $500m The Vatican Information Service indicated yesterday that Catholic aid agencies around the world have now contributed more than $500m to the Tsunamic relief effort. In Australia, Catholic Mission, has set up what it describes as an "unprecedented solidarity fund".
Goodall case causing more embarrassment to Church Fr Terence Norman Goodall, 64, from Penshurst, yesterday admitted two counts of indecent assault in the Sydney District Court. He will be sentenced next week.
Two guilty for murdering Colombian Archbishop The two murderers of Colombian Archbishop, Isaias Duarte, were sentenced to a combined total of 71 years gaol for the crime.
Posthumous marriage annulments on rise in Italy According to a report in The Independent (UK) Roman Catholic Italy is witnessing a boom in demand for posthumous marriage annulments with many unions hitting the rocks as soon as one of the partners is lowered into the ground.
*************************************************************
FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES
Candlelight vigil and mass for Zhao Ziyang http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2393 Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - At least 20,000 people are expected at a candlelight vigil to honour the former Chinese Communist Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang. Catholics who remember him as the party reformer shall hold a requiem mass for him this Sunday, January 23....
Where Was God During the Disaster? Civiltà Cattolica Points to 3 Lessons of Tsunami http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=65065 Rome, Jan. 20, 2005 (Zenit.org).- There are at least three lessons to be learned from the tsunami, says the latest issue of the review Civiltà Cattolica: the precariousness of human beings, the need for solidarity and the need for conversion....
New Plenary Indulgence to Mark Year of the Eucharist http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64735 Vatican City, Jan. 14, 2005 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II has approved a special plenary indulgence to mark the Year of the Eucharist....
On the Why of Indulgences http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64859 Rome, Jan. 17, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Instead of a "mercenary" attitude toward the indulgences offered during the Year of the Eucharist, this period must be lived with an attitude of openness to God's mercy, says a theologian....
Is Rolling Stone Afraid of the Bible? Christianity Today, January 17 2005 http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/103/53.0.html The latest issue of Rolling Stone just arrived in my office. It's loaded with ads that promise us the world, but nary a word about a new Bible. Zondervan, the nation's largest Bible publisher, tried to buy an ad in RS for Today's New International Version (TNIV), but got turned away. There's no use of the word "God" or "Christ." But apparently Rolling Stone objected to the word "truth" in the ad's text. "It doesn't quite feel right in the magazine," the general manager of RS's parent company told USA Today....
**************************************************************
CARITAS AOTEAROA NZ
http://www.caritas.org.nz
Government Tsunami Funding Package Positively Received 18 January, 2005:"The additional $58 million pledged today, together with the $10 million already given, is a great boost for the relief and recovery efforts; but in order for aid packages to equate to success on the ground, many other issues need to be addressed," says Caritas Director Mike Smith....
*************************************************************
"THE WORD FROM ROME"
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
A weekly column by the National Catholic Reporter's full-time correspondent in Rome, John L. Allen Jr.
Summary of the column for January 20, 2005 : Christians in Iraq; The pope and the rabbis; More on Pius XII and Catholic-Jewish dialogue; Spain stirs debate on condoms.
*********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
***********************************************************
EVENTS
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
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Sunday, January 16, 2005
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Dear readers,
This week 'From the Secular Press' is expanded with brief notes of stories in the metropolitan daily newspapers likely to interest readers of our newsletter but which are **not available for free** on the papers' Websites.
The newspapers can be read in public libraries throughout the country in print form, and also through the "Newztext" Internet service which many libraries subscribe to so as to make the contents of the newspapers available free of charge to their borrowers via the libraries' own terminals and their Websites.
Mike Leon
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TSUNAMI AFTERMATH
Today, Sunday the 16th of January, New Zealanders are asked to observe one minute's silence at 1:59 pm in memory of the victims of the recent Tsunami. Interdenominational church services are also being held in many cities for the same purpose.
The Catholic Internet news service AsiaNews - http://www.asianews.it -carries daily reports on the impact of the South Asian tsunami from its local correspondents, many of them clergy and church workers living in the stricken areas.
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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Beach silence plea for tsunami victims The Southland Times 15 Jan 2005 http://tinyurl.com/6cmhg Southlanders are being invited to mark a day of remembrance for victims of the south Asian tsunami in a special way at Oreti Beach tomorrow.
Threats, corruptions threaten aid operation NZ City 12 January 2005 http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=46640 Peter Zwart from the Catholic charity Caritas says agency reputations stand or fail on how well they can deliver the relief they have been given and how wisely the money is being used....
Christian parties not just valid, but also necessary by Ewen McQueen, leader of Christian Heritage NZ. Otago Daily Times Jan 12, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/5hzq7 The recent Australian and United States elections illustrated a growing Christian/family-values constituency in those nations. In the US, the Christian President George W. Bush was re-elected after campaigning strongly on a pro-marriage and pro-life platform. In Australia, not only was the morally conservative Howard administration re-elected, but a new Christian-based party was elected to the senate. In New Zealand, there is also an emerging Christian/family-values constituency....
Priest preyed on by drunk Otago Daily Times Jan 14, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/3ssdy Christchurch: Drunken antics on New Year's Eve ended in an assault on a priest at Christchurch's Catholic Cathedral, the Christchurch District Court was told yesterday...
Father Jacques Dupuis (obituary) The Times (London) January 12, 2005 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1435781,00.html Father Jacques Dupuis' long experience of India and its non-Christian traditions helped to shape his religious thinking. His attempt to respond to a world in which Christians are increasingly aware of the reality of different religious paths led him into conflict with the Vatican....
[The following stories are not available on the papers' free Websites. They can be read in the print editions of the newspapers at public libraries, and via the libraries' free Newztext service]
Two days to remember tsunami victims The Manawatu Evening Standard, 12 Jan 2005, Edition 2, Page 3. Sunday has been designated a national memorial day to remember the victims of the tsunami -- but Palmerston North is way ahead, having already organised its own day for Friday.
Charms of the basilica The Press (Christchurch); Features; 15 Jan 2005 Christchurch's Catholic Cathedral, one of the city's architectural treasures, is marking its 100th anniversary. Mike Crean finds that its survival has, occasionally, been against the odds.
****************************************************************
FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS
Cardinal's Comment Catholic Weekly (Sydney) 14 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/473fc When the tectonic plates lifted near Sumatra, we had a major upheaval in every sense. News of the deaths came slowly but 150,000 have died and five million are displaced. Years of rebuilding lie ahead. If God is good, interested in us and all powerful, where does He fit into this suffering and its aftermath?...
More room to reflect Catholic Weekly (Sydney) 15 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/4zyzx The 10th anniversary of the beatification of Blessed Mary MacKillop, co-founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, will be marked on Wednesday, January 19, with the opening and blessing of the new extension to her shrine in the chapel at North Sydney. The order was founded in eastern South Australia in March 1866. Now there are 990 sisters throughout Australia and New Zealand...
Pope lists 4 great challenges for mankind http://cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=34520 Vatican, Jan. 10 (CWNews.com) - In his annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps on January 10, Pope John Paul II set out four challenges facing the world's leaders: the defense of life, the conquest of hunger, the pursuit of world peace, and the advance of religious freedom....
Vatican courses on Satanism Washington Times January 11, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/43f3g [PLEASE NOTE: the article includes descriptions of gruesome killings] Paris, France, Jan. 11 (Upi) -- Satanism is growing so quickly worldwide that as of next month a papal university in Rome will offer courses on this frightening phenomenon. According to Vatican sources, divinity students at the pontifical Regina Apostolorum (Queen of the Apostles) University will learn about devil worship, witchcraft, demonology and exorcism....
Fr Courage; cardinal hero of Khartoum Catholic Weekly 14 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/5lh4q As Archbishop of Khartoum, Gabriel Zubeir Wako is no stranger to suffering. And yet, he and the Church he leads have not only survived but have a fervent faith in the future. Nor is this idle thinking; this is a man who holds on to his beliefs in the face of assassination attempts, threats of imprisonment, and countless attacks on his people and his Church....
Pope Invites Eastern Catholics to Reach Out to Orthodox http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64532
Christians must rediscover baptism and mission, says the Pope AsiaNews 9 January, 2005 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2293
****************************************************************
CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
Australians to remember tsunami victims Catholics will join the rest of Australia on Sunday in observing a national day of mourning and reflection for the victims of the Boxing Day Asian earthquake and tsunami. Prime Minister John Howard has asked Australians to observe a minute's silence at 11.59am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time), marking the time at which the devastating earthquake which preceded the tsunamis struck.
Increase in numbers for seminaries Young men are returning to the Catholic priesthood, with leading Australian seminaries reversing a steady decline in numbers to record one of their best intakes for almost a decade.
Vatican conference studies 'folk' religions The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue is organizing a forum in Rome this week on the contributions that folk religions make to the cause of peace. This is the first attempt at bringing together religions based on ethnic or tribal cultural traditions as opposed to world religions which cross cultural boundaries.
Catholics worried sex abuse costs curtail church work A USA survey of Catholics who regularly attend church shows a growing concern about the church's financial ability to fulfill its mission because of the costs related to the clergy sex abuse crisis. The crisis has also increased the desire for greater church accountability on financial issues.
Venezuelan Prelate calls for defense of human rights Troubled Venezuela needs to see a "defense and promotion of the dignity of the person and the totality of his human rights," says Archbishop Baltazar Porras in his opening address at the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference.
Brisbane young adult office closes After 10 years looking after the spiritual needs of young adult Catholics, the Brisbane Archdiocesan Young Adult Ministry office has closed. After the 2003 Synod, a decision has been made to bring all pastoral ministries for young people together to form a new Youth and Children's Ministry.
MEDIA RELEASES
http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php
New Zealanders give generously to Caritas Tsunami Appeal (11 Jan 2005)
*****************************************************
'THE FAR EAST'
Magazine of the Australian and New Zealand missionaries of St Columban's Missionary Society
http://www.columban.org.au/tfe/tfe_current.htm
From the Nov/Dec 2004 issue ......
Editorial : Sarah and Christmas Christmas is a wonderful time of year for gifts and that sends my thoughts back to an incident which took place about two months ago when I was celebrating Sunday Mass in a parish where the priest was away on holidays. I noticed a young girl standing at the side of the altar where no one had been before. As I turned towards her she held out her hand and wished me ‘peace.´....
From the Director : Talking of God in pubs and barns Last month I was in a country pub having lunch after a funeral when one of the women present said, “Oh, I don´t think missionaries should be interfering in other cultures.’ I replied that we don´t do that anymore. For me the conversation raised the question, “What is our motivation for mission?’...
Wanderings through Pakistan, by Fr Daniel O´Connor After ordination, I needed to obtain a missionary visa to enter Pakistan. As the number of visas was restricted, I acquired mine by replacing a Belgium Capuchin missionary who had died. From the plane I looked down on the towns, villages and fields of the Punjab as I flew to Lahore....
Love affair with Myanmar, by Fr Colm Murphy Many recent visitors to Myitkyina diocese in northeast Burma have been struck by the devotion of the Catholics to the Columbans who worked there from 1936-1979. Their fondness for those missionaries is extraordinary. As a returning dinosaur I have been delighted and embarrassed by this devotion. But also perplexed. The Columbans in Burma were not that good: nobody is. I tried to find a reason for this fervour....
Oriental Christmas, by Fr Patrick Clarke The worst Christmas Day I ever had was 1957. I am not sure about what I was expecting to see, but what I saw didn´t lift my spirits. The shops were open; people were on their way to work. Buses and trams were running. It may have been Christmas Day in the rest of the world but here it was just December 25, another day in another week....
*************************************************************
"THE WORD FROM ROME"
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
A weekly column by the National Catholic Reporter's full-time correspondent in Rome, John L. Allen Jr.
Summary of the column for January 14, 2005 : The pope on four great challenges facing the human family; Interview with departing U.S. ambassador to the Holy See; Buttiglione, Europe's anti-abortion politician; Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Jews; Remembering Cardinal Jan Schotte; Document on the admission of homosexuals to seminaries; Statement on papal visit to Poland
*********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
**************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
***********************************************************
EVENTS
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
*******************************************
Dear readers,
This week 'From the Secular Press' is expanded with brief notes of stories in the metropolitan daily newspapers likely to interest readers of our newsletter but which are **not available for free** on the papers' Websites.
