The leaders of the Vinnies (Society of St Vincent de Paul) in Auckland are gearing up for 2024, which they anticipate will be a momentous year for them.

The general manager for the Vinnies Tamaki Makaurau hub in Onehunga, Delphina Soti, said that the Young Vinnies Programme typically attracts between 500 and 1600 secondary students annually. This year’s participation is expected to hit north of 1600.

“Over the past three years, nearly 4000 secondary students from approximately 17 different schools, mainly Catholic, have engaged in the programme,” said Ms Soti.

According to Ms Soti, students describe the experience as “eye-opening”. They choose areas of focus such as food insecurity, poverty, or homelessness, with opportunities to visit SVDP hubs and engage with social services in the community to gain first-hand experience.

“They didn’t understand the cause and effect of poverty, or understand that there are a lot of people who are food-insecure, [and] so many homeless. We have a lot of people who have never experienced the cost of living [crisis] before.

“Packing as simple as a sugar bag, they ask ‘why are we packing sugar? Do they not have sugar?’”

In fact, one in five children in New Zealand live with food insecurity, said Ms Soti.

According to the Growing Up in New Zealand website, children living in households with moderate to severe food insecurity are less likely to receive the nutrition they need for healthy development. (Growing Up in New Zealand is this country’s largest longitudinal study of child health and well-being, following the lives of more than 6000 children and their families. The University of Auckland study has been following the lives of these children since 2009 and 2010 – before they were born.)

“Compared to children in food-secure households, children with food insecurity have lower fruit and vegetable intake, are less likely to eat breakfast at home before school, and have more fast food and more fizzy drinks because these are cheap, filling alternatives,” a report from Growing Up in New Zealand stated.

Food insecurity is related to low disposable household income and material deprivation. It is being used as an indicator to monitor progress, in line with the Child Poverty Reduction Act.

There is a downward trend since 2012/13 in the proportion of children living in households where food runs out often or sometimes.

Some of the participants in the youth programme in recent years have sought support for well-being and mental health, Ms Soti said.

This was especially the case for some young adults and school leaders, notably during the Covid pandemic years, she said.

There has been a real need to engage with these young people, who had been enduring isolation, the pressures of studying remotely, and who experienced the grief of not being able to complete final school year events with classmates and friends. Students also had to juggle studies and employment to assist their families at this time.

After the Covid restrictions ended, Vinnies has been helping young people attend youth evenings by providing support vouchers for transport. Food support has also been given during and after the Covid years.

Ms Soti said that there was a need to help young people “de-stress”. So, it was important for Vinnies to create gatherings involving fun activities, and centred around supporting mental health, helping well-being, safeguarding, and positive socialisation.

“We also brought in some mental health, psychotherapist, [and] social worker practitioners and mentors, to support students one-on-one and in group sessions,” Ms Soti said.

Young people involved with Vinnies also carried out advocacy work on issues that they were concerned about at their schools.

The Vinnies student programmes cover various social justice and awareness themes throughout the year, including social exclusion, diversity, and homelessness. For the homelessness programmes, the Vinnies work with Auckland City Mission staff to facilitate overnight retreats, giving students first-hand experiences and perspectives.

Ms Soti said that the Vinnies Youth Programme is about putting faith into action, providing opportunities for spiritual exploration, understanding, empathy, and advocacy. It serves as a safe space for young people to connect, grow, and find belonging.

The students look forward to meeting students from other schools, said Ms Soti. In fact, it became more apparent following the pandemic that more students were enjoying the socialising aspect of the programme after feeling isolated at home.

This prompted some tweaking of the programme so as to meet the needs of the young people. She also noted that community volunteering and well-being programmes attract many other groups.

“Throughout the year we have all sorts of communities come through, this includes, and are not limited to, corporate groups, businesses, families, clubs and sports groups, university teams, parish and youth groups and school staff.

“The other week we had the entire staff of McAuley High School, who volunteered for half of their working day.  As part of this community volunteer programme, we always start in karakia (prayer), and integrate whakawhanaungatanga (relationship building), and manaakitanga (hospitality).”

