In the vibrant tapestry of life, there are stories that resonate with the divine, tales of unexpected turns and profound encounters that lead souls to their true calling. Such is the story of Father Mahir Murad, a Chaldean husband, father and a priest, whose journey unfolded in the embrace of love, family, and an unwavering call from heaven.

Born in Zakho, Northern Iraq in 1983, Fr Murad moved to Melbourne with his family at age nine for peace and a brighter future. Little did he know that his life would take a different turn later and become a testament to the extraordinary ways in which God works.

A transformative turn came about at 24, when the young Mahir Murad had just finished university and had entered into work life when he experienced a divine encounter with Christ, setting the stage for a life dedicated to serving God and his community. He later met and married his now wife, Rasha in 2011. He was 28.

The couple had four children — two boys, Yeshua and Joshua, now in heaven, and two girls, Maryam and Rosary, still walking the earthly journey. After nine years of family life, Mahir Murad found himself prompted by God to take a path less travelled, and answer a call to the priesthood.

“I have been aware of God’s call for something. During the coronavirus outbreak, I heard a whisper from God saying, ‘Mahir, what do you think of the priesthood?’ Since then, the whisper kept getting louder and louder. I communicated my thoughts and whispers to my bishop and inquired about the possibility of becoming a priest.”

The couple later met with the bishop to talk things over.

Talking

“One day, I spoke with my wife and asked her what she thought. She began crying and said, ‘Please Mahir, I cannot give you my yes’. After a while, I brought up the conversation with my wife again. She cried again.

“I suggested that we turn to prayer and if God wills, it will come to pass.”

That night Mahir prayed to God and asked: “Lord, I know you’re calling me to the priesthood, I am giving you my yes, but now I need you to put peace into my wife’s heart that everything will be ok, I have done my part. Now it’s time to do your part, I’ll leave it to you.”

After weeks of spiritual discernment, Rasha felt a transformative love and peace within her, a confirmation that the path towards priesthood was not a solo journey but a shared one with her husband.

“[She said] Mahir I don’t know what’s happening, but I feel like God is doing something to me. I have this love and peace in my heart about the priesthood. Let’s go ahead with the priesthood. I want to go ahead with it.”

With Rasha’s resounding yes, the couple embarked on the sacred journey towards the priesthood, a decision not made lightly, but rooted in faith and trust. Before the sacred vestments were on his shoulders, Murad’s journey began through the ranks of sub-deaconship and diaconate, which led him to his priestly ordination. It was April 14th, 2023.

Reflecting on his decision, Fr Murad says it wasn’t one of seeking comfort but of embracing the greatness for which humans were created for.

“I had the option to live a quiet and comfortable life or a public and uncomfortable life. I chose the priesthood because I knew God would work through me. My joy comes from being at church, spending time with the youth, and serving the community. Like any other profession, the priesthood experiences joys and sorrows, and ups and downs.

“In the priesthood, your boss is God, and he is a great boss who takes care of his employees, which is different from other professions. The joys of being a priest are those when people place their burdens on you and are seeking your help,” he says

Eight months later and Fr Mahir’s joy is obvious, serving the community and guiding the youth, finding fulfilment in shouldering the burdens of those seeking solace.

Balancing social life?

What about balance? Does the new priest have time for his family and friends?

“My wife and I had a conversation that was centred around this question. The truth is, after I became a priest, my wife and I did not change our lifestyles, neither in our clothing, nor in our outings, nor in our attitudes, nor in our social lives. The reason why is because we were already living a life that was Christ-like in our words, thoughts and deeds.

“She is a modest woman who cherishes her faith and family. The wife’s influence on her husband’s vocation to the priesthood is significant. If a family isn’t practising the faith in its entirety, if a man becomes a priest, there will be challenges and problems. The priesthood should not alter the way a man and his family behave or think, but rather lead by example.

“I agree that if the wife and children are not living the Christian life, if the priesthood enters the family, there will be a lot of problems, a lot of changes, a lot of criticism. In a sense, your life becomes public, people will look at the way you act, the way you speak, the way you raise a family, the way you talk to your children, the way you dress, the places you go, most attention will be on the wife and children, but the wife carries most of that burden.”

Regrets?

The 40-year-old priest and father says he has no regrets.

“I love every minute of it. I am filled with joy when I encounter people. Priesthood is not a job; it is not a 9-5 job where you clock in and clock out. Serving my people is what priesthood is all about and it truly brings me joy,” says Fr Murad.