The newspapers can be read in public libraries throughout the country in print form, and also through the "Newztext" Internet service which many libraries subscribe to so as to make the contents of the newspapers available free of charge to their borrowers via the libraries' own terminals and their Websites.
Mike Leon
****************************************************************
TSUNAMI AFTERMATH
Today, Sunday the 16th of January, New Zealanders are asked to observe one minute's silence at 1:59 pm in memory of the victims of the recent Tsunami. Interdenominational church services are also being held in many cities for the same purpose.
The Catholic Internet news service AsiaNews - http://www.asianews.it -carries daily reports on the impact of the South Asian tsunami from its local correspondents, many of them clergy and church workers living in the stricken areas.
***************************************************************
FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Beach silence plea for tsunami victims The Southland Times 15 Jan 2005 http://tinyurl.com/6cmhg Southlanders are being invited to mark a day of remembrance for victims of the south Asian tsunami in a special way at Oreti Beach tomorrow.
Threats, corruptions threaten aid operation NZ City 12 January 2005 http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=46640 Peter Zwart from the Catholic charity Caritas says agency reputations stand or fail on how well they can deliver the relief they have been given and how wisely the money is being used....
Christian parties not just valid, but also necessary by Ewen McQueen, leader of Christian Heritage NZ. Otago Daily Times Jan 12, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/5hzq7 The recent Australian and United States elections illustrated a growing Christian/family-values constituency in those nations. In the US, the Christian President George W. Bush was re-elected after campaigning strongly on a pro-marriage and pro-life platform. In Australia, not only was the morally conservative Howard administration re-elected, but a new Christian-based party was elected to the senate. In New Zealand, there is also an emerging Christian/family-values constituency....
Priest preyed on by drunk Otago Daily Times Jan 14, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/3ssdy Christchurch: Drunken antics on New Year's Eve ended in an assault on a priest at Christchurch's Catholic Cathedral, the Christchurch District Court was told yesterday...
Father Jacques Dupuis (obituary) The Times (London) January 12, 2005 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1435781,00.html Father Jacques Dupuis' long experience of India and its non-Christian traditions helped to shape his religious thinking. His attempt to respond to a world in which Christians are increasingly aware of the reality of different religious paths led him into conflict with the Vatican....
[The following stories are not available on the papers' free Websites. They can be read in the print editions of the newspapers at public libraries, and via the libraries' free Newztext service]
Two days to remember tsunami victims The Manawatu Evening Standard, 12 Jan 2005, Edition 2, Page 3. Sunday has been designated a national memorial day to remember the victims of the tsunami -- but Palmerston North is way ahead, having already organised its own day for Friday.
Charms of the basilica The Press (Christchurch); Features; 15 Jan 2005 Christchurch's Catholic Cathedral, one of the city's architectural treasures, is marking its 100th anniversary. Mike Crean finds that its survival has, occasionally, been against the odds.
****************************************************************
FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS
Cardinal's Comment Catholic Weekly (Sydney) 14 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/473fc When the tectonic plates lifted near Sumatra, we had a major upheaval in every sense. News of the deaths came slowly but 150,000 have died and five million are displaced. Years of rebuilding lie ahead. If God is good, interested in us and all powerful, where does He fit into this suffering and its aftermath?...
More room to reflect Catholic Weekly (Sydney) 15 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/4zyzx The 10th anniversary of the beatification of Blessed Mary MacKillop, co-founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, will be marked on Wednesday, January 19, with the opening and blessing of the new extension to her shrine in the chapel at North Sydney. The order was founded in eastern South Australia in March 1866. Now there are 990 sisters throughout Australia and New Zealand...
Pope lists 4 great challenges for mankind http://cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=34520 Vatican, Jan. 10 (CWNews.com) - In his annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps on January 10, Pope John Paul II set out four challenges facing the world's leaders: the defense of life, the conquest of hunger, the pursuit of world peace, and the advance of religious freedom....
Vatican courses on Satanism Washington Times January 11, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/43f3g [PLEASE NOTE: the article includes descriptions of gruesome killings] Paris, France, Jan. 11 (Upi) -- Satanism is growing so quickly worldwide that as of next month a papal university in Rome will offer courses on this frightening phenomenon. According to Vatican sources, divinity students at the pontifical Regina Apostolorum (Queen of the Apostles) University will learn about devil worship, witchcraft, demonology and exorcism....
Fr Courage; cardinal hero of Khartoum Catholic Weekly 14 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/5lh4q As Archbishop of Khartoum, Gabriel Zubeir Wako is no stranger to suffering. And yet, he and the Church he leads have not only survived but have a fervent faith in the future. Nor is this idle thinking; this is a man who holds on to his beliefs in the face of assassination attempts, threats of imprisonment, and countless attacks on his people and his Church....
Pope Invites Eastern Catholics to Reach Out to Orthodox http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64532
Christians must rediscover baptism and mission, says the Pope AsiaNews 9 January, 2005 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2293
****************************************************************
CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
Australians to remember tsunami victims Catholics will join the rest of Australia on Sunday in observing a national day of mourning and reflection for the victims of the Boxing Day Asian earthquake and tsunami. Prime Minister John Howard has asked Australians to observe a minute's silence at 11.59am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time), marking the time at which the devastating earthquake which preceded the tsunamis struck.
Increase in numbers for seminaries Young men are returning to the Catholic priesthood, with leading Australian seminaries reversing a steady decline in numbers to record one of their best intakes for almost a decade.
Vatican conference studies 'folk' religions The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue is organizing a forum in Rome this week on the contributions that folk religions make to the cause of peace. This is the first attempt at bringing together religions based on ethnic or tribal cultural traditions as opposed to world religions which cross cultural boundaries.
Catholics worried sex abuse costs curtail church work A USA survey of Catholics who regularly attend church shows a growing concern about the church's financial ability to fulfill its mission because of the costs related to the clergy sex abuse crisis. The crisis has also increased the desire for greater church accountability on financial issues.
Venezuelan Prelate calls for defense of human rights Troubled Venezuela needs to see a "defense and promotion of the dignity of the person and the totality of his human rights," says Archbishop Baltazar Porras in his opening address at the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference.
Brisbane young adult office closes After 10 years looking after the spiritual needs of young adult Catholics, the Brisbane Archdiocesan Young Adult Ministry office has closed. After the 2003 Synod, a decision has been made to bring all pastoral ministries for young people together to form a new Youth and Children's Ministry.
MEDIA RELEASES
http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php
New Zealanders give generously to Caritas Tsunami Appeal (11 Jan 2005)
*****************************************************
'THE FAR EAST'
Magazine of the Australian and New Zealand missionaries of St Columban's Missionary Society
http://www.columban.org.au/tfe/tfe_current.htm
From the Nov/Dec 2004 issue ......
Editorial : Sarah and Christmas Christmas is a wonderful time of year for gifts and that sends my thoughts back to an incident which took place about two months ago when I was celebrating Sunday Mass in a parish where the priest was away on holidays. I noticed a young girl standing at the side of the altar where no one had been before. As I turned towards her she held out her hand and wished me ‘peace.´....
From the Director : Talking of God in pubs and barns Last month I was in a country pub having lunch after a funeral when one of the women present said, “Oh, I don´t think missionaries should be interfering in other cultures.’ I replied that we don´t do that anymore. For me the conversation raised the question, “What is our motivation for mission?’...
Wanderings through Pakistan, by Fr Daniel O´Connor After ordination, I needed to obtain a missionary visa to enter Pakistan. As the number of visas was restricted, I acquired mine by replacing a Belgium Capuchin missionary who had died. From the plane I looked down on the towns, villages and fields of the Punjab as I flew to Lahore....
Love affair with Myanmar, by Fr Colm Murphy Many recent visitors to Myitkyina diocese in northeast Burma have been struck by the devotion of the Catholics to the Columbans who worked there from 1936-1979. Their fondness for those missionaries is extraordinary. As a returning dinosaur I have been delighted and embarrassed by this devotion. But also perplexed. The Columbans in Burma were not that good: nobody is. I tried to find a reason for this fervour....
Oriental Christmas, by Fr Patrick Clarke The worst Christmas Day I ever had was 1957. I am not sure about what I was expecting to see, but what I saw didn´t lift my spirits. The shops were open; people were on their way to work. Buses and trams were running. It may have been Christmas Day in the rest of the world but here it was just December 25, another day in another week....
*************************************************************
"THE WORD FROM ROME"
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
A weekly column by the National Catholic Reporter's full-time correspondent in Rome, John L. Allen Jr.
Summary of the column for January 14, 2005 : The pope on four great challenges facing the human family; Interview with departing U.S. ambassador to the Holy See; Buttiglione, Europe's anti-abortion politician; Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Jews; Remembering Cardinal Jan Schotte; Document on the admission of homosexuals to seminaries; Statement on papal visit to Poland
*********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
**************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
***********************************************************
EVENTS
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
*******************************************
**********************************************
Dear readers,
This week 'From the Secular Press' is expanded with brief notes of stories in the metropolitan daily newspapers likely to interest readers of our newsletter but which are **not available for free** on the papers' Websites.
The newspapers can be read in public libraries throughout the country in print form, and also through the "Newztext" Internet service which many libraries subscribe to so as to make the contents of the newspapers available free of charge to their borrowers via the libraries' own terminals and their Websites.
Mike Leon
****************************************************************
TSUNAMI AFTERMATH
Today, Sunday the 16th of January, New Zealanders are asked to observe one minute's silence at 1:59 pm in memory of the victims of the recent Tsunami. Interdenominational church services are also being held in many cities for the same purpose.
The Catholic Internet news service AsiaNews - http://www.asianews.it -carries daily reports on the impact of the South Asian tsunami from its local correspondents, many of them clergy and church workers living in the stricken areas.
***************************************************************
FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Beach silence plea for tsunami victims The Southland Times 15 Jan 2005 http://tinyurl.com/6cmhg Southlanders are being invited to mark a day of remembrance for victims of the south Asian tsunami in a special way at Oreti Beach tomorrow.
Threats, corruptions threaten aid operation NZ City 12 January 2005 http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=46640 Peter Zwart from the Catholic charity Caritas says agency reputations stand or fail on how well they can deliver the relief they have been given and how wisely the money is being used....
Christian parties not just valid, but also necessary by Ewen McQueen, leader of Christian Heritage NZ. Otago Daily Times Jan 12, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/5hzq7 The recent Australian and United States elections illustrated a growing Christian/family-values constituency in those nations. In the US, the Christian President George W. Bush was re-elected after campaigning strongly on a pro-marriage and pro-life platform. In Australia, not only was the morally conservative Howard administration re-elected, but a new Christian-based party was elected to the senate. In New Zealand, there is also an emerging Christian/family-values constituency....
Priest preyed on by drunk Otago Daily Times Jan 14, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/3ssdy Christchurch: Drunken antics on New Year's Eve ended in an assault on a priest at Christchurch's Catholic Cathedral, the Christchurch District Court was told yesterday...
Father Jacques Dupuis (obituary) The Times (London) January 12, 2005 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1435781,00.html Father Jacques Dupuis' long experience of India and its non-Christian traditions helped to shape his religious thinking. His attempt to respond to a world in which Christians are increasingly aware of the reality of different religious paths led him into conflict with the Vatican....
[The following stories are not available on the papers' free Websites. They can be read in the print editions of the newspapers at public libraries, and via the libraries' free Newztext service]
Two days to remember tsunami victims The Manawatu Evening Standard, 12 Jan 2005, Edition 2, Page 3. Sunday has been designated a national memorial day to remember the victims of the tsunami -- but Palmerston North is way ahead, having already organised its own day for Friday.
Charms of the basilica The Press (Christchurch); Features; 15 Jan 2005 Christchurch's Catholic Cathedral, one of the city's architectural treasures, is marking its 100th anniversary. Mike Crean finds that its survival has, occasionally, been against the odds.