These programmes are run by the Vinnies management team, warehouse staff, and youth workers, and offer various activities and reflection opportunities, concluding with the breaking of bread together in a communal lunch whipped up by the Vinnies chef and cooks.

The Vinnies Youth Programme engages with colleges, both Catholic and non-Catholic, offering programmes centred around service, charism, faith, and leadership.

This year’s activities started with a leadership session in late February [Youth Leadership Programme], at which some 70 leaders from the 17 colleges in Auckland diocese gathered. The leaders will attend a training camp, and later be commissioned for the year at a Mass celebrated at St Patrick’s Cathedral. These leaders then lead their Young Vinnies cohort at their colleges in their service activity for the year.

Beyond the Young Vinnies Programme, Vinnies centres throughout Auckland offer a wide range of social services, including Op Shops, social enterprise initiatives, food banks, budgeting services, well-being programmes, community connections, and mentoring.

The post Big year for Vinnies working with students appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

A survey looking into church culture in New Zealand has found that the majority of Catholics are not involved in their parishes and are not tithing, prompting questions around engagement levels and their sense of belonging within their church.

The 2023 Church Life Survey NZ had feedback from nearly 25,000 Christians in Aotearoa New Zealand last year. Respondents came from some 500 churches, including Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians and Baptists.

People were asked questions around demographics, church life, community engagement, spiritual health and leadership.

Details of findings for Catholics

Survey committee member and historian Professor Peter Lineham said that there isn’t a strong sense of engagement in the local church for many Catholics outside Auckland, unlike their Protestant counterparts.

“The question around midweek activities – for events around the church other than the Sunday Mass, the figures show that there aren’t such events, or the proportion of people who attend is much lower than typical Protestants.

“For quite a lot of Catholics, the preaching does not engage them into action,” he said.

There is however a stronger sense of belonging in Auckland, as migrants make up a dominant majority, and therefore the church is a “critical basis upon which they’re able to feel a part of New Zealand”.

Some 44 per cent of Catholics surveyed said that they had no role within the life of the Church.

“They probably learned these habits from the tradition of leaving the work to the priests and religious orders; but another factor today is that Catholic churches are much larger than most other local churches, and so fewer participants can have roles,” said a report into insights from the survey.

The lower engagement could have possibly determined the poor sense of giving from Catholics, said Professor Lineham.

“If you’re engaged in the life of the parish, you’re more likely for example to sense that there’s a need, and therefore to be engaged in and participate in, and support the activities that are going on.”

Catholics have the lowest levels of giving, with just five percent giving 10 per cent or more of their earnings. This is driven by the reluctance of younger and overseas-born Catholics to give. Low levels of commitment beyond Mass are more common for new migrants, who are understandably preoccupied with settling into New Zealand.

There are striking differences across overall age groups, with 41 per cent of young people giving nothing.

Age, Education and Covid-19 Impact

Considering all the denominations surveyed, churches are gravely lacking in young people, and are over-represented in the older age groups when compared to the general population in the census. But the Catholic Church has a much younger cohort due to migrants, said the report.

Amongst Catholics, the percentage born overseas is 74 per cent in Auckland diocese, but 34 per cent in Wellington Archdiocese, and lower elsewhere.

“In the extreme case of Catholics, the median age of the New Zealand-born is 69, and the median age of migrants is 49. This means that the Auckland churches are significantly younger than other regions.”

Within Catholic churches, some 41 per cent are from Asia, concentrated in Auckland which is 55 per cent Asian.

When compared to the census, church attendees are significantly better educated than the general population.

“We may deduce that churches attract middle class people more than working class people,” said the report.

In fact church attendees are more likely to have a university qualification today (53 per cent) than 20 years ago (25 per cent). Nearly 67 per cent of overseas-born church attendees have a degree, as against 43 per cent of New Zealand-born respondents.

“This reflects trends in wider society, with the rising demand for education in the new generation and amog migrants.”

Church participation after Covid-19 [in 2023] is similar to pre-Covid-19 levels.

Anglican numbers declined by 3 per cent, Baptists 3 per cent, and Catholics 2 per cent. Major net gains were recorded by Independent (9 per cent), Christian Community Churches of NZ (7 per cent), and Confessing Anglicans.