He even asks his wife frequently whether she thinks it was a good decision or not.

“I would like to think she hasn’t regretted it and loves every moment. I know because I always ask her. She always says, ‘Since I said yes, I have seen God do wonders and bring blessings upon me and the family’”.

More priests please?

Could more men, married with/without children become priests? The challenge, Fr Murad says, lies not in the shortage of priests but in a culture that often drowns out the call of God with its noise. Men, surrounded by a world promoting freedom and exploration, struggle to commit to marriage, let alone chastity, he says.

“The current culture teaches young men to be free and to explore their sexuality, which often puts men in a dark alley where they end up being miserable once they find themselves fighting the addiction of lust, porn and sexuality.”

Celibate priests find true freedom in love, unburdened by the chains of lust and worldly desires, he says.

“I’ve encountered numerous [celibate] priests who are content and joyful in their lives. In the Chaldean church, marrying is not allowed after becoming a priest. The start of marriage is before priesthood, and this is a common practice in the vast majority of Catholic rites in the Roman Catholic Church.

“I think ultimately, it’s what God wants.”

Fr Murad added that God sometimes calls married men to the priesthood, and sometimes he calls men to be celibate. All Christians are called to be chaste, which means “the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of [the human person] in his [or her] bodily and spiritual being”. (CCC2337) Married people are called to live conjugal chastity; others practise chastity in continence (CCC2349).

Fr Murad said that being called to the priesthood as a married man is a blessing. Being vigilant is a must because priesthood comes with its own challenges and blessings. He emphasises the importance of a family rooted in faith for a priest to maintain his priestly identity.

Fr Murad’s story is a symphony of love, faith, and divine calling — a melody that echoes through the corridors of time, inspiring others to listen for their own divine whispers amidst life’s cacophony.

He now serves as the parish priest at Our Lady Guardian of Plants, a Chaldean Catholic church in Melbourne. The Chaldean Catholic church is one of 23 Catholic rites, it comes with its own unique identity, liturgical prayers, canon, and Church system.

Photo: Supplied: Sweet Dream Images – Video and Photography

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The number of abortions peaked at 18,511 in 2003 before falling steadily to 12,823 in 2016, when an initially slow rise began, up 434 over five years to 13,257 in 2021.

Then followed a big one-year jump of 907 or 7 per cent to 14,164 in 2022.  Additionally, the number of abortions for each 1000 known pregnancies has risen to 193 from a low of 177 in 2016.

Bishop of Auckland Stephen Lowe, who is president of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, says the bishops will continue to advocate for the legal right to life of all unborn children who have no voice themselves.

“We know that we are living in a time of increased financial constraints and that this only adds to the stress on families,” says Bishop Lowe.

“We urge the new Government to keep the well-being of young parents and families to the fore in their policies, and we urge all Catholics to ensure that our faith communities are places of non-judgemental, welcoming and generous love, compassion and care.”

Abortion became simpler to get after members of Parliament passed the Abortion Legislation Act in 2020.

In her foreword to the 2023 annual report Abortion Services  Aotearoa New Zealand, Director-General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati links the 2022 increase to the doubling of the “abortion workforce”, more facilities providing abortion services, increased accessibility through midwifery abortion services and new phone and online services for “early medical abortion”, in which women can collect an abortion pill from a pharmacy to take at home.

“The annual report applauds the fact that the increased numbers reflect improved accessibility and equity of access to abortion throughout New Zealand,” says Bishop Lowe.

“However, those who work at the coal face providing pregnancy support services know that for many women, the decision will have been the result of a choice made under significant duress or constraints, including financial constraints. This represents a tragedy on multiple fronts because every pregnancy involves the lives of at least two adults as well as the newly conceived child.”

In October, the Catholic bishops republished an expanded, landmark teaching document Te Kahu o te Ora: A Consistent Ethic of Life, a copy of which they sent last week to all 123 members of the new Parliament.  In it, they say “the unborn child is clearly one of the most vulnerable, innocent and defenceless of all human beings. This imposes a significant moral obligation on us all.”

Bishop Lowe says that every new human life is a gift from God and has an unconditional dignity that gives them an absolute right to life.

“As highlighted in Te Kahu o te Ora, we all need to back up our teaching on life with action. We need to remember that our obligations and responsibilities extend to creating an environment within families and society where pregnant mothers and their partners are supported and children are made welcome. In cases where continuing a pregnancy poses challenges for those most directly involved, it is vitally important that people do not see abortion as the only or most desirable possibility.