****************************************************************
FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS
Cardinal's Comment Catholic Weekly (Sydney) 14 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/473fc When the tectonic plates lifted near Sumatra, we had a major upheaval in every sense. News of the deaths came slowly but 150,000 have died and five million are displaced. Years of rebuilding lie ahead. If God is good, interested in us and all powerful, where does He fit into this suffering and its aftermath?...
More room to reflect Catholic Weekly (Sydney) 15 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/4zyzx The 10th anniversary of the beatification of Blessed Mary MacKillop, co-founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, will be marked on Wednesday, January 19, with the opening and blessing of the new extension to her shrine in the chapel at North Sydney. The order was founded in eastern South Australia in March 1866. Now there are 990 sisters throughout Australia and New Zealand...
Pope lists 4 great challenges for mankind http://cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=34520 Vatican, Jan. 10 (CWNews.com) - In his annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps on January 10, Pope John Paul II set out four challenges facing the world's leaders: the defense of life, the conquest of hunger, the pursuit of world peace, and the advance of religious freedom....
Vatican courses on Satanism Washington Times January 11, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/43f3g [PLEASE NOTE: the article includes descriptions of gruesome killings] Paris, France, Jan. 11 (Upi) -- Satanism is growing so quickly worldwide that as of next month a papal university in Rome will offer courses on this frightening phenomenon. According to Vatican sources, divinity students at the pontifical Regina Apostolorum (Queen of the Apostles) University will learn about devil worship, witchcraft, demonology and exorcism....
Fr Courage; cardinal hero of Khartoum Catholic Weekly 14 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/5lh4q As Archbishop of Khartoum, Gabriel Zubeir Wako is no stranger to suffering. And yet, he and the Church he leads have not only survived but have a fervent faith in the future. Nor is this idle thinking; this is a man who holds on to his beliefs in the face of assassination attempts, threats of imprisonment, and countless attacks on his people and his Church....
Pope Invites Eastern Catholics to Reach Out to Orthodox http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64532
Christians must rediscover baptism and mission, says the Pope AsiaNews 9 January, 2005 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2293
****************************************************************
CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
Australians to remember tsunami victims Catholics will join the rest of Australia on Sunday in observing a national day of mourning and reflection for the victims of the Boxing Day Asian earthquake and tsunami. Prime Minister John Howard has asked Australians to observe a minute's silence at 11.59am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time), marking the time at which the devastating earthquake which preceded the tsunamis struck.
Increase in numbers for seminaries Young men are returning to the Catholic priesthood, with leading Australian seminaries reversing a steady decline in numbers to record one of their best intakes for almost a decade.
Vatican conference studies 'folk' religions The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue is organizing a forum in Rome this week on the contributions that folk religions make to the cause of peace. This is the first attempt at bringing together religions based on ethnic or tribal cultural traditions as opposed to world religions which cross cultural boundaries.
Catholics worried sex abuse costs curtail church work A USA survey of Catholics who regularly attend church shows a growing concern about the church's financial ability to fulfill its mission because of the costs related to the clergy sex abuse crisis. The crisis has also increased the desire for greater church accountability on financial issues.
Venezuelan Prelate calls for defense of human rights Troubled Venezuela needs to see a "defense and promotion of the dignity of the person and the totality of his human rights," says Archbishop Baltazar Porras in his opening address at the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference.
Brisbane young adult office closes After 10 years looking after the spiritual needs of young adult Catholics, the Brisbane Archdiocesan Young Adult Ministry office has closed. After the 2003 Synod, a decision has been made to bring all pastoral ministries for young people together to form a new Youth and Children's Ministry.
MEDIA RELEASES
http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php
New Zealanders give generously to Caritas Tsunami Appeal (11 Jan 2005)
*****************************************************
'THE FAR EAST'
Magazine of the Australian and New Zealand missionaries of St Columban's Missionary Society
http://www.columban.org.au/tfe/tfe_current.htm
From the Nov/Dec 2004 issue ......
Editorial : Sarah and Christmas Christmas is a wonderful time of year for gifts and that sends my thoughts back to an incident which took place about two months ago when I was celebrating Sunday Mass in a parish where the priest was away on holidays. I noticed a young girl standing at the side of the altar where no one had been before. As I turned towards her she held out her hand and wished me ‘peace.´....
From the Director : Talking of God in pubs and barns Last month I was in a country pub having lunch after a funeral when one of the women present said, “Oh, I don´t think missionaries should be interfering in other cultures.’ I replied that we don´t do that anymore. For me the conversation raised the question, “What is our motivation for mission?’...
Wanderings through Pakistan, by Fr Daniel O´Connor After ordination, I needed to obtain a missionary visa to enter Pakistan. As the number of visas was restricted, I acquired mine by replacing a Belgium Capuchin missionary who had died. From the plane I looked down on the towns, villages and fields of the Punjab as I flew to Lahore....
Love affair with Myanmar, by Fr Colm Murphy Many recent visitors to Myitkyina diocese in northeast Burma have been struck by the devotion of the Catholics to the Columbans who worked there from 1936-1979. Their fondness for those missionaries is extraordinary. As a returning dinosaur I have been delighted and embarrassed by this devotion. But also perplexed. The Columbans in Burma were not that good: nobody is. I tried to find a reason for this fervour....
Oriental Christmas, by Fr Patrick Clarke The worst Christmas Day I ever had was 1957. I am not sure about what I was expecting to see, but what I saw didn´t lift my spirits. The shops were open; people were on their way to work. Buses and trams were running. It may have been Christmas Day in the rest of the world but here it was just December 25, another day in another week....
*************************************************************
"THE WORD FROM ROME"
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
A weekly column by the National Catholic Reporter's full-time correspondent in Rome, John L. Allen Jr.
Summary of the column for January 14, 2005 : The pope on four great challenges facing the human family; Interview with departing U.S. ambassador to the Holy See; Buttiglione, Europe's anti-abortion politician; Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Jews; Remembering Cardinal Jan Schotte; Document on the admission of homosexuals to seminaries; Statement on papal visit to Poland
*********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
**************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
***********************************************************
EVENTS
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
*******************************************
Dear readers,
This week 'From the Secular Press' is expanded with brief notes of stories in the metropolitan daily newspapers likely to interest readers of our newsletter but which are **not available for free** on the papers' Websites.
The newspapers can be read in public libraries throughout the country in print form, and also through the "Newztext" Internet service which many libraries subscribe to so as to make the contents of the newspapers available free of charge to their borrowers via the libraries' own terminals and their Websites.
Mike Leon
****************************************************************
TSUNAMI AFTERMATH
Today, Sunday the 16th of January, New Zealanders are asked to observe one minute's silence at 1:59 pm in memory of the victims of the recent Tsunami. Interdenominational church services are also being held in many cities for the same purpose.
The Catholic Internet news service AsiaNews - http://www.asianews.it -carries daily reports on the impact of the South Asian tsunami from its local correspondents, many of them clergy and church workers living in the stricken areas.
***************************************************************
FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Beach silence plea for tsunami victims The Southland Times 15 Jan 2005 http://tinyurl.com/6cmhg Southlanders are being invited to mark a day of remembrance for victims of the south Asian tsunami in a special way at Oreti Beach tomorrow.
Threats, corruptions threaten aid operation NZ City 12 January 2005 http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=46640 Peter Zwart from the Catholic charity Caritas says agency reputations stand or fail on how well they can deliver the relief they have been given and how wisely the money is being used....
Christian parties not just valid, but also necessary by Ewen McQueen, leader of Christian Heritage NZ. Otago Daily Times Jan 12, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/5hzq7 The recent Australian and United States elections illustrated a growing Christian/family-values constituency in those nations. In the US, the Christian President George W. Bush was re-elected after campaigning strongly on a pro-marriage and pro-life platform. In Australia, not only was the morally conservative Howard administration re-elected, but a new Christian-based party was elected to the senate. In New Zealand, there is also an emerging Christian/family-values constituency....
Priest preyed on by drunk Otago Daily Times Jan 14, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/3ssdy Christchurch: Drunken antics on New Year's Eve ended in an assault on a priest at Christchurch's Catholic Cathedral, the Christchurch District Court was told yesterday...
Father Jacques Dupuis (obituary) The Times (London) January 12, 2005 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1435781,00.html Father Jacques Dupuis' long experience of India and its non-Christian traditions helped to shape his religious thinking. His attempt to respond to a world in which Christians are increasingly aware of the reality of different religious paths led him into conflict with the Vatican....
[The following stories are not available on the papers' free Websites. They can be read in the print editions of the newspapers at public libraries, and via the libraries' free Newztext service]
Two days to remember tsunami victims The Manawatu Evening Standard, 12 Jan 2005, Edition 2, Page 3. Sunday has been designated a national memorial day to remember the victims of the tsunami -- but Palmerston North is way ahead, having already organised its own day for Friday.
Charms of the basilica The Press (Christchurch); Features; 15 Jan 2005 Christchurch's Catholic Cathedral, one of the city's architectural treasures, is marking its 100th anniversary. Mike Crean finds that its survival has, occasionally, been against the odds.
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FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS
Cardinal's Comment Catholic Weekly (Sydney) 14 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/473fc When the tectonic plates lifted near Sumatra, we had a major upheaval in every sense. News of the deaths came slowly but 150,000 have died and five million are displaced. Years of rebuilding lie ahead. If God is good, interested in us and all powerful, where does He fit into this suffering and its aftermath?...
More room to reflect Catholic Weekly (Sydney) 15 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/4zyzx The 10th anniversary of the beatification of Blessed Mary MacKillop, co-founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, will be marked on Wednesday, January 19, with the opening and blessing of the new extension to her shrine in the chapel at North Sydney. The order was founded in eastern South Australia in March 1866. Now there are 990 sisters throughout Australia and New Zealand...
Pope lists 4 great challenges for mankind http://cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=34520 Vatican, Jan. 10 (CWNews.com) - In his annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps on January 10, Pope John Paul II set out four challenges facing the world's leaders: the defense of life, the conquest of hunger, the pursuit of world peace, and the advance of religious freedom....
Vatican courses on Satanism Washington Times January 11, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/43f3g [PLEASE NOTE: the article includes descriptions of gruesome killings] Paris, France, Jan. 11 (Upi) -- Satanism is growing so quickly worldwide that as of next month a papal university in Rome will offer courses on this frightening phenomenon. According to Vatican sources, divinity students at the pontifical Regina Apostolorum (Queen of the Apostles) University will learn about devil worship, witchcraft, demonology and exorcism....
Fr Courage; cardinal hero of Khartoum Catholic Weekly 14 January, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/5lh4q As Archbishop of Khartoum, Gabriel Zubeir Wako is no stranger to suffering. And yet, he and the Church he leads have not only survived but have a fervent faith in the future. Nor is this idle thinking; this is a man who holds on to his beliefs in the face of assassination attempts, threats of imprisonment, and countless attacks on his people and his Church....
Pope Invites Eastern Catholics to Reach Out to Orthodox http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64532
Christians must rediscover baptism and mission, says the Pope AsiaNews 9 January, 2005 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2293
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CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
Australians to remember tsunami victims Catholics will join the rest of Australia on Sunday in observing a national day of mourning and reflection for the victims of the Boxing Day Asian earthquake and tsunami. Prime Minister John Howard has asked Australians to observe a minute's silence at 11.59am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time), marking the time at which the devastating earthquake which preceded the tsunamis struck.
Increase in numbers for seminaries Young men are returning to the Catholic priesthood, with leading Australian seminaries reversing a steady decline in numbers to record one of their best intakes for almost a decade.
Vatican conference studies 'folk' religions The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue is organizing a forum in Rome this week on the contributions that folk religions make to the cause of peace. This is the first attempt at bringing together religions based on ethnic or tribal cultural traditions as opposed to world religions which cross cultural boundaries.
Catholics worried sex abuse costs curtail church work A USA survey of Catholics who regularly attend church shows a growing concern about the church's financial ability to fulfill its mission because of the costs related to the clergy sex abuse crisis. The crisis has also increased the desire for greater church accountability on financial issues.
