More than 2000 Catholic Bibles are being given away to people in need throughout New Zealand, and the number is expected to grow. Catholic churches have supported the Bible Society’s Poverty and Justice Buy One-Gift One campaign. In many cases parishes have been working with organisations such as Apostleship of the Sea, St Vincent De Paul and Mary Potter Hospice to distribute the Bibles.
Msgr Bernard Kiely, administrator of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Auckland, said, “For us priests and pastors the idea of gifting a Bible to a needy parishioner or a person of another faith or a non-believer enables us not only to share our faith, but to honour and acknowledge others with such a special gift.
“The Poverty and Justice Bible enables us to be in union with Pope Francis who urges the world to care for the poor in this Jubilee Year of Mercy,” he said.
Cardinal John Dew, president of Bible Society New Zealand, will again pray for campaign participants at his Rome church, Sant’Ippolito, later in the year. Poverty and Justice supporters can submit their names and prayer requests on the website for inclusion in the special prayer book that the Bible Society will prepare.
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