God’s Presence, Values, Spiritual Growth

Some 58 per cent of Catholics responded that they nearly always feel God’s presence, while just 35 per cent of Baptists said the same. That sense of adoration of God curated at Mass seems to powerfully influence attendees’ perceptions, said the report.

In fact, Catholics value Communion the most (51 per cent say that this is one of their most-valued aspects), but this has dropped significantly from the figure of 63 per cent for Catholics in 2001. Traditional worship is significantly more popular among Catholic respondents than in 2001, rising from 28 per cent to 37 per cent.

Overall, nearly half of all church attendees consider that they have grown significantly in a spiritual sense over the past year, and the local church was identified as the key factor by many.

All denominations reported that churches are resourcing spiritual journeys of their attendees well. The results for Auckland Catholics are particularly strong, especially for those born overseas, who value the Church highly for resourcing their spiritual journey. Perhaps there is something in New Zealand Catholicism which really helps migrants, said the report.

However, local born New Zealanders, both Catholic and Protestant, do not feel so strongly on this question.

The survey showed that young people are only moderately satisfied with what is currently offered to support their participation.

“These results suggest many churches have a lot of work to do, if they really want to attract or retain youth. In fact, 15-24 year olds who participated in the survey are more dissatisfied than those older.”

According to the survey, Catholics don’t read their Bibles. Significantly more than half said that they occasionally, hardly ever, or never read their Bibles. Only around 30 per cent of Catholics read the Bible everyday/most days, a few times a week or once a week.

Community Service and Evangelisation

The report found that more than a quarter of respondents are involved in community service or welfare activities [operated by the church]. This is up from 18 per cent in 2001. Also, overseas-born Catholics are much more likely to share the faith with others than those born in New Zealand (27 per cent versus 15 per cent respectively).

“It is another signal that the future of the NZ church increasingly sits with overseas-born Christians.”

Professor Lineham said that there wasn’t such a “bad representation” amongst the different denominations. He felt that there was a balance despite a poor uptake from mega-Pentecostal churches in New Zealand.

“Some of those Pentecostals with their very large churches, we have little idea of representation of them, which is a great pity.”

Findings from the survey showed that people favoured building stronger communities within the church, more spiritual growth, and that they needed worship services that nurtured faith.

“For Catholics, the potential is that, if a priest can engage members of the congregation, there’s a tremendous potential for actual involvement,” said Professor Lineham.

For the denominations that responded to the survey, there were some 8300 Catholics, about 5000 broad Protestants [Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist, Uniting], and just over 6800 other Protestants [Baptist, The Salvation Army, Confessing Anglicans, Christian Community Churches [CCCNZ], Wesleyan Methodist and Independent].

The survey was made available online for the first time since its inception in mid 1990s, and has been running every five years in line with the NZ Census. It was also the largest since 2001, running from May to November.

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Christchurch Bishop Michael Gielen has met with dozens of women from throughout the diocese, at an event aiming at connecting, inspiring and also sharing some laughs and banter.

Women often times feel as if they’re alone, isolated, or that they are the only ones feeling challenged, said Jacinta Stopforth, organiser of the event, which took place at the Lamb of God Centre in Mairehau on February 9.

“When you go to something and you go home thinking ‘I am not the only one in the diocese of faith. I’ve got other sisters around me. I’ve got other people who are passionate’, it is re-energising to actually move forward again.”

She said that women must remember to “know who you are, and whose you are”.

The night began with a bit of ice breakers, trivia, small group banter, then three women sharing their testimonies. The talked about their struggles, challenges and faith journeys, mixing it up with some laughs and humour.

Catherine Shaw shared her story of how she lost her first husband and two friends in a car accident two years after her marriage.

“My whole life had changed.”

She was constantly reminded of scripture to keep her strong and focused on God, like Proverbs 3:5,6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight”.

Or Isaiah 55:8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”.

And 1 Corinthians 2:9: “For as it is written, Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the human heart imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Ms Shaw found love again and got remarried, and she was “blessed” with four children. But her second marriage ended with her husband, Paul, being diagnosed with cancer. Shaw found herself a widow again a few years later.

“Once again you’re faced with these huge questions like, why have you done this to me God? But you just have to have faith that ‘My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts’.