Venezuelan Prelate calls for defense of human rights Troubled Venezuela needs to see a "defense and promotion of the dignity of the person and the totality of his human rights," says Archbishop Baltazar Porras in his opening address at the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference.
Brisbane young adult office closes After 10 years looking after the spiritual needs of young adult Catholics, the Brisbane Archdiocesan Young Adult Ministry office has closed. After the 2003 Synod, a decision has been made to bring all pastoral ministries for young people together to form a new Youth and Children's Ministry.
MEDIA RELEASES
http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php
New Zealanders give generously to Caritas Tsunami Appeal (11 Jan 2005)
*****************************************************
'THE FAR EAST'
Magazine of the Australian and New Zealand missionaries of St Columban's Missionary Society
http://www.columban.org.au/tfe/tfe_current.htm
From the Nov/Dec 2004 issue ......
Editorial : Sarah and Christmas Christmas is a wonderful time of year for gifts and that sends my thoughts back to an incident which took place about two months ago when I was celebrating Sunday Mass in a parish where the priest was away on holidays. I noticed a young girl standing at the side of the altar where no one had been before. As I turned towards her she held out her hand and wished me ‘peace.´....
From the Director : Talking of God in pubs and barns Last month I was in a country pub having lunch after a funeral when one of the women present said, “Oh, I don´t think missionaries should be interfering in other cultures.’ I replied that we don´t do that anymore. For me the conversation raised the question, “What is our motivation for mission?’...
Wanderings through Pakistan, by Fr Daniel O´Connor After ordination, I needed to obtain a missionary visa to enter Pakistan. As the number of visas was restricted, I acquired mine by replacing a Belgium Capuchin missionary who had died. From the plane I looked down on the towns, villages and fields of the Punjab as I flew to Lahore....
Love affair with Myanmar, by Fr Colm Murphy Many recent visitors to Myitkyina diocese in northeast Burma have been struck by the devotion of the Catholics to the Columbans who worked there from 1936-1979. Their fondness for those missionaries is extraordinary. As a returning dinosaur I have been delighted and embarrassed by this devotion. But also perplexed. The Columbans in Burma were not that good: nobody is. I tried to find a reason for this fervour....
Oriental Christmas, by Fr Patrick Clarke The worst Christmas Day I ever had was 1957. I am not sure about what I was expecting to see, but what I saw didn´t lift my spirits. The shops were open; people were on their way to work. Buses and trams were running. It may have been Christmas Day in the rest of the world but here it was just December 25, another day in another week....
*************************************************************
"THE WORD FROM ROME"
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
A weekly column by the National Catholic Reporter's full-time correspondent in Rome, John L. Allen Jr.
Summary of the column for January 14, 2005 : The pope on four great challenges facing the human family; Interview with departing U.S. ambassador to the Holy See; Buttiglione, Europe's anti-abortion politician; Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Jews; Remembering Cardinal Jan Schotte; Document on the admission of homosexuals to seminaries; Statement on papal visit to Poland
*********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
**************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
***********************************************************
EVENTS
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
*******************************************
Sunday, January 9, 2005
**********************************************
TSUNAMI AFTERMATH
The Catholic news service AsiaNews, at: http://www.asianews.it , carries daily reports on the impact of the South Asian tsunami from its local correspondents, many of them church workers living in the stricken areas.
*****************************************
CARITAS AOTEAROA NZ
http://www.caritas.org.nz
NEWSROOM New Zealanders give generously to Caritas Tsunami Appeal 5 January 2005:The latest tally of donations made to Caritas New Zealand is in excess of $200,000. This money will go to support the work being done by Caritas Sri Lanka and our partners working in the Indonesian province of Acheh - Cordaid, Catholic Relief Services and Jesuit Refugee Services.....
Caritas Confederation Pledges $US 28 million to Tsunami Survivors 31 December, 2004: The Caritas Confederation, have collectively pledged $US 28 million, including $NZ 50,000 given by Caritas New Zealand donors, to assist those affected by the tsunamis that have ravaged the coasts of South Asia. "New Zealanders have been very generous in their response to this terrible disaster, and it is expected that further donations will be received in the coming week," said Mike Smith, Director of Caritas New Zealand. Caritas partners from Europe have flown in supplies of medicine, food, water and other relief equipment together with teams of emergency specialists to assist....
Caritas Asian Tsunami Appeal 27 December, 2004: Caritas is appealing for donations to assist victims of the devastating Tsunami which swept through Sri Lanka, Southern India, Sumatra and the coasts of other Southeast Asian countries on Boxing Day....
******************************************
CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Inter-faith prayer for tsunami victims in Phuket Heart-wrenching greeting for Aussie Aid Workers German organizers further plans for World Youth Day Top 10 films of 2004 according to US Catholic film office Lest we forget our neighbour, says Moscow Patriarch Catholics join latest debate on Pope Pius XII
ECUMENICAL NEWS
Inter-faith prayer for tsunami victims in Phuket Coptic Christians jailed since December set free Humanists and atheists prepare to battle against religious fundamentalism
********************************************
FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Michael Shanahan (obituary. photo) NZ Herald 07.01.05 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=9005893 Mick Shanahan will go down in Waitakere's history as someone who was larger than life and who really made a difference. He started school at Oamaru Convent in 1927, went on to Christchurch Cathedral Convent then to St Benedicts and Marist Brothers in Auckland. From there he went to Christian Brothers in Dunedin, ending with four years at Timaru Boys High School...
Most avoid church but still believe NZ Herald 07.01.05 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=9005812 More than two-thirds of New Zealanders say they believe in God but less than half of them go to church or pray....
[In an address to a conference on secularisation in Europe by Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Cardinal explains the consequences for society of the trend to "believing without belonging", and describes the activities of several types of Christian cultural organisations which are working to re-introduce citizens of Christian countries to their Christian heritage. Full text: http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63746 ]
********************************************
FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES
Holy Father Aims to Stay Active in 2005 Plans for World Youth Day and a Synod on the Eucharist http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64280 Vatican City, Jan. 6, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Despite fragile health, John Paul II has begun the new year with the same program of celebrations and public events as last year....
The kind of world this is, by Guy Consolmagno The Tablet (UK) Saturday, 8 January 2005 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi/tablet-00968 Martin Kettle, writing in The Guardian soon after the event, was among the first to dare ask the religious question: "What God sanctions an earthquake? What God protects against it? Why does the quake strike these places and these peoples and not others?....
*********************************************
'NZ CATHOLIC'
http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz
From issue No. 203, December 19-January 29, 2005 ...
Relief and joy for Zaoui in Dominicans' care Auckland - With a huge smile on his face, Ahmed Zaoui entered the crypt of St Benedict's Church, accompanied by one of his lawyers, Deborah Manning, Assistant Bishop of Auckland Robin Leamy, SM, and Dominican friar Fr Peter Murnane....
"Vocation" is not just religious Christchurch - The concept of personal vocation is still not well understood in the Church....
Agencies show love in variety of ways Auckland - Christmas is a time of loving and giving, and Catholic charitable institutions have always been active in doing this....
******************************************
NZ CATHOLIC EDUCATION OFFICE
'Lighting New Fires' -Newsletter for Integrated Schools December 2004 http://nzceo.catholic.org.nz/lightingnewfires.shtml Editorial: faithful citizenship requires both reflection and participation... Ministry of Education to fund Integrated schools for furniture and equipment ... School Boarding Bursaries to Increase ... Cardinal Thomas Williams' Silver Jubilee celebrated with a publication ... Two new books on children's education in New Zealand ... Latest statistics on foreign fee-paying students ... 200 UK schools expected to offer the International Baccalaureate ... Appreciation
***************************************************************
"THE WORD FROM ROME"
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
A weekly column by the National Catholic Reporter's full-time correspondent in Rome, John L. Allen Jr.
Summary of the column for January 7, 2005 : Remembering Fr. Jacques Dupuis; an Italian satirist's view of the pope; John Paul's holidays; controversy, again, at the Vatican's annual Christmas concert; Cardinal Diogini Tettamanzi under fire; Cardinal Lubomyr Husar and Ukrainian politics; Greek Catholics move to Kiev; More on Fr. Marcial Maciel
***********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
************************************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
********************************************************
EVENTS
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
**********************************************************
TSUNAMI AFTERMATH
The Catholic news service AsiaNews, at: http://www.asianews.it , carries daily reports on the impact of the South Asian tsunami from its local correspondents, many of them church workers living in the stricken areas.
*****************************************
CARITAS AOTEAROA NZ
http://www.caritas.org.nz
NEWSROOM New Zealanders give generously to Caritas Tsunami Appeal 5 January 2005:The latest tally of donations made to Caritas New Zealand is in excess of $200,000. This money will go to support the work being done by Caritas Sri Lanka and our partners working in the Indonesian province of Acheh - Cordaid, Catholic Relief Services and Jesuit Refugee Services.....
Caritas Confederation Pledges $US 28 million to Tsunami Survivors 31 December, 2004: The Caritas Confederation, have collectively pledged $US 28 million, including $NZ 50,000 given by Caritas New Zealand donors, to assist those affected by the tsunamis that have ravaged the coasts of South Asia. "New Zealanders have been very generous in their response to this terrible disaster, and it is expected that further donations will be received in the coming week," said Mike Smith, Director of Caritas New Zealand. Caritas partners from Europe have flown in supplies of medicine, food, water and other relief equipment together with teams of emergency specialists to assist....
Caritas Asian Tsunami Appeal 27 December, 2004: Caritas is appealing for donations to assist victims of the devastating Tsunami which swept through Sri Lanka, Southern India, Sumatra and the coasts of other Southeast Asian countries on Boxing Day....
******************************************
CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Inter-faith prayer for tsunami victims in Phuket Heart-wrenching greeting for Aussie Aid Workers German organizers further plans for World Youth Day Top 10 films of 2004 according to US Catholic film office Lest we forget our neighbour, says Moscow Patriarch Catholics join latest debate on Pope Pius XII
ECUMENICAL NEWS
Inter-faith prayer for tsunami victims in Phuket Coptic Christians jailed since December set free Humanists and atheists prepare to battle against religious fundamentalism
********************************************
FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Michael Shanahan (obituary. photo) NZ Herald 07.01.05 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=9005893 Mick Shanahan will go down in Waitakere's history as someone who was larger than life and who really made a difference. He started school at Oamaru Convent in 1927, went on to Christchurch Cathedral Convent then to St Benedicts and Marist Brothers in Auckland. From there he went to Christian Brothers in Dunedin, ending with four years at Timaru Boys High School...
Most avoid church but still believe NZ Herald 07.01.05 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=9005812 More than two-thirds of New Zealanders say they believe in God but less than half of them go to church or pray....
[In an address to a conference on secularisation in Europe by Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Cardinal explains the consequences for society of the trend to "believing without belonging", and describes the activities of several types of Christian cultural organisations which are working to re-introduce citizens of Christian countries to their Christian heritage. Full text: http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63746 ]
********************************************
FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES
Holy Father Aims to Stay Active in 2005 Plans for World Youth Day and a Synod on the Eucharist http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=64280 Vatican City, Jan. 6, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Despite fragile health, John Paul II has begun the new year with the same program of celebrations and public events as last year....
The kind of world this is, by Guy Consolmagno The Tablet (UK) Saturday, 8 January 2005 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi/tablet-00968 Martin Kettle, writing in The Guardian soon after the event, was among the first to dare ask the religious question: "What God sanctions an earthquake? What God protects against it? Why does the quake strike these places and these peoples and not others?....
*********************************************
'NZ CATHOLIC'
http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz
From issue No. 203, December 19-January 29, 2005 ...
Relief and joy for Zaoui in Dominicans' care Auckland - With a huge smile on his face, Ahmed Zaoui entered the crypt of St Benedict's Church, accompanied by one of his lawyers, Deborah Manning, Assistant Bishop of Auckland Robin Leamy, SM, and Dominican friar Fr Peter Murnane....