“We will continue to advocate for the legal right to life of all unborn children who have no voice themselves. It is up to all of us to lobby to make our country a safer place for every unborn child, and that must flow through to the care and support we offer to families after birth,” says Bishop Lowe.

“Abortion is abusive, causing long term harm to the mother, which is almost never addressed. It also causes damage to the father of the child, something also often not addressed, and, of course, it ends the life of a human being.”

Photo: The March for Life in Wellington in 2021. Photographer – Bianca Jago)

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Getting married these days to a tall dark handsome Catholic man seems to be a very long stretch for some Catholic women. In fact, it is an idealistic, unrealistic dream for some. Why is that? Where are all the men? Is it that men are too afraid to approach women? Is it that women are not receptive to men? Is it that Catholic men are nowhere to be found in the pews of the Church?

Recently, NZ Catholic ran a story highlighting this subject (NZ Catholic, October 22) with the women’s views highlighted. We’re now delving into what the guys think.

Why is this so troubling for some, why is it an issue? [or dare we say a crisis].

AJ, who chose to keep his identity under wraps, is 20-something, born and raised Catholic. He still practises his faith, and is actively involved in the Church. He believes that there are many underlying problems as to why there aren’t many Catholic men, date-able and ready for marriage today.

First there’s “a crisis of masculinity in society”, second a general “lack of male, practising Catholics”, and third “a lack of understanding of a good way to go about the dating process” for men. If that wasn’t enough, he also believes that men are “putting too much pressure on the act of going on dates”, which could explain “why they’re not even asking women out”, he says.

“While you can go into dating with the intention of finding a spouse, going on dates doesn’t need be this big, daunting thing that we lose sleep over. You’re simply trying to get to know someone better, and discern whether they would be a suitable partner,” says AJ.

Given that there are probably fewer practising Catholic men than women, AJ believes that the question “where are all the Catholic men?” is mostly fair. But here is a big “But”.

“There are still also situations where men are taking women out on dates, but not being given the opportunity to get to know each other over a couple of dates before being told it’s not going to work out. While attraction to someone is important, it is also something that can grow between two people over a couple of meetings.”

Why are there more women going to church than men?

“[A] reason for this is predominantly liturgical, and the rise of feminist thought within the Church,” says Dominic Malgeri, a husband, a father of three and a registered nurse.

Mr Malgeri met his wife 10 years ago during a mission year in London. He believes that there is a lack of good Catholic men out there.

What counts in terms of “being a man” seems to have shifted over the decades.

“What it is to be a man has been lost in the modern world, which I believe  is one of the unforeseeable cascades of all that has happened in the modern era,” Mr Maglieri said.

“Because we were based in a more tangible reality where the differences between men and women were obvious, and therefore the roles were defined, not by academic/philosophical writings, but by what needed to be done and what was done.”

Dr Peter Holmes, a professor of theology at Notre Dame University in Australia and an expert in the areas of masculinity and sexuality, says that some of the underlying causes of why young Catholic men aren’t to be seen in churches is that some churches are failing to “challenge men to rise to good works together”.

“A part of this is the problem of a Church devoid of any kind of moral and doctrinal strength, which seeks to imitate the world, or at least tries hard not to offend anyone. Not that men are trying to offend, but men tend to rally to a cause, when work is to be done, or something needs to be fought or striven for. Men are practical, and they love struggling with brothers for a good goal.

“Most modern churches have failed to challenge men to rise to good works together, and to link that strongly to their faith. There are plenty of ways that men could be helping out in their own parishes, helping people less able to do practical things, for example, which would bring them into active service and brotherly fellowship.”

Dr Holmes says the notion that men are lacking in the Church, and that there aren’t enough wholesome dudes ready for marriage, could be based on underlying assumptions that are worth looking at about courtship, marriage and families.

“It is true that the percentage of men and women who attend Mass has fallen dramatically this last 50 years, and this means that there is a very reduced number of candidates for marriage.

“But in the past, Catholics living in small villages often met many [fewer] people in their entire lives than we can meet in a single year in our mobile culture. They managed to marry and grow families, so what is different with us?”

A part of the problem is the “Disney” doctrine of love, he says; that many people base their concept of finding love and forming relationships largely falls on “feelings”, says Dr Holmes.

