****************************************************

What Christmas means around the world (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2hhlco
Celebrating the holidays comes in different strokes for the different ethnic
folks who have made North Shore their "home away from home"...

Sisters of God face the future (photos)
http://tinyurl.com/yul4jz
They started with six over a century ago, and after making an immeasurable
contribution to Wairarapa education and spiritual care, The Sisters of St
Bride's are now back down to six ...

Doing God
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4337299a14337.html
Tony Blair's entry into the Catholic faith has made surprisingly big
headlines, considering the secular beliefs that now dominate much of the
Western world, says The Press, in an editorial...

Midnight masses held across NZ (text and video)
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/1522453
Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve with midnight mass held in
churches across the country. Hundreds turned out for an extra festive
service at Auckland's Saint Patrick's Cathedral in the city - its first
Christmas mass in the 160 year-old cathedral in two years, after it closed
for major restoration work...

Good attendance at church services
http://tinyurl.com/2xbyc3
Undeterred by wet weather on Christmas Eve, several thousand people flocked
to churches throughout Dunedin to celebrate the Christmas story...

45% believe in religious significance of Christmas Day - survey
http://tinyurl.com/ys4keq
A survey suggests a large number of New Zealanders believe in the religious
significance of Christmas Day. Some 500 people were polled by Research New
Zealand from 4 to 11 December and 45% said 25 December is significant in
terms of religion...

*****************************************************

Dear readers,

'News & Notes' will take a break for about three weeks, restarting in
mid-January as soon as there is something to report.

Every best wish and all God's blessings for a happy Christmas and new year.

Mike Leon

****************************************************

CHRISTMAS 2007

Wide choice of services at churches
http://tinyurl.com/2swobs
Taking time to appreciate and celebrate Christmas for its true meaning is
the message many will be receiving at Dunedin church services this holiday
season. Dunedin’s larger churches and cathedrals will be marking the festive
season with their popular carol services and midnight Masses.

Little church lights up (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4328636a20379.html
The little Catholic Church at Kauwhata Marae has existed without electricity
for more than 110 years. However, during the festive season, until December
27, the church of St Peter and St Paul on Te Arakura Road is being lit up by
Christmas lights covering the interior and exterior walls, and a Nativity
scene...

Churches unite for real Christmas (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2rlwya
Church leaders of the Wakatipu Basin have banded together to give a special
message to people of Queenstown this holiday season, and that is to remember
the true meaning of Christmas ...

**********************************************************

CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php

Cakes earn $14,000 to help families at Christmas time (20 Dec 2007)
The Catholic Caring Foundation is the charitable foundation of the Catholic
Bishop of Auckland, providing funding for grass-roots organisations that
work with the marginalised in society. Again this year, the Foundation ran
the Bishop’s Bake Christmas Cake Appeal - a hugely important annual
fundraiser...

**********************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

God in the House (photo of Helen Clark meditating)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4332757a13135.html
Overt religious beliefs seem to rest uncomfortably with the political
aspirations of our parliamentarians. Philip Matthews looks at why so many of
them are uncomfortable with talking about whether they believe in God.

Community groups support Royal Commission of Inquiry into Criminal Justice
Sector
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00280.htm
Influential community leaders support the Ombudsmans call for a Royal
Commission of Inquiry into the Criminal Justice Sector...

Colombians seek refuge in Hamilton
Hamilton Press
http://tinyurl.com/2khnr4
Hamilton's Refugee Resettlement Service last week hosted the arrival of one
of the largest groups of refugees to arrive in the city...

Revegetation of a gully
http://tinyurl.com/32tms9
A Master's degree wasn't enough for Tatiana Kalnins, but the journey to the
pinnacle - a PhD - has led to a project to replant part of the Marian gully
with native vegetation...

The aftermath of sexual abuse (photo)
The Eastern Courier, East Tamaki
http://tinyurl.com/3c6233
After decades of living with the effects of sexual abuse, an Auckland man
turned his experience to helping others cope with similar situations ...

Pupils light way for successors
Waikato Times â€" News â€" 17 Dec 2007 â€" Page 3
Senior pupils at St Joseph's Catholic School in Fairfield handed over
responsibility to next year's senior students at a special mass last week.
The final school mass for the year saw outgoing Year 8 pupils carry candles
to the altar, before handing them over at the end of the service to next
year's leaders, who carried them out of the church.
[This story is not available on the newspaper's free Website. It can be read
at the public library, and via the libraries' free Newztext service for
borrowers.]