"Vocation" is not just religious Christchurch - The concept of personal vocation is still not well understood in the Church....
Agencies show love in variety of ways Auckland - Christmas is a time of loving and giving, and Catholic charitable institutions have always been active in doing this....
******************************************
NZ CATHOLIC EDUCATION OFFICE
'Lighting New Fires' -Newsletter for Integrated Schools December 2004 http://nzceo.catholic.org.nz/lightingnewfires.shtml Editorial: faithful citizenship requires both reflection and participation... Ministry of Education to fund Integrated schools for furniture and equipment ... School Boarding Bursaries to Increase ... Cardinal Thomas Williams' Silver Jubilee celebrated with a publication ... Two new books on children's education in New Zealand ... Latest statistics on foreign fee-paying students ... 200 UK schools expected to offer the International Baccalaureate ... Appreciation
***************************************************************
"THE WORD FROM ROME"
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
A weekly column by the National Catholic Reporter's full-time correspondent in Rome, John L. Allen Jr.
Summary of the column for January 7, 2005 : Remembering Fr. Jacques Dupuis; an Italian satirist's view of the pope; John Paul's holidays; controversy, again, at the Vatican's annual Christmas concert; Cardinal Diogini Tettamanzi under fire; Cardinal Lubomyr Husar and Ukrainian politics; Greek Catholics move to Kiev; More on Fr. Marcial Maciel
***********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
************************************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
********************************************************
EVENTS
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
**********************************************************
Sunday, December 19, 2004
********************************************
Dear readers,
This is the last News & Notes for 2004. The next one will go out on 9 January 2005.
A very happy Christmas and all God's blessings to you and yours.
Mike Leon
********************************************
ADVENT / CHRISTMAS 2004
Joining the masses for a festive praise (photo) Waikato Times 18 December 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/0,2106,3132102a6578,00.html Lester Thorley talks to Christina Reymer, whose family will be among the faithful Catholics celebrating Midnight Mass this year....
Place a candle in your window. The burning flame on Christmas Eve welcomes Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the weary traveller. Western Catholic Reporter (Canada) December 20, 2004 http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2004/1220/candle122004.shtml Himself now off to New Zealand to fill in so one-man parish priests can have Christmas break, Paul Andrews, the Irish Jesuit we hear from at the beginning of this story, gives perhaps the most powerful explanation of what we are saying when we light that candle....
Come, let us adore him, by Gerald O'Collins SJ The Tablet (UK) 18/12/2004 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi/tablet-00962 Carols evoke the extraordinary Christmas story of the baby born in a stable. They also help us understand through their familiar words the tenets of our faith...
Meditating on the Second Coming: Advent's Spiritual Pilgrimage, by Robert E. Webber Christianity Today, December 6 2004 http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/149/52.0.html The birth of Christ is only the final stop when meditating this holiday season....
The crèche is a sign of culture and faith, Pope says Asia News 12 December, 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2098 Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Speaking before the Angelus, the Pope said that the scene of the Nativity of Jesus was not only "part of our culture and art but also a sign of faith in God who, in Bethlehem, "made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14).....
Israeli Christians to visit Bethlehem this Christmas AsiaNews 17 December, 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2140 Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Signs of thaw in the Holy Land after the Israeli government announced that it would not prevent Israeli Christians from visiting Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations....
"Cost of living" in Europe and Iraq: in constant danger Christians in Baghdad and Mosul will spend Christmas behind barred doors http://www.fides.org/eng/news/2004/0412/10_3692.html Baghdad (Fides Service) - Despite an ever higher cost of living in Europe Christmas shopping and present hunting is in full swing while in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Mosul the cost of living is another matter and Christians feel ever more threatened....
**************************************************
WORLD DAY OF PEACE - 1 JANUARY 2005
Pope's Message for 2005 World Day of Peace "Do Not Be Overcome by Evil but Overcome Evil With Good" http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63676 Vatican City, Dec. 16, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Here is John Paul II's Message for the World Day of Peace, to be observed Jan. 1. The Vatican press office released it today....
Presentation on Message for World Day of Peace "Right to Peace and to Development" http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63677 Vatican City, Dec. 16, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address delivered today by Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, when presenting to the press the message of John Paul II for World Day of Peace 2005....
Between the dangerous threat of preventive war and the sterile noise of pacifism, the Pope chooses to "build" peace. [Commentary on the Message by Fr Bernardo Cevellera] Asia News 16 December, 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2128
**************************************************
'NZ CATHOLIC'
http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz
No. 202, December 12-18, 2004
(Issue 203 - on sale this weekend - is the last for 2004. The next issue of 'NZ Catholic' will be published on 30 January 2005)
Award for excellence to Queenstown teacher Queenstown - A teacher from St Joseph's School in Queenstown has received the top award in the 2004 ASG National Excellence in Teaching Awards....
School dispute focuses on "tagged" positions Christchurch - The significance of "tagged" teaching positions in Catholic schools has been highlighted by a dispute involving St Joseph's School at Rangiora....
Religious to gather for the first time Wellington - St Catherine's College in Kilbirnie is the venue for New Zealand's first-ever national conference of religious orders, to be held in January....
********************************************
FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Ingenious and industrious man of the land George Walter Parker, farmer and racing identity (obituary - photo) Otago Daily Times Dec 11, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/6gaeg Walter Parker could fix anything with a piece of string or lacing wire and his trusty pocket knife. The retired Roxburgh farmer, who died recently aged 79, was described as a man who learnt from the hardships of being raised on a farm in the early part of last century. It taught him to make do with whatever was available....
Brash nibbles at tax carrot for insured NZ Herald 16.12.04 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=9003433 "It is not at all clear to me why some New Zealanders should be expected to pay twice for their healthcare and the education of their children - once through their tax and once through health insurance premiums and school fees" [said Don Brash in a speech last Friday].... Coupling the issue with school fees is interesting, however. The Institute of Economic Research, in a 2001 report on the tax treatment of health insurance premiums, cites as a precedent the case of integrated (mainly Catholic) schools....
********************************************
FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES
Survey links happiness with Christianity http://www.cathnews.com/news/412/66.php Christians are happier than atheists, and more generous, according to new findings from the National Church Life Survey titled Spirituality and Wellbeing....
Veteran of the Vatican Information Service. Interview With Joan Lewis Vatican City, Dec. 14, 2004 (zenit.org).- Striking among the aspects of John Paul II's pontificate is his relationship with the media. With this in mind, journalist Joan Lewis of the Vatican Information Service explains how her work has changed over the years. Part 1: http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63542 Part 2: http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63610
Saudi Christian convert arrested and jailed AsiaNews 17 December, 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2134 Jeddah (AsiaNews) - A Saudi citizen converted to Christianity has been arrested and jailed. Emad Alaabadi was taken into custody last November 29, at Hofuf, a town in eastern Saudi Arabia. AsiaNews local sources have confirmed the report, and also say that he "is not the only Saudi Christian in jail at the moment: there are also others"....
The Shroud's Second Image New evidence reopens debate about the controversial relic. Christianity Today, December 2004 http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/012/32.56.html Two scientists from the University of Padua report in the April edition of the London-based Journal of Optics the discovery of a heretofore-undetected reverse image on the Shroud of Turin....
********************************************
MARIST BROTHERS' NEWSLETTERS
***********************************
'Marist Champagnat Family Newsletter' Spring Edition 2004 http://www.maristbrothers.org.nz/MFN1Spring2004.htm
Song of Awakening ... A letter from Anicet Lakomy (former Polish child-refugee) ... News from Takuilau College, Tonga ... Brother Chris Poppelwell, East Timor ... Marist Vocation Year ... A Marist Ministry: Brother Ray Harold at the Point Chevalier Forensic Psychiatry service ... Recent Deaths: Colin Rist, Brother Hubert Clifford, Hugh Murphy, Pat Fay, Patricia Chiaroni,Tony Jacobsen, Ray Fitzgerald ... La Valla Old Boys Association ... Appointment of Marist Old Boy Bishop Colin Campbell ... "Blessed are the Peacemakers" ... Humour
***********************************
MYAM Notes (Marist Young Adult Ministry)
http://www.myam.org.nz
About the The Grove community of young adults ... Leadership formation programmes.
************************************
'Champagnat News' A Newsletter for Boards of Trustees and Staff of Marist Schools and Schools with Marist Traditions in New Zealand
The Champagnat Newsletter was not published during Term 4 2004, but the previous issue, September 2004 http://www.maristbrothers.org.nz/CNSept20041.htm is packed with interesting articles and well worth a visit if you haven't already seen it. ML.
*************************************************
CARITAS AOTERAROA NZ
http://www.caritas.org.nz
NEWSROOM
Thousands Homeless after Eruption on Manam Island 14 December , 2004: The continuing volcanic eruptions on Manam Island, off the coast of Papua New Guinea, have seen the evacuation of nearly all of the island's approximately 9500 inhabitants. Since October 2004, the volcano has been spewing ash, lava and large rocks into the air, covering homes and crops with a blanket of thick ash and polluting water supplies, rendering the island uninhabitable and prompting a mass evacuation to the mainland...
Responding to the devastation in the Philippines 10 December , 2004: Following the four consecutive typhoons of Unding, Violeta, Winnie and Yoyong and tropical storms that have hit the Philippines since November 22, Caritas Internationalis has launched a $200,000 USD appeal to provide emergency relief to 3,000 families.......
**************************************************************
PENPAL REQUEST
Nelson Wandis, a 19-year-old seminarian in Papua New Guinea, would like to correspond with NZ Catholic parishioners. His address: St John Vianney Minor Seminary, PO Box 205, Vanimo, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea.
*************************************************************
CATHOLICTV.NET
Media Centre of the Wellington Archdiocese
http://www.catholictv.net
Mass of Thanksgiving to mark the 25th anniversary of Cardinal Williams Episcopal ordination (video report) The mass was celebrated in Sacred Heart Cathedral on Monday, Dec 13, 2004. The homily of thanksgiving was given by Coadjutor Archbishop, John Dew, who will succeed Cardinal Williams. Cardinal William's fellow bishops from around New Zealand, and about sixty diocesan priests, family, friends, and national and diocesan work staff attended.
*******************************************
TUI MOTU INTERISLANDS
http://www.tuimotu.org
From the December 2004 issue ...
No Room At The Inn (full text) The principal elements of the Christmas story are joy and delight: the birth of a child, the protective love of parents, the welcome of shepherds, the hosannas of angels. That's not the whole story. Not all countries are as welcoming, and many spend much of their lives in camps, wanted by nobody....
Also in the December issue ... Infant Jesus, Refugee - Joy Cowley A Creed To Believe - Glyn Cardy Dangerous Passions - Mike Noonan A Young Man In Search Of His Soul - Patricia Williams Smorgasbord Of Delights - Kathleen Doherty reviews books of 2004
************************************************
CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
Pope's Peace Day message that violence can't solve problems Tasmanian Archbishop's plea to accept Monsignor's guilt Vatican delegation astonished by cancellation of meeting with Israel National religious orders Conference for NZ Tasmanian CEO eyes schools expansion Religion, ethics 'essential values for young people' across Asia
*********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
**************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
Director, 'Mahitahi', the Project Assistance Agency of the NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference http://www.mahitahi.org/about.php Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.9, at: http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php and from: Mahitahi, 30 New Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. E-mail: timw@cda.org.nz Applications close 24 December 2004
*****************************************
EVENTS
"Hearts Aflame" Catholic Summer School Sacred Heart Hostel, Hamilton, Friday 31st of December 2004 - Sunday January 9th 2005 http://heartsaflame.org.nz The Hearts Aflame Catholic Summer School offers young adults (18-35 years old) an opportunity to learn more about the teachings of the Church, through: A deepening of your spiritual life through personal, communal and liturgical prayer and celebration of the sacraments A discovery of the richness of Catholic spirituality and tradition. An experience of living a common life of prayer, service and recreation An introduction to theology and scripture An examination of some of the many issues facing the Church
******************************************************
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
****************************************************
Dear readers,
This is the last News & Notes for 2004. The next one will go out on 9 January 2005.