“You’ve got to trust in the Lord, no matter where you are and what’s happening. I’ve had some tragedy in my life, but had so many blessings.”

She focused on the blessings, and on the fact that God had a good plan for her life. She said that she trusted, even though it was difficult.

“You’re on the journey, you just have to take each day at a time, and trust that the Lord is with you. Have faith, like there are so many times where I felt like giving up, but I just had to have that faith and say ‘I am going to go to Mass, or I am going to do that prayer hour, or I am going to get up and just pray a simple prayer and have the faith’.”

Good things happened for Ms Shaw, and she waved her engagement ring to the crowd with a smile.

“Just a proposal on top of the Eiffel Tower six months ago, so you know God is good, and he has a plan for our life.”

Christchurch North parishioner Samantha Lee-Bryce was glad that she came to hear this testimony and others, thanks to a friend who invited her to the event.

“It’s been a good opportunity to connect with friends that I haven’t seen in a while, and meet new people, to be inspired by other women that’ve been through a whole Iot more than I have, and to learn from that and to be reminded of how important faith is,” she said.

The ladies also heard from Bishop Gielen, who touched on how the women in his life challenged him and helped him become the man he is today. He spoke of his early childhood years, being raised on a farm. He talked about how, as a young boy, he enjoyed the company of his brother and father more. But soon enough his mother was having girls.

“Those girls brought so much joy in my life. Some of my ‘bestest’ memories of my life are my little sisters.

“They have made me into the man I am. Grown me into the man I am. I love my brother and I love my father, but my sisters made me become who they knew God was calling me to be. They’ve challenged me and forced me and battled with me for me to become that man. So I want to honour them.

“I want to honour you as mothers, I want to honour you as wives, I want to honour you as sisters. You don’t know the joy you brought your husbands and your brothers and your fathers.”

But there was one more important woman in Bishop Gielen’s life – Mary, Jesus’ mother.

“If you go to my house, it’s covered in Marian images, because I love all her different faces.

“You don’t choose Mary, she chooses you. She chose me at a young age. I’ve always felt her profound presence and courage. Today, not by chance but by providence, we officially opened Marian school. I reflected on that young relatively unknown [woman], most [likely] poorly educated, definitely not set aside for any great role of leadership, and yet she’s shown some of the greatest courage that the world has ever seen.

“Because she answered God’s call [in] her life.”

Bishop Gielen challenged all women to a deeper relationship with Mary, and to devote themselves to her.

“She’s the reason, she’s the one who’s given me the strength and the courage to keep saying ‘yes’, whatever the Lord wants in my life.

“I know our world is going into a deeper and deeper crisis of loneliness. I know it. I know we’re becoming more isolated, we’re individualistic, and you’ve heard me say it before, I believe it’s only getting worse. I know it because I sense it in myself, and I see it in others.

He reminded women to make an effort to form little communities.

“You have to help me fight against that [individualism]. We have to find ways of doing this [women’s events] because in the past we did it so naturally. We had to, we couldn’t do it alone. Somehow now we have found ways of doing it alone. So I honour you for coming tonight.”

Women from far and wide attended, including Carly Mulqueen from St Peter Chanel Parish in Waimakariri [Rangiora, some 25km north of Christchurch]. She said that the testimonies touched her heart.

“I loved how three women, at completely different ages and stages, but I loved how they incorporated loss and tragedy, but God’s goodness, He was there and carried the women through their hard times.”

Ms Mulqueen was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago. She’s been under chemotherapy treatment, and says it was uplifting to be there, and fitting to hear the testimony of a woman whose brother is experiencing cancer treatment right now.

“I feel that now too. I love being able to talk to her about that afterwards too; you can make connective reconnections with people.”

Lourdes Mones-Cazan, from the Hurunui Parish [North Canterbury] drove some 50 minutes to get to the event, because she wanted to meet other women who are journeying in their faith as she is.

“To be encouraged by them and see what the bishop challenges us to do next. To love our Lady with all our hearts as a real mother that she is to us.”

Diocesan special projects assistant and event co-organiser Grace Challies said that the event was fully booked in a span of four weeks.