****************************************************

'THE FIFTEENTH STATION' - NZ's first Catholic podcast

http://station15.libsyn.com/

In the programme for 15 December 2007 ...

'Christmas hope'
Our first Christmas podcast and there's quite a bit to talk about. The
Pope's new encyclical on hope has been released, and it makes for popular
reading. We talk about the 4,210 NZ pilgrims are heading over to see him
next year at World Youth Day, and whether or not movies like the Golden
Compass can be bad for the faith of those who watch them. And we talk a bit
about Christmas traditions and interpretations of the season. We wish all
our listeners a happy and Holy Christmas.

*****************************************************

'BEING FRANK'

http://www.beingfrank.co.nz/

Blogs about Catholic life in New Zealand, sponsored by 'NZ Catholic'
newspaper.

Current topics:

Somewhere in a galaxy far far away… (22 December)
As we approach the end of advent and I have been pondering the incarnation
and the birth of Our saviour, I began to think a little about the
implications of extra terrestrial life. (Weird, I know…not really the most
obvious correlation). I mean, if there was other life (with spiritual souls)
on other planets somewhere in another galaxy â€" what does this mean for us as
Christians? ...

It Was A Very Good Year (21 December)
Well, it’s obvious that another year is about to draw to a close and people
on the blog have just about had enough of each other. Fortunately, I don’t
have any frustrations and agendas to air on the site. Some might say I don’t
have anything useful to air at all. Very funny...

Who/what do we care about? (20 December)
I was having a “discussion� with friends the other day about animal rights
versus human rights and how I obviously thought the abuse of humans was
worse than the abuse of animals. I thought my friends were disagreeing with
that, but as we continued to “discuss�, I came to understand they were
actually pointing out that one is simply an extension of the other...

*****************************************************

INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

Lay leaders among us, Part Two: 'Meet the people'
Joan manages a unique programme called "Launch Out" which forms lay people
to work in partnership with priests in ministry.

'Angel in the City'
Rev. Frank Nelson, the Dean of Wellington's Anglican Cathedral, reads the
Christmas story and discusses it with Sr Stephanie.

*****************************************************

MAGAZINES & NEWSLETTERS

** 'Marist Messenger' - December 2007
http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz/

** NZ Catholic Education Office. 'Lighting New Fires', Christmas Edition
http://www.nzceo.catholic.org.nz/pages/resourcesubpages/lighting-new-fires.html

** 'Inform' - the newsletter of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch -
December 2007
http://www.chch.catholic.org.nz/?sid=25

Marist Brothers' New Zealand Province.
** Schools' Champagnat Newsletter - December 2007
http://www.maristbrothers.org.nz/Schools%20Champagnat%20Newsletter.htm
** Marist Family News - December 2007
http://www.maristbrothers.org.nz/Marist%20Family%20News.htm

** NZ Catholic Bioethics Centre. 'The Nathaniel Report' - Issue 23
http://www.nathaniel.org.nz/?sid=163

** 'Tui Motu InterIslands' - December 2007
http://www.tuimotu.org/

** St Columban's Mission Society, Aust. & NZ Region. 'The Far East' -
November/December 2007
http://www.columban.org.au/?MID=200510192652

** Carmelite Monastery of Christ the King, Christchurch. Christmas
Newsletter 2007
* http://www.karmel.at/christchurch.nz

******************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Catholics helped pass U.N. vote favoring global death penalty ban; Notes
about: Episcopalians, Kolvenbach and Vatican PR
It would probably be pushing things a bit far to suggest that Tuesday's vote
in the General Assembly of the United Nations in favor of a global
moratorium on the death penalty is a victory for the Catholic church. It is,
however, a result difficult to imagine without the Catholic contribution...

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]

*****************************************************

CHRISTMAS 2007

First airings for Christmas cantata (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2l34wf
Three months of hard work will have its pay-off this sunday when the
Taumarunui Community choir has their first performance of a new Christmas
cantata ...

**********************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Historic link for new library (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2nvwba
St Patrick's School in Kaiapoi has a new library and information centre
named the Barbier Centre after the nun who founded the order which
establisehd the school in 1926...

Local medics bound for remote islands (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/3y4hf5
Two Wairarapa women hope to head to Indonesia early next year to a remote
island where New Zealand doctor, Derek Allen, works with the poor, the sick
and the needy ...