“Which is that love is about warm fuzzy feelings, or tingles of other kinds, about another person. The kind of romantic feelings, longing or personal attraction that passes for love in mass media, is presented as if that were true love. Reality is quite different.”

These feelings and tingles are fleeting, short-lived and, by themselves, fail to fill our deepest needs, he says.

Not only that, “falsehood of the Hollywood presentation of ‘love’” and social media, combined with the short-term nature of our society, give the illusion that “a white knight (or perfect princess)”, may ride over the horizon at any moment now.

“This leaves people constantly on the lookout for someone new, a new possibility, the perfect future spouse, rather than taking an honest look around at those they know better, and are probably better able to make a rational assessment of compatibility. This false idea of the newness of romance actually undermines the possibility of considering people we know and become friends with, as possible partners.”

He added that the “Hollywood lie” affects who we consider potential spouses. There are “unspoken criteria” of who people, notably young adults, want in a spouse, which are sometimes superficial.

“Sometimes [there are] things they don’t even admit to themselves. Quite a few young men have told me they can’t get any woman to date them if the woman is taller than them, others have other trivial preferences.”

He says that society places unrealistic expectations on men that pushes them away from being faithful. Society doesn’t hold in high regard men who choose to place faith first, service to neighbours second, and success third, says Dr Holmes.

“Our society expects them to be successful, wealthy enough to afford many things, be well established financially, be well-spoken, well-groomed, well-situated, and hold similar views to their potential spouse, before even being considered,” Dr Holmes says.

Dr Holmes brought an interesting point home here: the disregarding of women if men feel their dating experience won’t lead anywhere, or if they lack a “romantic connection”.

“Some men shoot themselves in the foot by trying hard to date someone, and then disregarding them the moment they are not potential partners.

“One thing all of us can do is make and keep friends of both sexes, so we learn to engage with and respect those of the opposite sex, without seeing them all as potential partners. This helps teach us the knack of being comfortable with people of the opposite sex.

“They can also teach us what we are doing right or wrong in the way we treat the opposite sex. These people have friends, or may make new friends, and we know that people most often meet and consider new partners through their friends. If worse comes to worst, you still have some excellent friends.”

Men will respond to the expectations of women; if a woman wants a devout Catholic man to marry, she needs to “affirm and build up” the man who is devout, says Dr Holmes.

“The reason men spend so much time in the gym, or work so hard at careers, is that this is what women actually applaud and reward them for. Women say they want other qualities, but they consistently give attention and applause to those things, over the more important qualifications for a good man.”

So where do holy men come from? How are they made if there’s such a thing? Dr Holmes says that “good mentors, strong brotherhoods and high expectations, combined with active help” could bring . . . the best out of any ordinary man. Is that happening though? If not, why not?

Regular fraternal accountability, Mr Malgeri says, is what makes ordinary men in the Church holy.

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another – Proverbs 27:17. We need men to be formed as men most readily receive formation, through challenge and adversity, which is hard to find nowadays. We need to return men’s roles to men, and women’s roles to women, and be okay with that.”

Holmes concluded by stating that the world is full of men that God has created good and for good. What’s is missing is the help and opportunity to become who they were created to be.

Photo:  (OSV News photo/Jim Young, Reuters)

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The best parts of a holiday are often unplanned – and these things generally make for the best stories – and can also be occasions of unexpected grace.

In September and October, I travelled through Canada and the UK with my parents, mainly to visit family, and to see some of the places we’d dreamed about through the long Covid years. In Scotland and England, we worked out our schedule as we went, deciding each evening what we’d do the next day. As a result, the element of surprise was a regular feature of our trip, and it often took a Catholic or Christian form – an early morning prayer service in a silent and soaring York Minster; finding the church doors said to have inspired JRR Tolkien’s Doors of Moria; the Bible on which Charles I said his final confession; a second-hand book sale in the back of quaint St Peter’s in Upper Slaughter; and many more.

Two experiences in particular stand out for me as sort of unintended pilgrimages; holy and special places that we found by complete accident – or, perhaps, by grace.

The first happened on our last morning in Edinburgh. We made the 1-hour train journey to Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott’s country manor, in the Scottish borders. After perusing the house and gardens – a dream for literary fanatics and history buffs – a guide asked if we’d seen the chapel, and pointed us to a narrow path leading around the side of the house. On entering, we found a glass cabinet, containing what are now holy relics of St John Henry Newman; his vestments, biretta, and missal. I was stunned. St John Henry Newman is a favourite saint in our family, and it turned out that we’d stumbled upon a chapel built by his close friend, James Robert Hope, who had married the granddaughter of Sir Walter Scott. St John Henry Newman had been a frequent visitor to the house, had celebrated Mass in the chapel and, with Abbotsford as a base, had helped to establish many chapels in the Scottish Borders.