A very happy Christmas and all God's blessings to you and yours.
Mike Leon
********************************************
ADVENT / CHRISTMAS 2004
Joining the masses for a festive praise (photo) Waikato Times 18 December 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/0,2106,3132102a6578,00.html Lester Thorley talks to Christina Reymer, whose family will be among the faithful Catholics celebrating Midnight Mass this year....
Place a candle in your window. The burning flame on Christmas Eve welcomes Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the weary traveller. Western Catholic Reporter (Canada) December 20, 2004 http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2004/1220/candle122004.shtml Himself now off to New Zealand to fill in so one-man parish priests can have Christmas break, Paul Andrews, the Irish Jesuit we hear from at the beginning of this story, gives perhaps the most powerful explanation of what we are saying when we light that candle....
Come, let us adore him, by Gerald O'Collins SJ The Tablet (UK) 18/12/2004 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi/tablet-00962 Carols evoke the extraordinary Christmas story of the baby born in a stable. They also help us understand through their familiar words the tenets of our faith...
Meditating on the Second Coming: Advent's Spiritual Pilgrimage, by Robert E. Webber Christianity Today, December 6 2004 http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/149/52.0.html The birth of Christ is only the final stop when meditating this holiday season....
The crèche is a sign of culture and faith, Pope says Asia News 12 December, 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2098 Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Speaking before the Angelus, the Pope said that the scene of the Nativity of Jesus was not only "part of our culture and art but also a sign of faith in God who, in Bethlehem, "made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14).....
Israeli Christians to visit Bethlehem this Christmas AsiaNews 17 December, 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2140 Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Signs of thaw in the Holy Land after the Israeli government announced that it would not prevent Israeli Christians from visiting Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations....
"Cost of living" in Europe and Iraq: in constant danger Christians in Baghdad and Mosul will spend Christmas behind barred doors http://www.fides.org/eng/news/2004/0412/10_3692.html Baghdad (Fides Service) - Despite an ever higher cost of living in Europe Christmas shopping and present hunting is in full swing while in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Mosul the cost of living is another matter and Christians feel ever more threatened....
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WORLD DAY OF PEACE - 1 JANUARY 2005
Pope's Message for 2005 World Day of Peace "Do Not Be Overcome by Evil but Overcome Evil With Good" http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63676 Vatican City, Dec. 16, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Here is John Paul II's Message for the World Day of Peace, to be observed Jan. 1. The Vatican press office released it today....
Presentation on Message for World Day of Peace "Right to Peace and to Development" http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63677 Vatican City, Dec. 16, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address delivered today by Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, when presenting to the press the message of John Paul II for World Day of Peace 2005....
Between the dangerous threat of preventive war and the sterile noise of pacifism, the Pope chooses to "build" peace. [Commentary on the Message by Fr Bernardo Cevellera] Asia News 16 December, 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2128
**************************************************
'NZ CATHOLIC'
http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz
No. 202, December 12-18, 2004
(Issue 203 - on sale this weekend - is the last for 2004. The next issue of 'NZ Catholic' will be published on 30 January 2005)
Award for excellence to Queenstown teacher Queenstown - A teacher from St Joseph's School in Queenstown has received the top award in the 2004 ASG National Excellence in Teaching Awards....
School dispute focuses on "tagged" positions Christchurch - The significance of "tagged" teaching positions in Catholic schools has been highlighted by a dispute involving St Joseph's School at Rangiora....
Religious to gather for the first time Wellington - St Catherine's College in Kilbirnie is the venue for New Zealand's first-ever national conference of religious orders, to be held in January....
********************************************
FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
Ingenious and industrious man of the land George Walter Parker, farmer and racing identity (obituary - photo) Otago Daily Times Dec 11, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/6gaeg Walter Parker could fix anything with a piece of string or lacing wire and his trusty pocket knife. The retired Roxburgh farmer, who died recently aged 79, was described as a man who learnt from the hardships of being raised on a farm in the early part of last century. It taught him to make do with whatever was available....
Brash nibbles at tax carrot for insured NZ Herald 16.12.04 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=9003433 "It is not at all clear to me why some New Zealanders should be expected to pay twice for their healthcare and the education of their children - once through their tax and once through health insurance premiums and school fees" [said Don Brash in a speech last Friday].... Coupling the issue with school fees is interesting, however. The Institute of Economic Research, in a 2001 report on the tax treatment of health insurance premiums, cites as a precedent the case of integrated (mainly Catholic) schools....
********************************************
FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES
Survey links happiness with Christianity http://www.cathnews.com/news/412/66.php Christians are happier than atheists, and more generous, according to new findings from the National Church Life Survey titled Spirituality and Wellbeing....
Veteran of the Vatican Information Service. Interview With Joan Lewis Vatican City, Dec. 14, 2004 (zenit.org).- Striking among the aspects of John Paul II's pontificate is his relationship with the media. With this in mind, journalist Joan Lewis of the Vatican Information Service explains how her work has changed over the years. Part 1: http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63542 Part 2: http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63610
Saudi Christian convert arrested and jailed AsiaNews 17 December, 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2134 Jeddah (AsiaNews) - A Saudi citizen converted to Christianity has been arrested and jailed. Emad Alaabadi was taken into custody last November 29, at Hofuf, a town in eastern Saudi Arabia. AsiaNews local sources have confirmed the report, and also say that he "is not the only Saudi Christian in jail at the moment: there are also others"....
The Shroud's Second Image New evidence reopens debate about the controversial relic. Christianity Today, December 2004 http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/012/32.56.html Two scientists from the University of Padua report in the April edition of the London-based Journal of Optics the discovery of a heretofore-undetected reverse image on the Shroud of Turin....
********************************************
MARIST BROTHERS' NEWSLETTERS
***********************************
'Marist Champagnat Family Newsletter' Spring Edition 2004 http://www.maristbrothers.org.nz/MFN1Spring2004.htm
Song of Awakening ... A letter from Anicet Lakomy (former Polish child-refugee) ... News from Takuilau College, Tonga ... Brother Chris Poppelwell, East Timor ... Marist Vocation Year ... A Marist Ministry: Brother Ray Harold at the Point Chevalier Forensic Psychiatry service ... Recent Deaths: Colin Rist, Brother Hubert Clifford, Hugh Murphy, Pat Fay, Patricia Chiaroni,Tony Jacobsen, Ray Fitzgerald ... La Valla Old Boys Association ... Appointment of Marist Old Boy Bishop Colin Campbell ... "Blessed are the Peacemakers" ... Humour
***********************************
MYAM Notes (Marist Young Adult Ministry)
http://www.myam.org.nz
About the The Grove community of young adults ... Leadership formation programmes.
************************************
'Champagnat News' A Newsletter for Boards of Trustees and Staff of Marist Schools and Schools with Marist Traditions in New Zealand
The Champagnat Newsletter was not published during Term 4 2004, but the previous issue, September 2004 http://www.maristbrothers.org.nz/CNSept20041.htm is packed with interesting articles and well worth a visit if you haven't already seen it. ML.
*************************************************
CARITAS AOTERAROA NZ
http://www.caritas.org.nz
NEWSROOM
Thousands Homeless after Eruption on Manam Island 14 December , 2004: The continuing volcanic eruptions on Manam Island, off the coast of Papua New Guinea, have seen the evacuation of nearly all of the island's approximately 9500 inhabitants. Since October 2004, the volcano has been spewing ash, lava and large rocks into the air, covering homes and crops with a blanket of thick ash and polluting water supplies, rendering the island uninhabitable and prompting a mass evacuation to the mainland...
Responding to the devastation in the Philippines 10 December , 2004: Following the four consecutive typhoons of Unding, Violeta, Winnie and Yoyong and tropical storms that have hit the Philippines since November 22, Caritas Internationalis has launched a $200,000 USD appeal to provide emergency relief to 3,000 families.......
**************************************************************
PENPAL REQUEST
Nelson Wandis, a 19-year-old seminarian in Papua New Guinea, would like to correspond with NZ Catholic parishioners. His address: St John Vianney Minor Seminary, PO Box 205, Vanimo, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea.
*************************************************************
CATHOLICTV.NET
Media Centre of the Wellington Archdiocese
http://www.catholictv.net
Mass of Thanksgiving to mark the 25th anniversary of Cardinal Williams Episcopal ordination (video report) The mass was celebrated in Sacred Heart Cathedral on Monday, Dec 13, 2004. The homily of thanksgiving was given by Coadjutor Archbishop, John Dew, who will succeed Cardinal Williams. Cardinal William's fellow bishops from around New Zealand, and about sixty diocesan priests, family, friends, and national and diocesan work staff attended.
*******************************************
TUI MOTU INTERISLANDS
http://www.tuimotu.org
From the December 2004 issue ...
No Room At The Inn (full text) The principal elements of the Christmas story are joy and delight: the birth of a child, the protective love of parents, the welcome of shepherds, the hosannas of angels. That's not the whole story. Not all countries are as welcoming, and many spend much of their lives in camps, wanted by nobody....
Also in the December issue ... Infant Jesus, Refugee - Joy Cowley A Creed To Believe - Glyn Cardy Dangerous Passions - Mike Noonan A Young Man In Search Of His Soul - Patricia Williams Smorgasbord Of Delights - Kathleen Doherty reviews books of 2004
************************************************
CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
Pope's Peace Day message that violence can't solve problems Tasmanian Archbishop's plea to accept Monsignor's guilt Vatican delegation astonished by cancellation of meeting with Israel National religious orders Conference for NZ Tasmanian CEO eyes schools expansion Religion, ethics 'essential values for young people' across Asia
*********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
**************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
Director, 'Mahitahi', the Project Assistance Agency of the NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference http://www.mahitahi.org/about.php Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.9, at: http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php and from: Mahitahi, 30 New Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. E-mail: timw@cda.org.nz Applications close 24 December 2004
*****************************************
EVENTS
"Hearts Aflame" Catholic Summer School Sacred Heart Hostel, Hamilton, Friday 31st of December 2004 - Sunday January 9th 2005 http://heartsaflame.org.nz The Hearts Aflame Catholic Summer School offers young adults (18-35 years old) an opportunity to learn more about the teachings of the Church, through: A deepening of your spiritual life through personal, communal and liturgical prayer and celebration of the sacraments A discovery of the richness of Catholic spirituality and tradition. An experience of living a common life of prayer, service and recreation An introduction to theology and scripture An examination of some of the many issues facing the Church
******************************************************
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
****************************************************
Sunday, December 12, 2004
********************************************
ADVENT / CHRISTMAS 2004
Prayers and Customs of Advent and Christmas -http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/adx This resource from the Passionists in the US offers background to Advent prayers and practices. Sections include: Advent, a season of preparation ... Advent Wreath ... Prayers ... Customs... Meditations for each week of Advent ... About St. Nicholas ... Fasts and Feasts: Recipes ... Christmas Prayers and Customs ... Christmas Prayers for the Home, for the New Year, for the Family ... Feast of the Epiphany
Re-Thinking Family Christmas Traditions http://www.madonnamagazine.com.au/articles/0411pirola.html We speak of Christmas as a season of joy and peace. But the reality is that sometimes stress and friction reign in family life as the festive season approaches. What simple strategies can help to breathe peace into our Christmas experience? The following story, a snapshot from Vic and Liz O' Callaghan's evolving family culture, offers food for thought...
Bethlehem knows what it wants for Christmas: tourists. SFGate.com December 5, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/68uzw All over Manger Square and the rest of town, shopkeepers, hotel owners and just plain folks are hoping that visitors come and stay -- if only for a night...
**************************************************
FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
No adoption changes planned - Government http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3120864a6160,00.html NZPA 08 December 2004 The Government has no plans to allow same-sex couples to adopt children, Associate Justice Minister David Benson-Pope said yesterday...
Bishops go too far The Press (Chch) 07 December 2004 http://tinyurl.com/6g79o The Catholic bishops have misjudged the temper of the public and risked their authority by issuing last Sunday's pastoral letter, The Press says in an editorial. Far from advancing their opposition to the Civil Union Bill, the intervention will make the legislation's passage more likely...