New Zealand's Catholic chaplains embrace Antarctica's adventures
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0707048.htm
Christchurch, New Zealand (CNS) -- Not many changes from his last trip to
Antarctica, reported a priest from New Zealand: The ice runway is nearer to
the base, it's colder than 10 below zero, but the sky is blue, he added...

Nun Briefs Parliamentarians On Timor-Leste Crisis (photo)
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00175.htm
Security is still the most pressing problem for Timor-Leste according to nun
and refugee camp organiser Sister Guilhermina Marcal currently visiting New
Zealand...

Catholics encouraged to watch 'Compass'
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/4319133a6530.html
The distributors of a film that has outraged Catholic groups in the United
States have invited New Zealand Catholics to previews to "make up their own
minds"...

****************************************************

'BEING FRANK'

http://www.beingfrank.co.nz/

A blog about Catholic life in New Zealand, sponsored by 'NZ Catholic'
newspaper.

Current topics:

The culture of death - first hand (15 Dec)
"About three weeks ago, I found out that my 15-year-old sister was pregnant.
I quickly got her in contact with the crisis pregnancy centre and they have
done an absolutely wonderful job! Thanks be to God, she has decided to keep
the baby. However, I haven’t had extensive contact with my family and this
new situation has meant that I have been exposed, first hand, to the reality
of the culture of death..."

Decorated fur trees… (12 Dec)
Yesterday my Outlook inbox was graced with the presence of an email from a
colleague, addressed to all the members of our workplace, asking if it were
possible to adopt more inclusive language at this time of year in
acknowledgement of those who don’t celebrate Christmas...

Today, tomorrow, Timaru… (11 Dec)
Last week I picked up a parish bulletin from a South Auckland parish. As I
was reading through the bulletin, I came across something that I was
completely astounded by; in fact I had to read the notice twice to be sure
that what I was reading was really on the page in front of me: "The priests
of the South Auckland Deanery expressed concern to the Bishop over the
possible confusion that could arise next year on February 6th when ‘The Day
of Ashes’ and the Waitangi Day celebration would coincide. We wanted to
honour both days… and approached Bishop Patrick Dunn with a suggestion that
for the South Auckland Deanery parishes ‘we transfer the liturgy of Ash
Wednesday to Thursday 7th February..."

*****************************************************

INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

'Lay leaders among us'
Joan manages a unique programme called "Launch Out" which forms lay people
to work in partnership with priests in ministry

*****************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Marini's book on liturgy: The future of the liturgy is the future of
Christianity
When I’m on the lecture circuit, there’s a story I like to tell to
illustrate the sometimes surprising diversity inside the Vatican. It’s set
in the summer of 2002, when Pope John Paul II was in Mexico City to canonize
Juan Diego, the Aztec visionary in the Our Lady of Guadalupe devotion. At
the moment in the canonization Mass when John Paul read out the Latin
formula declaring Juan Diego a saint, pandemonium broke out in the Basilica
of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Confetti fell from the ceiling, drums beat and
horns blared, and a knot of indigenous dancers began to gyrate down a
catwalk. Inside, it felt like Michael Jordan had just hit the winning shot
in Game Seven of the NBA Finals; an American TV correspondent standing next
to me, who happens to be Jewish, shouted in my ear, "If they did it this way
every Sunday, even I would show up!" ...

Also: 'Daily News & Updates: In World Peace Day message, Benedict paints a
Catholic shade of green'

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]

******************************************************

CHRISTMAS 2007

Finally a mass in the church of Saint Nicholas and Myra
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10974&size=A
The ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew I, after years of insistence, was
finally given the possibility to celebrate mass inside of what is, according
to the State, only a museum. A saint who is unknown in Turkey, but is the
origin of Santa Claus...

*****************************************************

'WEL-COM' - The newspaper of the dioceses of Wellington and Palmerston North

http://www.welcom.org.nz/

From the December issue ...

News
Call for peace marks Parihaka Day ... Belonging is key for Generation Xers
... Upper Hutt adopts Parihaka theme ...