What struck me, as I took a seat in the pale blue chapel, was how St John Henry Newman had managed to fit this great mission work into his lifetime, almost as a side project while visiting friends. It made me consider the importance of encouraging and fostering networks of faithful, of connecting Catholics across parishes and regions, and of the central importance of families in this kind of missionary work.

After Edinburgh, we caught the train to York. It was almost twilight by the time we headed out for a walk to the famous Shambles, a medieval street that once housed butcheries (a “shamel” being a bench for displaying meat). The street is now home to ghost tours, Harry Potter ephemera and fudge shops. Most shops had closed for the day, but one open doorway seemed to welcome us in. Two plaques to the side read, “The shrine of St Margaret Clitherow”, “Martyred in York, March 25th, 1586, Canonised October 25th, 1970”.

We walked into a low and crooked-ceilinged chapel, with bench pews, various framed histories and pictures on the walls, and an altar at the front with a statue of St Margaret to the left. A calligraphied sign explained that this was St Margaret Clitherow’s house. She had converted to Catholicism in the reign of Elizabeth I, when Catholic persecution in England was at its height. At great risk to her life, she ran a Catholic school and held regular Masses in her home, until she was discovered and put to death by crushing.

We lingered there for a while, the only visitors. It was a relief to have a moment’s calm in our tourist rush. It felt vulnerable leaving the chapel with its door open and nobody keeping an eye on visitors (a sign said CCTV was operating). But I considered the blessing of having this place to sit and to contemplate, free to enter, open to all – perhaps exactly what St Margaret would have wanted her home to be. And, as at Abbotsford, the theme seemed to be the importance of families of faith and the communities they enable to form around them, particularly in a non-Catholic society.

Travel is, of course, a perfect life-metaphor, and my parting thought is for the unintended pilgrimages in life; things we never saw coming; new paths that open before us, challenging our perceptions and our courage, inviting us to dig deeper into our beliefs, into what it means to be Catholic, what it means to have faith, and to truly put our trust in the Lord and the path he has given us to walk.

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This was the Mana Moana concert of folk songs from the Pasifika islands of Samoa, Cook Island, Fiji, Niue, Tokelau and the Kingdom of Tonga.

The Signature Choir is made of members from different Christian denominations and Pasifika communities.

Music directors Fepulea’I Helen Tupai and Jadrah Tupai come from the Catholic Parish of Wellington South and Pacific Island Presbyterian Church, Newtown.

The 50 members from Wellington arrived on November 22 to join the 30 Auckland singers to form a 180-member choir, to perform with the NZ Symphony Orchestra.

A sold-out crowd of over 7000 people coming from all over Auckland and New Zealand, came to support and witness a colossal performance of all proportion.  People danced in the aisles and near the stage, cheered on the choir and orchestra – described by many who attended as a moment of pheromonal pride.  As this was a one night only concert, the tickets sold out quickly from the success of the Wellington concert last year.

Photo: Signature Choir on stage at Spark Arena

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Conducted by The Catholic Project, a research group at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., the newest release focuses on polarisation, generational dynamics, and the ongoing impact of the sexual abuse crisis.

Part 1 of the survey, released last October, found that despite relatively high levels of personal well-being and fulfilment among priests as a whole, a significant percentage of priests have issues with burnout, distrust in their bishop, and fears of being falsely accused of misconduct.

The new November report highlights “several themes which have emerged from closer analysis of the quantitative data, as well as careful study of the qualitative data collected from the one-on-one interviews with priests”. The study used survey responses from 3516 priests across 191 dioceses and eparchies in the United States.

Of note, the researchers assert that self-described “liberal” or “progressive” priests have all but disappeared from the youngest cohorts of priests, and that priests describing themselves as “conservative/orthodox” reached more than 80 per cent among those ordained after 2020.

The new analysis also found that diocesan size has an effect on how much a priest trusts his bishop, with priests in smaller dioceses being more likely than priests in larger dioceses to trust their prelate. Priests who consider themselves to be in the same ideological camp as their bishop — whether politically or theologically — also tend to trust him more.

The report says it shows a “significant divide” between the political and theological self-identification of older priests as against younger priests.