SIS to keep watch on Zaoui http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3123185a11,00.html The Dominion Post 10 December 2004 Bailed Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui is likely to be shadowed by Security Intelligence Service agents and have his phone bugged. Mr Zaoui left jail last night to live at the friary of the Catholic Dominican order in Auckland while the much-delayed review of his security status is undertaken...
Bail frees refugee to tell son of jail stint NZ Herald 10.12.04 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=9002550 When Ahmed Zaoui arrived at the Dominican Friary in Newton, the new home he will share with Catholic priests, some journalists were already waiting...
Video interviews with Ahmed Zaoui: http://tinyurl.com/6uqo8
'Old-fashioned values' boost school roll Otago Daily Times Dec 4, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/4e9jg A Milton school has bucked the trend of falling rolls in small rural communities by more than doubling its roll within the last decade. St Mary's School was once a struggling two-teacher school with just 27 pupils on the books. Today, there are five teachers responsible for a roll of 66, and an extra classroom is high on the wish-list...
Vatican university takes on the devil Reuters 11 December 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3124218a4560,00.html Rome: Forget the new Exorcist film, the Vatican is offering the real thing. A Vatican university says it will hold a special "theoretical and practical" course for Roman Catholic priests on Satanism and exorcism in response to what the Church says is a worrying interest in the occult, particularly among the young...
Sister Judith: No-nonsense nun who has the Vatican online Khaleej Times (UAE) 11 December 2004 http://tinyurl.com/6prlf Vatican City - "Is there a patron saint of the Internet?" is the most common question Sister Judith Zoebelein has to answer. "Not yet," replies this diminutive, no-nonsense nun from New York City. Sister Judith, 55, is a self-taught computer expert. And there was no heavenly help at hand when she was first asked to create the Vatican's web site, back in 1995...
*********************************************************
FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES
OK to civil unions makes "sad day" for New Zealand Catholic World Report http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=33951 Wellington, New Zealand, Dec. 10 (CNA/CWNews.com) - With the passage of the Civil Union Bill into law today in New Zealand, the pro-family group Family Life International New Zealand called it a "sad day" for the country and said that the parliamentary decision "makes an absolute mockery of due democratic process and will have many negative implications for future generations" ....
Navarro Valls on His Work as Director of Vatican Press Office. Spokesman Marks 20-Year Milestone (interview) http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63155 Rome, Dec. 6, 2004 (Zenit.org).- It was 1974 when Dr. Joaquín Navarro Valls, together with Giovanni Caprile, stirred a public debate about the scant official information available on the Synod on Evangelization. The relator of the synod was Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. Ten years later, on Dec. 4, 1984, Cardinal Wojtyla, now John Paul II, appointed Navarro Valls director of the Holy See's Press Office...
How "The Passion" Rattled Hollywood (interview) http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63321 Hollywood, California, Dec. 9, 2004 (Zenit.Org).- Plenty of bad movies still come out of Tinseltown, but an industry insider sees some positive changes in the wake of "The Passion of the Christ." Barbara Nicolosi, director of Act One, a boot camp for Christian screenwriters who hope to work in mainstream Hollywood, told Zenit how bad movies are bad business for Hollywood, now that the industry has seen the power of the Christian audience...
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SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (8 December in New Zealand)
Church set to mark 150th anniversary of Immaculate Conception dogma http://www.cathnews.com/news/412/26.php Pope John Paul II is leading celebrations for Wednesday's 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception dogma, which include a four-day international congress, a commemorative liturgy involving Pope John Paul II, and a special "Concert for Immaculate Mary" in the Vatican's audience hall... [includes numerous related links]
Pope prays to the Immaculate Virgin for peace and the sacredness of life http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2074 Rome (AsiaNews) - In his prayer before the statue of Mary in Piazza di Spagna, just above the Spanish steps, the Pope called on the Virgin on the day celebrating Her Immaculate Conception to help humanity build a world in which everyone will want peace and in which there will be respect for life that wars and man's pretensions have threatened...
Pope keeps up tradition of Spanish Steps stop at start of holiday schedule http://cbsnewyork.com/international/Vatican-Pope-ai/resources_news_html CBS 2 New York
*************************************
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE ON INTERFAITH COOPERATION
Terrorism is anti-religious, Asian religious leaders say http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2071 Yogyakarta (AsiaNews) - Religious leaders from the Asia-Pacific region said in a joint statement that inter-faith dialogue must be strengthened and fundamentalist groups condemned as an obstacle to peace. Meeting at Yogyakarta (central Java), 124 representatives of different religions (Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish) along with political leaders agreed that dialogue between religions and peace must be promoted in the region...
Religious leaders join to fight radicals http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3120993a12,00.html Reuters 08 December 2004 Indonesia: Leaders at a 13-nation interfaith conference said they would go home with new ideas on working together against violence-prone religious radicals and solving problems that fuel extremism. Participants at the International Dialogue on Interfaith Cooperation ranged from Buddhist monks in orange robes to Muslim muftis and Catholic cardinals. Jews, Protestants, Hindus and Confucionists were also on hand...
Downer urges pulpit war against terror http://www.cathnews.com/news/412/33.php Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has told more than 120 religious leaders at the inter-faith meeting in Indonesia that the war on terror will fail if it is not pursued in pulpits, mosques, synagogues and temples... [Includes many related links]
*****************************************************
CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Australian prisoners focus of bishop's Human Rights Day message Suspended sentence for Tasmanian monsignor Diocese considers private-sector funding for schools Pope says respect cultural difference, but don't forget universal values Melbourne, Brisbane Archdioceses planning for future Persecution today for "mad monk" Abbott
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THE NATHANIEL CENTRE - The NZ Catholic Bioethics Centre
From the Nathaniel Report, November 2004 http://www.nathaniel.org.nz/natrpt14.htm
Editorial: Abortion - Technology and Truth (full text) One in four pregnancies in New Zealand now end in abortion, compared with one in ten two decades ago. The reasons are complex and need to be examined within the context of some very significant demographic and sociological changes. A focus on changing the law would, by itself, be an inadequate approach to dealing with the increasing abortion rate...
Also in this issue ...
Update on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (HART) Bill This piece identifies changes to the HART Bill recommended by the Health Select Committee as the Bill enters the House to be debated by the Committee of the Whole House. It also highlights those matters which, from a Catholic perspective, are of 'grave concern'.
Clinical - Ethical Judgements without "short cuts" This article by Australian moral theologian Gerald Gleeson explores the debate among Catholic ethicists regarding the obligations towards persistently unresponsive (PVS) patients and identifies two "short cuts" that are commonly deployed in this debate.
Aged Health Care and Ethical Business Practice A reflection by a practitioner in the field of leadership development and management assessment, this article sets out three theories of leadership behaviour which form the background to a series of questions designed to stimulate those involved in aged care to reflect on the ethical nature of their own behaviour.
The Starfish Programme A wonderfully inspiring story of a remarkable New Zealand woman Liese Groot-Alberts who has been part of a team transforming the conditions and care of people with severe and terminal illness in a Philippines hospital.
Toi te Taiao: Use of Human Genes in Other Organisms A short synopsis of the consultation process undertaken by Toi te Taiao on the cultural, spiritual and ethical issues arising from the use of human genes in other organisms.
*************************************
CARITAS AOTEAROA NZ
http://www.caritas.org.nz
From the Newsroom ...
Day of Prayer for the Holy Land 9 December, 2004: The Catholic Bishops' Conferences of North Africa and the Arab Regions have asked Catholics throughout the world to join a day of prayer and fasting for the Holy Land on Wednesday 22 December 2004. At their most recent meeting, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference agreed to support this request, and information has been distributed to all Catholic parishes by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand ....
Commemoration of West Papuan Anniversary of Independence 1 December, 2004: Caritas staff and supporters joined a commemoration at Parliament on 1 December of the West Papuan anniversary of independence from the Dutch in 1961. Caritas programmes manager Peter Zwart told the gathering that although West Papuans were promised independence by 1970, authority over West Papua was later passed to Indonesia without West Papuan input ...
*************************************************
MARIST MESSENGER (Society of Mary NZ)
http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz/index.php
Online in the December Messenger ...
** Readings: Daily Mass readings and devotional prayers.
** Daily News from the Catholic world.
** E-Cards Easter, Birthday, Baptism, First Eucharist, Confirmation, Wedding and Christmas cards.
** Focus This issue marks 75 years of the Marist Messenger (1929-2004), so it is an opportunity for us to thank God and "to praise our illustrious ancestors in their successive generations." [Eccus 44:1] ... (This Focus is the farewell editorial of the seventh editor of the Marist Messenger, Fr Carl Telford sm.)
** Dear Joseph, look after them It has sometimes bothered me a little that - though Saint Joseph is my patron saint - I can think of no obvious intervention in my life, where I can say 'Ah, that was the hand of Joseph!' I chose him as a patron when I came into the Church as an adult convert; and chose him deliberately because I am a married man with a family.
** An Unexpected Grace A couple invite an elderly lady for Christmas Dinner, and so begins the story of a lasting friendship.
** The Hidden Mary When we talk of God we leave behind human gender issues and use the words male and female to describe the different aspects and energies we experience in all of creation. Which, of course, does not say what God is, but how we, with our limited senses, perceive God.
Also in the December Marist Messenger ... * A Second Chance * An Unexpected Grace * Our Lady and the Visitation * The Cardinal Virtues * Missing Midnight Mass
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EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
**************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
Director, 'Mahitahi', the Project Assistance Agency of the NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference http://www.mahitahi.org/about.php Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.9, and from Mahitahi, 30 New Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. E-mail: timw@cda.org.nz Applications close 24 December 2004
Pastoral Care Coordinator, Te Korowai Atawhai, St Joseph's Mercy Hospice, Auckland. http://www.sistersofmercy.org.nz/auckland/offer_health.html Details in 'NZ Catholic' Nov. 28 - Dec. 11 2004 p.19, and from Jan Nichols, Executive Manager, St Joseph's Mercy Hospice, PO Box 9911, Auckland. Tel: (09) 623-9757; e-mail: jann@mercy.co.nz
*****************************************
EVENTS
"Hearts Aflame" Catholic Summer School Sacred Heart Hostel, Hamilton, Friday 31st of December 2004 - Sunday January 9th 2005 http://heartsaflame.org.nz The Hearts Aflame Catholic Summer School offers young adults (18-35 years old) an opportunity to learn more about the teachings of the Church, through: A deepening of your spiritual life through personal, communal and liturgical prayer and celebration of the sacraments A discovery of the richness of Catholic spirituality and tradition. An experience of living a common life of prayer, service and recreation An introduction to theology and scripture An examination of some of the many issues facing the Church
******************************************************
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
****************************************************
ADVENT / CHRISTMAS 2004
Prayers and Customs of Advent and Christmas -http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/adx This resource from the Passionists in the US offers background to Advent prayers and practices. Sections include: Advent, a season of preparation ... Advent Wreath ... Prayers ... Customs... Meditations for each week of Advent ... About St. Nicholas ... Fasts and Feasts: Recipes ... Christmas Prayers and Customs ... Christmas Prayers for the Home, for the New Year, for the Family ... Feast of the Epiphany
Re-Thinking Family Christmas Traditions http://www.madonnamagazine.com.au/articles/0411pirola.html We speak of Christmas as a season of joy and peace. But the reality is that sometimes stress and friction reign in family life as the festive season approaches. What simple strategies can help to breathe peace into our Christmas experience? The following story, a snapshot from Vic and Liz O' Callaghan's evolving family culture, offers food for thought...
Bethlehem knows what it wants for Christmas: tourists. SFGate.com December 5, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/68uzw All over Manger Square and the rest of town, shopkeepers, hotel owners and just plain folks are hoping that visitors come and stay -- if only for a night...
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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS
No adoption changes planned - Government http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3120864a6160,00.html NZPA 08 December 2004 The Government has no plans to allow same-sex couples to adopt children, Associate Justice Minister David Benson-Pope said yesterday...