World News
Bearing fruit in Timor Leste ... The 1967 Middle East war 40 years on and
still raging ... Timor Leste in election turmoil

Columns
Archbishop's column: Advent a graced time, by Archbishop John Dew ... Hail
Mary, blessed among Israel's great women ... Editorial: Be awake to the
lessons of history

Schools
Carterton school gets down to earth: St Mary's enviro group tends the soil
... Viard choir in US barbershop contest ... Cardinal McKeefry School
students go to parliament with WWF

Features
Joy's vision permeates pub conversations ... An imagined journey to
spirituality and Christ's peace ... Nearly a holy soul: Making sense of
Ordinary Time

Wellington
Clergy appointments 2008 ... Arise Women of God: Dove Wellington's new
president ... Waikanae parish marks 25 years

Palmerston North
Hato Paora principal faces sex charges ... Whanganui reunion for class of
'54: Sacred Heart College Old Girls get together ... Surprise for Mother
Meri at Pakipaki

Reflect
Second Sunday of Advent Year A: Matthew 3:1-12

*****************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Pupils discuss global warning (photo)
Newslink, Gore 6 December 2007
http://tinyurl.com/ypra7f
Pupils of St Peter's College, Gore, have dived deep into the issue of global
warming

Content may offend
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4315889a13135.html
The boom in rudeness and crudeness on TV and in advertising has meant a
field day for both the prurient and the prudish. Philip Matthews
investigates whether it's really anything to get worked up about...

Principal facing sex charges bailed to appear in March
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10481017
Details of the sex charges faced by Hato Paora College principal Elvis
Dobson Shepherd will be revealed on March 19...

Oh Lordi . . . Christians take on fiends of rock
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4307239a10.html
A crusade is looming as church groups prepare to take on heavy metal
heavyweights poised to play in Wellington over Easter...

*****************************************************

INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

Special Report
What you are really giving when you give blood.

'An Angel at our Shoulder'
A look back at the circumstances that inspired the 1998 Hikoi of Hope.

*****************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Springtime for ecumenists: A realistic assessment
The problem with ecumenists -- who are almost universally good-hearted and
dedicated souls -- is that they don't know how to manage expectations. It's
a lesson anyone who has ever organized a public event should have learned:
if you expect 100 people, put out chairs for 75, so the result feels like a
triumph rather than a disappointment...

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]

******************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Museum in art heaven
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4287558a14297.html
Priceless art and architecture treasures from the Vatican will have their
own business class seats when they fly from Rome to New Zealand next year.

Catholic Matchmaker â€" A Success Story
http://www.pr.com/press-release/61683
Catholics are avoiding the usual problems that Dating/relationship Sites
have, by only allowing paid members to Catholic Matchmaker New Zealand ...

Drama shot on Coast (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4287639a6047.html
Dutch film-makers have descended on Greymouth to shoot an $11 million drama
about Dutch brides-to-be who flew to New Zealand for a new life half a
century ago...

Pupils train fares to rise (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4289760a7694.html
Pupils travelling into Wellington secondary schools from Kapiti Coast and
beyond will pay nearly double the train fare next year...

*****************************************************

'THE GOLDEN COMPASS'

This films opens in New Zealand on Boxing Day and will attract the mixed-age
audiences who enjoyed 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'. The film is
controversial because its story is based on a book (by Philip Pullman) which
is an anti-religious - and specifically anti-Catholic - polemic which aims
at reimagining the story of the Fall in a way that does away with Original
Sin, and portrays God as an imposter, not unlike the Wizard of Oz. The
Hollywood version, on the other hand, has stripped out most of the overtly
Christian references and dropped the final two chapters, to produce "a story
about a little girl creating a new family for herself".

This article in the New York Times explains the background to the
controversy:
http://tinyurl.com/2r47zr

****************************************************

ENCYCLICAL LETTER 'SPE SALVI' (Saved by hope)

In his second encyclical letter Benedict XVI affirms that "the heavens are
not empty" and "life does not end in nothingness": faith in God's existence
is the origin of Christian hope, it gives meaning to our existence and it
allows us to look beyond fear towards the last Judgement. Hope gives meaning
to our waiting for justice which cannot be found in man alone as the "great
revolutions" have shown by bringing nothing but death and destruction.

The full text can be read at:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_\
enc_20071130_spe-salvi_en.html

A comprehensive summary of the encyclical by AsiaNews.it:
Pope: certainty of faith is the foundation of Christian hope
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10934&size=A

*****************************************************

INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

'A Little Company'
Sister Mary and her fellow sisters from the order "The Little Company of
Mary" invite you to share in an event in their lives as they visit a very
sepcial grave in Wellington's Karori Cemetery where their past sisters are
now buried. While many of us fear death, these sisters - whose call is to
treat the sick and the dying - have come to realise that it's something
which allows a closer relationship with God...