“Simply put, the portion of new priests who see themselves as politically ‘liberal’ or theologically ‘progressive’ has been steadily declining since the Second Vatican Council and has now all but vanished,” the report asserts.

“More than half of the priests who were ordained since 2010 see themselves on the conservative side of the scale. No surveyed priests who were ordained after 2020 described themselves as ‘very progressive.’”

The researchers said a full 85 per cent of the youngest cohort describes itself as “conservative/orthodox” or “very conservative/orthodox” theologically, with only 14 per cent describing themselves as “middle-of-the-road.”

The report also says that nearly 70 per cent of priests ordained in the mid- to late 1960s describe themselves as somewhat or very “progressive”. By 2020, fewer than 5 per cent of priests describe themselves that way.

The Second Vatican Council and the 2002 revelations about the sexual abuse crisis were watershed moments, the researchers said, with the data showing that priests largely began to see themselves as more “progressive” after Vatican II and more “conservative” after 2002.

The Catholic Project’s findings regarding priestly ideology comport with other surveys of US priests in recent years, one of which in 2021 noted an increasing perception of “more theologically conservative or orthodox” young priests as compared with their older counterparts.

In addition, two priests with ties to seminaries who spoke to CNA said the survey results fit within their own experience regarding the ideology of the young men currently entering and graduating seminary.

Father Carter Griffin, rector of St John Paul II Seminary in Washington, DC, said that most of the young men coming to his seminary are looking to be “part of the solution . . . they want to make themselves available for the needs of the Church”.

He also cautioned that young men describing themselves as “orthodox” do not necessarily have a preference for “traditionalist” practices. Rather, he said, young men entering the seminary today are looking to become a part of something bigger than themselves, he said, preaching the Gospel and serving the poor in the context of total fidelity to the Church.

Photo: OSV News/Bob Roller

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After the ceremony at São José (St Joseph) Parish located in the Jardim Europa neighbourhood on São Paulo’s west side, Nazario, two-time world champion with the Brazilian team, shared his experience on social media, highlighting the importance of the momentous moment in his life: “Today is a very special day. I was baptised!”

“The Christian faith has always been a fundamental part of my life, since I was little, although I had not yet been baptised. With the sacrament I feel truly regenerated as a child of God, in a new, more conscious and deeper way,” the Brazilian star wrote on his Instagram account on September 12.

In his message, Nazario also renewed his commitment to “follow the path of good, of my own free will, believing in the love of Jesus, in supportive love”.

In June 2022, Nazario demonstrated his growing closeness to the Catholic faith by fulfilling his promise to make the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage on a bicycle.

“I thought about a thousand things during the Camino, but I was grateful for many things that we have achieved with Valladolid,” said the former soccer player who is also president of the Valladolid club.

The various starting points of the Camino de Santiago all end at the tomb of the Apostle James in the Santiago de Compostela cathedral in Spain.

Photo: Ronaldo Luís Nazario da Lima (Photo: Antônio Cruz/ABr Wikimedia Commons>

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The blaze burned Lahaina to the ground in the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii’s history and the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century.

“When we saw the news and saw the church steeple rise above the town, it was a great sight to see,” the priest said in an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser daily newspaper on August 10.

Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva echoed the vicar in saying Maria Lanakila Church “was miraculously spared, as was the rectory”. He said the adjacent convent, school and hall were “burned, along with neighbouring homes.”

In comments Aug. 14 to the Hawaii Catholic Herald, the diocesan newspaper, he also reported that the pastor, Father Kuriakose Nadooparambil, a priest of the Missionaries of Faith congregation, “was allowed to go in (to the church) with a police escort, and he reported that not even the flowers in the church were wilted or singed. There was only a covering of ash on the pews”.

“We thank God for this blessing! Of course the church cannot be used until the area around it is cleared and deemed suitable for passage,” Bishop Silva added.

Early on August, 16 Maui County officials confirmed that they have recovered the bodies of 106 people, but the death toll was expected to keep rising “as crews scour the ruins” About 1,300 people remained missing. About 11,000 others had been nevacuated.

As many as 3000 homes may have been destroyed. Other Maui communities affected by fires include Kihei and Kula, with more than 500 acres burned. According to research done by Moody’s Analytics, the economic cost to Maui from the wildfires could reach $7 billion.

In the days since the fires, Msgr Watanabe has been fielding hundreds of calls and emails “from all over the world.” The outpouring of concern is “overwhelming”, he told the Hawaii Catholic Herald. “It’s unbelievable.”