Bishops go too far The Press (Chch) 07 December 2004 http://tinyurl.com/6g79o The Catholic bishops have misjudged the temper of the public and risked their authority by issuing last Sunday's pastoral letter, The Press says in an editorial. Far from advancing their opposition to the Civil Union Bill, the intervention will make the legislation's passage more likely...
SIS to keep watch on Zaoui http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3123185a11,00.html The Dominion Post 10 December 2004 Bailed Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui is likely to be shadowed by Security Intelligence Service agents and have his phone bugged. Mr Zaoui left jail last night to live at the friary of the Catholic Dominican order in Auckland while the much-delayed review of his security status is undertaken...
Bail frees refugee to tell son of jail stint NZ Herald 10.12.04 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=9002550 When Ahmed Zaoui arrived at the Dominican Friary in Newton, the new home he will share with Catholic priests, some journalists were already waiting...
Video interviews with Ahmed Zaoui: http://tinyurl.com/6uqo8
'Old-fashioned values' boost school roll Otago Daily Times Dec 4, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/4e9jg A Milton school has bucked the trend of falling rolls in small rural communities by more than doubling its roll within the last decade. St Mary's School was once a struggling two-teacher school with just 27 pupils on the books. Today, there are five teachers responsible for a roll of 66, and an extra classroom is high on the wish-list...
Vatican university takes on the devil Reuters 11 December 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3124218a4560,00.html Rome: Forget the new Exorcist film, the Vatican is offering the real thing. A Vatican university says it will hold a special "theoretical and practical" course for Roman Catholic priests on Satanism and exorcism in response to what the Church says is a worrying interest in the occult, particularly among the young...
Sister Judith: No-nonsense nun who has the Vatican online Khaleej Times (UAE) 11 December 2004 http://tinyurl.com/6prlf Vatican City - "Is there a patron saint of the Internet?" is the most common question Sister Judith Zoebelein has to answer. "Not yet," replies this diminutive, no-nonsense nun from New York City. Sister Judith, 55, is a self-taught computer expert. And there was no heavenly help at hand when she was first asked to create the Vatican's web site, back in 1995...
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FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES
OK to civil unions makes "sad day" for New Zealand Catholic World Report http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=33951 Wellington, New Zealand, Dec. 10 (CNA/CWNews.com) - With the passage of the Civil Union Bill into law today in New Zealand, the pro-family group Family Life International New Zealand called it a "sad day" for the country and said that the parliamentary decision "makes an absolute mockery of due democratic process and will have many negative implications for future generations" ....
Navarro Valls on His Work as Director of Vatican Press Office. Spokesman Marks 20-Year Milestone (interview) http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63155 Rome, Dec. 6, 2004 (Zenit.org).- It was 1974 when Dr. Joaquín Navarro Valls, together with Giovanni Caprile, stirred a public debate about the scant official information available on the Synod on Evangelization. The relator of the synod was Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. Ten years later, on Dec. 4, 1984, Cardinal Wojtyla, now John Paul II, appointed Navarro Valls director of the Holy See's Press Office...
How "The Passion" Rattled Hollywood (interview) http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=63321 Hollywood, California, Dec. 9, 2004 (Zenit.Org).- Plenty of bad movies still come out of Tinseltown, but an industry insider sees some positive changes in the wake of "The Passion of the Christ." Barbara Nicolosi, director of Act One, a boot camp for Christian screenwriters who hope to work in mainstream Hollywood, told Zenit how bad movies are bad business for Hollywood, now that the industry has seen the power of the Christian audience...
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SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (8 December in New Zealand)
Church set to mark 150th anniversary of Immaculate Conception dogma http://www.cathnews.com/news/412/26.php Pope John Paul II is leading celebrations for Wednesday's 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception dogma, which include a four-day international congress, a commemorative liturgy involving Pope John Paul II, and a special "Concert for Immaculate Mary" in the Vatican's audience hall... [includes numerous related links]
Pope prays to the Immaculate Virgin for peace and the sacredness of life http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2074 Rome (AsiaNews) - In his prayer before the statue of Mary in Piazza di Spagna, just above the Spanish steps, the Pope called on the Virgin on the day celebrating Her Immaculate Conception to help humanity build a world in which everyone will want peace and in which there will be respect for life that wars and man's pretensions have threatened...
Pope keeps up tradition of Spanish Steps stop at start of holiday schedule http://cbsnewyork.com/international/Vatican-Pope-ai/resources_news_html CBS 2 New York
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INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE ON INTERFAITH COOPERATION
Terrorism is anti-religious, Asian religious leaders say http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2071 Yogyakarta (AsiaNews) - Religious leaders from the Asia-Pacific region said in a joint statement that inter-faith dialogue must be strengthened and fundamentalist groups condemned as an obstacle to peace. Meeting at Yogyakarta (central Java), 124 representatives of different religions (Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish) along with political leaders agreed that dialogue between religions and peace must be promoted in the region...
Religious leaders join to fight radicals http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3120993a12,00.html Reuters 08 December 2004 Indonesia: Leaders at a 13-nation interfaith conference said they would go home with new ideas on working together against violence-prone religious radicals and solving problems that fuel extremism. Participants at the International Dialogue on Interfaith Cooperation ranged from Buddhist monks in orange robes to Muslim muftis and Catholic cardinals. Jews, Protestants, Hindus and Confucionists were also on hand...
Downer urges pulpit war against terror http://www.cathnews.com/news/412/33.php Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has told more than 120 religious leaders at the inter-faith meeting in Indonesia that the war on terror will fail if it is not pursued in pulpits, mosques, synagogues and temples... [Includes many related links]
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CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
http://www.cathcom.org.nz
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Australian prisoners focus of bishop's Human Rights Day message Suspended sentence for Tasmanian monsignor Diocese considers private-sector funding for schools Pope says respect cultural difference, but don't forget universal values Melbourne, Brisbane Archdioceses planning for future Persecution today for "mad monk" Abbott
***************************************************
THE NATHANIEL CENTRE - The NZ Catholic Bioethics Centre
From the Nathaniel Report, November 2004 http://www.nathaniel.org.nz/natrpt14.htm
Editorial: Abortion - Technology and Truth (full text) One in four pregnancies in New Zealand now end in abortion, compared with one in ten two decades ago. The reasons are complex and need to be examined within the context of some very significant demographic and sociological changes. A focus on changing the law would, by itself, be an inadequate approach to dealing with the increasing abortion rate...
Also in this issue ...
Update on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (HART) Bill This piece identifies changes to the HART Bill recommended by the Health Select Committee as the Bill enters the House to be debated by the Committee of the Whole House. It also highlights those matters which, from a Catholic perspective, are of 'grave concern'.
Clinical - Ethical Judgements without "short cuts" This article by Australian moral theologian Gerald Gleeson explores the debate among Catholic ethicists regarding the obligations towards persistently unresponsive (PVS) patients and identifies two "short cuts" that are commonly deployed in this debate.
Aged Health Care and Ethical Business Practice A reflection by a practitioner in the field of leadership development and management assessment, this article sets out three theories of leadership behaviour which form the background to a series of questions designed to stimulate those involved in aged care to reflect on the ethical nature of their own behaviour.
The Starfish Programme A wonderfully inspiring story of a remarkable New Zealand woman Liese Groot-Alberts who has been part of a team transforming the conditions and care of people with severe and terminal illness in a Philippines hospital.
Toi te Taiao: Use of Human Genes in Other Organisms A short synopsis of the consultation process undertaken by Toi te Taiao on the cultural, spiritual and ethical issues arising from the use of human genes in other organisms.
*************************************
CARITAS AOTEAROA NZ
http://www.caritas.org.nz
From the Newsroom ...
Day of Prayer for the Holy Land 9 December, 2004: The Catholic Bishops' Conferences of North Africa and the Arab Regions have asked Catholics throughout the world to join a day of prayer and fasting for the Holy Land on Wednesday 22 December 2004. At their most recent meeting, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference agreed to support this request, and information has been distributed to all Catholic parishes by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand ....
Commemoration of West Papuan Anniversary of Independence 1 December, 2004: Caritas staff and supporters joined a commemoration at Parliament on 1 December of the West Papuan anniversary of independence from the Dutch in 1961. Caritas programmes manager Peter Zwart told the gathering that although West Papuans were promised independence by 1970, authority over West Papua was later passed to Indonesia without West Papuan input ...
*************************************************
MARIST MESSENGER (Society of Mary NZ)
http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz/index.php
Online in the December Messenger ...
** Readings: Daily Mass readings and devotional prayers.
** Daily News from the Catholic world.
** E-Cards Easter, Birthday, Baptism, First Eucharist, Confirmation, Wedding and Christmas cards.
** Focus This issue marks 75 years of the Marist Messenger (1929-2004), so it is an opportunity for us to thank God and "to praise our illustrious ancestors in their successive generations." [Eccus 44:1] ... (This Focus is the farewell editorial of the seventh editor of the Marist Messenger, Fr Carl Telford sm.)
** Dear Joseph, look after them It has sometimes bothered me a little that - though Saint Joseph is my patron saint - I can think of no obvious intervention in my life, where I can say 'Ah, that was the hand of Joseph!' I chose him as a patron when I came into the Church as an adult convert; and chose him deliberately because I am a married man with a family.
** An Unexpected Grace A couple invite an elderly lady for Christmas Dinner, and so begins the story of a lasting friendship.
** The Hidden Mary When we talk of God we leave behind human gender issues and use the words male and female to describe the different aspects and energies we experience in all of creation. Which, of course, does not say what God is, but how we, with our limited senses, perceive God.
Also in the December Marist Messenger ... * A Second Chance * An Unexpected Grace * Our Lady and the Visitation * The Cardinal Virtues * Missing Midnight Mass
*********************************************************
EMPLOYMENT
[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]
[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]
**************************************
Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy vacancies, Diocese of Christchurch 2-3 postions for tertiary co-ordinator and tertiary team workers Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.22, and from Mike Stopforth, Catholic Youth Team, PO Box 4544, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 366-9869; fax: (03) 379-8724; e-mail: mstopforth@chch.catholic.org.nz. Or after 20 December, Fr Michael Doyle, Tertiary priest-chaplain; e-mail: mjdoyle@paradise.net.nz Applications close 17 January 2005
Director, 'Mahitahi', the Project Assistance Agency of the NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference http://www.mahitahi.org/about.php Details in 'NZ Catholic' December 12-18 p.9, and from Mahitahi, 30 New Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. E-mail: timw@cda.org.nz Applications close 24 December 2004
Pastoral Care Coordinator, Te Korowai Atawhai, St Joseph's Mercy Hospice, Auckland. http://www.sistersofmercy.org.nz/auckland/offer_health.html Details in 'NZ Catholic' Nov. 28 - Dec. 11 2004 p.19, and from Jan Nichols, Executive Manager, St Joseph's Mercy Hospice, PO Box 9911, Auckland. Tel: (09) 623-9757; e-mail: jann@mercy.co.nz
*****************************************
EVENTS
"Hearts Aflame" Catholic Summer School Sacred Heart Hostel, Hamilton, Friday 31st of December 2004 - Sunday January 9th 2005 http://heartsaflame.org.nz The Hearts Aflame Catholic Summer School offers young adults (18-35 years old) an opportunity to learn more about the teachings of the Church, through: A deepening of your spiritual life through personal, communal and liturgical prayer and celebration of the sacraments A discovery of the richness of Catholic spirituality and tradition. An experience of living a common life of prayer, service and recreation An introduction to theology and scripture An examination of some of the many issues facing the Church
******************************************************
Parachute Music Festival Mystery Creek, Hamilton January 28-31 2005
The annual Christian music festival, takes place on Auckland Anniversary weekend (last weekend of January) at Totara Springs Christian Camp, Matamata.
Parachute Festival Website: http://websites.parachutemusic.com/festival/2005/default_noflash.asp
Catholics@Parachute: The young Catholic presence at Australasia's biggest Christian music festival is growing by the year.. The National Council for Young Catholics coordinates the bulk purchase of tickets and the set-up of a Catholic village on site. Contact Jamie Cox: jamiec@cdh.org.nz
****************************************************
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