'Angel in the City'
Scripture Reading and discussion from St Mary of the Angels' church,
Wellington.

*****************************************************

MAGAZINES AND NEWSLETTERS

Marist Messenger - December 2007
http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz/

Edmund Rice Network Newsletter - November 2007
http://www.edmundrice.org.nz/pages/newsletter/newsletter.htm

Tui Motu - November 2007
http://www.tuimotu.org/

NZ Catholic Education Office Newsletters:

'Lighting New Fires', incl. Catholic schools' Supplement, November 2007
http://www.nzceo.catholic.org.nz/pages/resourcesubpages/lighting-new-fires.html

'Good News and the News', a broadsheet of good practice for integrated
schools - September 2007
http://www.nzceo.catholic.org.nz/pages/resourcesubpages/good-news.html

*****************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

Sex abuse settlement, the pope's visit and ecumenism: Cardinal Mahony speaks
with NCR

[Note: John Allen posted two stories this morning to the NCR web site about
Pope Benedict XVI newest encyclical: Spe Salvi, or "Saved in Hope." The
stories are: Benedict XVI offers the second in a possible triptych of
encyclicals: 'Saved by Hope' Spe Salvi a 'Greatest Hits' collection of core
Ratzinger ideas]

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]

****************************************************

CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php

Caritas responds to Cyclone SIDR Bangladesh (21 Nov 2007)
Catholic humanitarian agency Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand will provide
$50,000 to its Caritas Bangladesh partner working to help survivors of
super-cyclone Sidr. Over 3000 people have died, and the figure could rise to
10,000. Millions have been affected...

***************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Renewed St Mary’s Basilica ready for congregation
The Southland Times 24 Nov 2007 Page: 11
Six months after moving out, the congregation will be back today at St Mary’s
Basilica in Invercargill. Weekday and Sunday masses have been held at St
Mary’s Hall while the basilica underwent a complete internal
refurbishment... [This story is no available on the newspaper's free
Website, but can can be read at the public library]

Together at last
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4285861a6565.html
Four years ago, The Southland Times grumped: "There's a book about us that
doesn't exist. Why?" The complaint was simple enough. Dan Davin's Southland
stories were famous but not at all well read. Well, neat, here they are,
each of them, in The Gorse Blooms Pale, beautifully edited by academic Janet
Wilson. These stories, mostly drawn from Davin's Irish Catholic boyhood in a
Protestant 1920s Invercargill, will detonate memories among older
Southlanders and throw plenty of shafts of light into our past for younger
readers...

NZ gaffe says UK's Queen married in Catholic church
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/2007/11/24/132187/NZ-gaffe.htm
Wellington, New Zealand -- There were red faces at New Zealand's Government
House after an official press release suggested Britain's Queen Elizabeth
II -- head of the Church of England -- married in a Roman Catholic church 60
years ago...

Workout key for blind octogenarian (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/4284307a6497.html
She may have just celebrated her 80th birthday, but Mary Johnson has no
plans to slow down. The plucky senior citizen completes 100 situps every day
in her room at
Selwyn Village retirement home in Pt Chevalier...

Op shops get hip to the value of vintage (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4284245a19716.html
Who can resist the idea of finding a retro gem among the more mundane
offerings on the racks at the local charity shop? Something handcrafted
lurking under the linen or a collectible piece of Crown Lynn behind the
crockery...

Spent lifetime helping others
http://tinyurl.com/245omc
Jean Gadd was, like the Red Cross she served so well for over 50 years,
"always there" for everyone ...

San Antonio calls out for Catholic kids (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/2ydzmd
San Antonio School in Eastbourne has a roll of 29 but on current enrolments
that could drop to 17 next year ...

The 'lady in black' was Hutt character (photo)
http://tinyurl.com/22oawv
Lower Hutt has lost another character with the passing in Levin of Mabel
Serkovitch, known for decades to many mid-city locals as the Lady in Black
or the Black Widow ...

Working kids need adult protection - Caritas
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4278671a13.html
Children who work need the same level of protection as adult workers doing
similar tasks, says the Catholic social justice agency Caritas Aotearoa New
Zealand. Caritas research and advocacy officer Lisa Beech says that for many
working children it was not happening...