The church where Msgr. Watanabe is pastor, St. Anthony in Wailuku, held an ecumenical prayer service for victims the evening of August 15, hosted by Bishop Silva.

“We should do what we do best – pray,” the monsignor said.

Prayer has been a watchword for Bishop Silva, too, as well as calling for the faithful to give “unwavering support” to the fire victims.

Lahaina holds deep cultural significance for Hawaiians as the district “was once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom.” The Lahaina Historic District, which encompassed downtown Lahaina, Front Street and its vicinity, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.

Bishop Silva also noted that because cell towers had burned down and the internet was down, most people “were not aware that Pope Francis had sent a letter expressing his concern, prayers, and support – even though I had published the letter on our diocesan media platforms. I read the letter to [the people], and they were very grateful.”

The Pope’s prayers and support for the people of Maui were in an August 10 telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state. On August 13, after he led the recitation of the Angelus prayer, the Pope again assured the people of Hawaii of his prayers.

Photo: An aerial view shows the community of Lahaina after wildfires driven by high winds burned across most of the town in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, USA (OSV News photo/Marco Garcia, Reuters)

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According to an article in The Australian, Archbishop Coleridge has warned that the Church will need to “look quite different” to flourish, ahead of the October Synod on Synodality.

He has proposed an exemption for Australian Indigenous priests, and said it was necessary when there was “no way you’re going to recruit a celibate clergy in those cultures”.

West Australian Labor senator Patrick Dodson, a foundational figure in the Aboriginal reconciliation movement, is the only Australian Indigenous man ever to be admitted to the Catholic priesthood.

“And Pat Dodson ended up leaving after a relatively short time,” Archbishop Coleridge said.

“I think it’s fairly bleak with regard to the Church generally now. So one of the things I have just floated is that: is there reason enough to say that within Indigenous communities we will ordain married men?

“We have married clergy. I mean, some of the clergy who are from other Churches are married men . . . so it’s not as if we don’t know married clergy.”

(Archbishop Coleridge is scheduled to speak at the National Clergy Assembly in Rotorua in October, NZ Catholic understands.)

The Australian article was headlined “End of celibacy nigh, says Brisbane Catholic Archbishop Mark Coleridge.”

“The headline went quite a way beyond what I actually said, but the article was fair enough,” Archbishop Coleridge told The Catholic Leader, Brisbane’s Catholic newspaper, adding that his comments were made towards the end of a wide-ranging interview with The Australian about vocations and Brisbane’s three newly-ordained priests.

“I don’t think the end of celibacy is nigh, but I’m also convinced that the question won’t go away, especially for communities like our Indigenous peoples.”

“Clerical celibacy is an undoubted value, but it’s not an absolute value,” Archbishop Coleridge continued in The Catholic Leader article.

“I have been more or less happily celibate through my life, and the Church would be greatly impoverished if celibacy were wholly abandoned.

“But the question is whether it should be mandatory for all, and the context of the question is the changing profile of the priesthood and the current needs of the People of God.”

The CathNews (Australia) article added that the Pope appeared ready to test the water on celibacy after Vatican Synod in 2019 recommended it be suspended in the Amazon region of South America to address a chronic shortage of priests there – only to retreat, with Francis saying further “discernment” was required.

Backing Archbishop Coleridge’s call for the change to start with Indigenous men, Bishop of Darwin Charles Gauci said: “With Aboriginal people, we need to be respectful of culture. Pope Francis has said that he is open in certain situations to ordaining married men; that is not off the agenda.

“The opportunity to have Indigenous priests ministering to their communities is one that we aspire to. I would be open to discussing this matter if it arose.”

Photo: Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane in 2018 (CNS photo/David Gray, Reuters)

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In about the same time span as three new priests were ordained for Dunedin diocese, four priests of the diocese have died within weeks of each other.

The first was Fr Tom Keyes (94 ) on May 10. His death was followed by that of Fr Vincent Smith (91) on June 9. Both priests died in Invercargill where they had mainly served.  Then, on July 1, Fr Mervyn Hanifin (76) died in Dunedin, and Fr Michael Hill, IC, (92) died on July 6, also in Dunedin.

The contribution of Fr Keyes to Catholic life in the south was covered in NZ Catholic (June 9).

Fr Smith was a priest for some 15 years. He had been married and had three children with his late wife Brenda. He had also been a business manager at the Southland Times.  For several years, he cared for his wife when she was unwell. A few years after she died, he attended a seminary in Sydney for mature vocations, and he was ordained at the age of 76.