The Government is rejecting calls for a minimum age of employment for
children who do paid work.
http://www.radionz.co.nz:80/news/latest/200711181350/government_rejects_call_for\
_minimum_work_age
Child welfare campaigners want the Government to fully comply with the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and ban children under
a certain age from employment...

Police ads in show draw church ire
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4278891a11.html
A family group has blasted a decision by the police to carry on advertising
during TV3's controversial programme, Californication...

School covered up sex abuse claims
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4286947a10.html
A Manawatu school investigating a sexual abuse complaint against its
principal appears to have attempted to cover up accusations made by a second
boy involved...

Principal on more sex charges
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4282210a12855.html
A principal accused of sexually assaulting his students has also been
charged with three more historic offences. Elvis Dobson Shepherd, known as
Tihirau Shepherd, 46, now faces nine sex charges, four of which were against
students at Hato Paora College, a Catholic Maori boarding school near
Feilding...

****************************************************

THE FIFTEENTH STATION (audio)

http://station15.libsyn.com/

In the podcast for Wed, 14 November 2007 ...
'Counting is hard'
This month we talk about another TV show denigrating our Faith, a pebble
that looks like Our Lady, a group that thinks the Iraq war is punishment for
the U.S. stance on homosexuality and the NZ bishop's strategic vision for
the next five years. Oh, and we show that it's harder than you think to
name Ten Commandments.

*****************************************************

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

'The red hat goes to the pastor'
Baseball manager Leo Durocher may not have meant the phrase "nice guys
finish last" in quite the sense it's usually understood, but it nonetheless
captures the reality that cut-throat tactics are often a more direct route
to advancement than humility and kindness. While things are supposed to be
different in the church, that's not always the case, which is perhaps what
makes the elevation of Archbishop John Foley to the College of Cardinals
this Saturday especially satisfying...

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WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

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EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[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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'NZ CATHOLIC'

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

In Issue 279, November 18-December 1, 2007 ...

NATIONAL
Controversial TV3 show sends six advertisers packing ... Ratings changes
will cost some schools fundings ... Principal appears in court ... Old rite
again in Dunedin ... Dads' key role stressed ... Mass for suffering children
... Reshuffle no comfort to pro-lifers ... Graves finally get a makeover ...
Better work conditions sought for children ... Pompallier printing workshop
... Archbishop Dew kept on Ice by rough weather ... St Thomas teams most
enterprising ... Waikanae parish celebrates 25 years ... Peaceful resistance
honoured ... Verdon College marks 25 years ... Wellington Dove turns 15 ...
ERO File

FEATURES
Dead culture has evangelical lessons for the Church today ... Seminarians
evangelise on the Internet ... Cardinal hopes for Internet apostolate ... NZ
priests complete 50 years on the Ice ... Joshua aid team helps mission in
Vanuatu ... Kiwi chaplain's life busy in the Solomons ... College celebrates
40th anniversary ... Nun made speech life member ... Congress seen as good
for "the young Church"

OPINION
Ronald Rolheiser: Our longing for God's justice ... Brendan Woodnutt: Our
young people need us to share the truth of Jesus ... Joseph Ryan:
Journalism's duty is to tell the truth ... Editorial: TV shows being used to
justify sin ... Malcolm Evans ... Letters

INTERNATIONAL
Pell warns of dangers in proposed bill of rights ... Ecological damage hurts
poor most, says archbishop ... The Pope: Anti-life products not for Catholic
chemists ... Catholic agency backs efforts for clean-up in gold mining ...
Priests want probe into Samsung ... Killed clergy remembered ... Legal
process even with terror: Vatican ... Prayer urged for deceased ... 2002
Roman Missal draft translation completed ... Holy Land religious leaders out
to reduce violence ... Equality is of people, not faiths, says Amato ...
Knoll rolls nipple in name ... Obsessed priest put on leave ... Bishop for
legalised prostitution ... A blessing of light ... Vatican notes clerical
resistance ... Chinese told no need for patriotic association ... Candidates
ignorant? ... In Brief

REGULAR FEATURES
Papal Prayer, Young Adults, Books, Monitor, Clips, Catholic.Geek, Tape Deck,
Scripture, Feasts, Liturgical Calendar, The Doolans, Family Talk, Caption
Contest, Who Said?, 40 Years Ago, Dio. Diary, Cryptic Crossword, That Word!,
Holy Lives, Kit's Corner, Photo Prayer, Wit's End.

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CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/media.php

TV programme "Californication" (12 Nov 2007)

There has been considerable comment on the programme “Californication�, the
first episode of which screened last Thursday on TV3. The broadcaster's PR
spin describes this programme, euphemistically, as ‘edgy’. Once again they
appear to be pushing the boundaries to test how far they can go in
disregarding broadcasting codes that require standards of decency and good
taste to be upheld...

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FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

More advertisers withdraw from Californication
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/071116/3/2g5k.html
Two more companies have pulled their advertising from the controversial TV3
series Californication but police continue to support the show, says a
family values lobby group...

More advertising pulled from risqué TV3 show
http://tinyurl.com/34qxh7
The Ministry of Economic Development is the latest in a series of
advertisers to withdraw from controversial new TV3 show Californication...

Students make a meal of hearty lunchtime snacks
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikatotimes/4274184a6579.html
The art of lunch-making was evident at two Hamilton schools this week as
pupils tucked into well- thought-out, hearty lunches containing a variety of
food. Children at Fairfield Intermediate School and St Joseph's Catholic
School, both in Clarkin Rd, put paid to a Massey University study which
found only one in 10 packed school lunches met nutritional guidelines...

Church agency finds delivery kids as young as six years
http://tinyurl.com/2wqtam
A survey by Catholic agency Caritas says children as young as six are doing
paid work. It surveyed 30 children in Wairarapa, Hutt, Wellington, Nelson,
Blenheim and Westport who are employed as delivery workers...

Radio NZ. Insight. Child Labour (audio file)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/inst/child_labour
Insight looks at whether NZ should have a minimum work age to stop the under
13s being employed. Caritas's researcher is interviewed.

Noelle McCarthy: Flying and a question of faith
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=500818&objectid=10476513
I don't consider myself a religious person under normal circumstances, but I
can't catch a plane without becoming an ardent Catholic during take-off and
landing...

Curriculum for new world (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4274504a24035.html
There have been concerns a stronger emphasis in the new school curriculum on
integrity and diversity and being able to think creatively will create more
work for already busy schools and that children will be taught how to hold a
conversation at the expense of learning how to add up. The Education
Ministry's senior manager for curriculum, teaching and learning, Mary
Chamberlain, says such concerns are misplaced. St Bernadette's School in
Christchurch is a prime example of how Chamberlain's vision can work...

Easter Sunday may become holiday
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318360/1448466
The government is looking at making Easter Sunday a public holiday in an
effort to clear up the rules about shops opening on that day...

Witch-hunt leaves staff in fear for jobs
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4274300a11.html
A witch-hunt to find the source who alerted media to allegations of sexual
abuse at Palmerston North's Hato Paora College has staff at the school
fearing for their jobs...

Fiji bishop may face NZ and Australia travel ban
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=36450
There is uncertainty whether the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Fiji,
Archbishop Petero Mataca, will be allowed to travel to Australia and New
Zealand to attend church meetings...

Hopes common sense will save sunday schools (photo)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4269935a6571.html
South Canterbury sunday schools are calling for common sense as a review of
the Education Act could force them to be licensed...

'I would like an explanation'
The Dominion Post 17 Nov 2007 Page: 26
For the second year running, Catholic Schools Board Ltd, the company owned
by the Catholic Church’s Wellington archdiocese and Palmerston North
diocese, has announced fee increases of more than 10 per cent for every
pupil at their state-integrated schools ... [This letter is not available on
the newspaper's free Website. The paper can be read at the public library]

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INSPIRATIONAL TV

http://inspirationaltv.net/

Coffee Break: A manager's personal life (part two)
Peter Andrews works as a manager in a team charged with ensuring that our
Executive (in other words Cabinet Ministers) are well supported. Why does he
and his wife also choose to spend his spare time at the local hospital? ...

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ALL THINGS CATHOLIC
Analysis and commentary by John R. Allen

http://ncrcafe.org/node/507

The John Jay study of clergy sex abuse challenges evangelical Catholics
Perhaps it's a measure of how badly the image of American Catholicism has
been tarnished as a result of the sexual abuse crisis that so many bishops,
meeting in Baltimore Nov. 12-15, could seem relieved at the news that the
church's record on the abuse of minors is actually no better, but also no
worse, than anybody else's...

***************************************************

WORLD NEWS OF THE CHURCH (Regularly updated)

http://www.cathcom.org.nz/

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/

http://www.romereports.com/ (video)

*******************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the
Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancy.php ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of
the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz/ ]