Bishop Michael Dooley, who celebrated the Requiem Mass at St Theresa’s Church in Invercargill, noted that “Vince had fitted a lot into his (nearly) 92 years”. He observed that Fr Smith was a “man of prayer”, who had a strong belief in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Requiem Mass for Fr Hanifin was celebrated in St Patrick’s Basilica in South Dunedin, where he had spent the last few years of his 50 years as a priest. Fr Gerard Aynsley celebrated the Mass, with Bishop Dooley among the concelebrants.

Fr Aynsley recalled that Fr Vaughan Hook had related the tale of his boyhood interviewing of Fr Hanifin,  then an assistant priest at Mosgiel. Fr Hanifin had spoken then “of this deep call that he felt, and his desire to live out the call of Jesus in his life”.

Fr Aynsley also suggested that, when Fr Hanifin was appointed as parish priest at Balclutha, it became one of his happiest times. He certainly produced a ministry there that won the approval of Bishop Len Boyle.

Many people would regard Fr Hanifin’s 10-year involvement with helping the Columban Missions in Chile as being a very fulfilling part of his life. Fr Aynsley observed that the experience “changed him radically”, and it certainly resulted in him being “impatient with anything he would consider rather trivial”.

The experience in Chile also gave Fr Hanifin a deepened sense of mission to help those who struggled in life.

In his later years, Fr Hanifin faced his own struggle. “His cognitive decline, which took place over many, many, many years, impacted on his ability to minister, even though he never lost the passion.” He was a strong supporter of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and had an active involvement.

Rosminian

The funeral for Fr Hill took place at Holy Name church in North Dunedin, and was celebrated by Fr Aidan Cunningham, IC, the parish priest of Sacred Heart parish in North East Valley in Dunedin. Two fellow Rosminian priests from Palmerston North diocese were among the concelebrants.

The opening 40 minutes of the Requiem were devoted to tributes and acknowledgements highlighting Fr Hill’s qualities. Fr Cunningham read out a message from the Father General of the Rosminians, who had been in Dunedin just a few weeks previously visiting Fr Hill. Then there was a shorter comment from Bishop Charles Drennan about how Fr Hill had come to New Zealand.

Personal reminiscences followed, with the first from Sr Josie Dolan, RSM, who was one of the Sisters of Mercy who had helped staff the newly-formed St Peter’s College in Gore in 1970,  along with the Rosminians. Fr Hill was then the new HOD Science. He was principal from 1974 till 1979.

Sr Josie noted that “Michael was a gentleman as well as a gentle man. I never saw him angry, frustrated and . . . he could be irritated, but never angry”. She spoke warmly of his many talents and his quiet humility, but also of his “many passions”. He loved life, he loved being a Rosminian, he loved Antonio Rosmini, golf, Tui Motu, writing, Italy, entertaining, teaching, sometimes cooking, prayer, people in general, exchanging ideas, lasting friendships, and St Peter’s College.

She also highlighted his tireless effort to promote the building of a chapel at the college, a sacred space for prayer, reflection, Mass.

The next tribute was provided by former Kavanagh College principal Paul Ferris. He mentioned, in particular, how his own Gore parents had been influenced by their friendship with the Rosminians, and with Fr Hill in particular. Their own faith life had been deepened and enriched by contact with the priest.

Those sentiments were echoed by the next presenter, Martin Chamberlain, a former pupil who also became a staff member some years later at St Peter’s. His parents also became good friends with Fr Hill. Mr Chamberlain identified Fr Hill as “an excellent man”. His parents “had a deep respect for this man, but also a deep affection”. He further commented that “you have heard of his many achievements and, in all of them, he brought excellence, he brought calibre, he brought spirituality, and he brought faithfulness to the work that was ahead of him”.

A final tribute was presented by Fr Geoff Gray of Christchurch diocese, who spoke with affection about his friendship with Fr Hill, and also in appreciation for the work of some 10 years or so that Fr Hill did for Christchurch diocese.

Fr Cunningham gave some further details in his homily about Fr Hill’s life, and their connections through their profession as Rosminian students and priests. Fr Cunningham explained that he was “bereft, but rejoicing, that he (Fr Hill) was such a good, holy person, a great example, and was still teaching me to the very end”.

Photo: Fr Michael Hill, IC (from NZ Catholic files)

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