“There has been so much interest, we only started advertising on the 20th of December, and were at full capacity a month later (19th January). The event was asked for [by] women within the diocese, in response to the Men’s Breakfast event in May of 2023.”

The event was planned by a team of eight women who came from the central parishes in Christchurch city.

“Ultimately, we wanted women to have the opportunity to connect and be inspired. We also found that many of the parishes were striving to bring together women in their parish. And we thought that, by having this style of event, we might be able to attract more women who might not go to a parish level event, but also encourage those who come to keep connecting, and get involved with this style of event at their parish level,” Ms Challies said.

She added that they hope to run another, bigger event for women, later in the year.

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The thirty-first Hearts Aflame Catholic Summer School wrapped up this year, marking a significant milestone and an end of an era for its long-serving director, Jemma Brunton.

“For me, handing over Hearts had always been about the Lord’s timing and him providing the right person. I had always said I wouldn’t step down until the right person was there to take over. When [my replacement] Jess said ‘yes’, I admit there was a deep peace, some excitement that the next phase of Hearts was going to be in strong hands, and a little relief – God had once again been faithful, and in his perfect timing he had provided an answer to who I could hand over to.”

Ms Brunton served as director for nine years, and spent 13 years on the planning team. She made the decision to step down at the end of the 2024 School. She first attended the 2004/05 school.

She has made significant contributions to Hearts Aflame, steering the school through some tough years when registration numbers were low, to the point where it is flourishing today with high demand for registration spots.

Ms Brunton also had to raise $17,000 in six weeks one year to cover a shortfall needed to run the school.

The school fundraises $20,000 – $30,000 each year to cover the costs of accommodation for the planning team, religious, priests and speakers, travel costs for speakers, and many incidental costs such as candles for the chapel, registration packs, and tech equipment to record lectures.

“We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Jemma Brunton who has served Hearts Aflame faithfully, tirelessly and through great personal sacrifice for more than a decade,” said Jessica Jackman, incoming director for Hearts Aflame Summer School.

“Jemma is an outstanding example of a humble and compassionate woman in leadership in the Church. God has truly used her trust in him to bless Hearts Aflame and countless young Catholics in New Zealand,” Miss Jackman said.

Miss Jackman will be stepping into the director’s role for the 2025 school. Originally from Hamilton, Miss Jackman has a background in missionary work in both France and the Philippines, and is now a teacher at a Catholic primary school in Christchurch. She has served on the planning team since 2020.

“It was very overwhelming to be asked! Hearts has been going for 30 years – almost my whole life, and there is a whole generation of Catholics who have been formed through Hearts, so taking it on seemed a bit crazy. But when I prayed about it there was a real peace,” Miss Jackman said.

Hearts Aflame played a crucial role in Miss Jackman’s own discernment and spiritual growth as a young adult, she said.

Demand for Hearts Aflame is on the rise, she added. Registrations for this year’s school were sold out within a week of advertising. Some 125 young adults gathered from across the country at Ngā Tawa Diocesan School, Marton, for 10 days of prayer, formation, and the experience of a community of faith.

2024 Summer School

The theme for 2024 was “behold I make all things new” (Revelations 21:5), which was broken open by Fr Justin Lee, CSJ, through his talks over the opening retreat weekend. The school then welcomed in the New Year with a small group competition and quiz, followed by 11pm Mass and, for some, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament overnight.

Monday morning marked the start of lectures, covering a wide variety of topics including the theology of money, spiritual warfare, being a Catholic doctor, and the virtue of prudence. Participants had the privilege to learn from knowledgeable priests, religious and lay people from around New Zealand and Australia.

There were some 20 priests (some diocesan and some from religious orders) and seven sisters from various religious orders. Among the religious orders and communities present this year were Marists, Community of St John, Beatitudes Community, and several overseas communities.

“Their presence was greatly appreciated by participants. For some, it was the first time they got to spend time with a priest or a sister, so it’s an incredible witness to their vocations, and the joy of giving your life to God,” said Miss Jackman.

The school is entirely run by lay volunteers, and it relies significantly on donations to run the programme and keep prices accessible for young adults.

“[The volunteers have a passion for] helping young adults to develop and foster an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ and his holy Catholic Church, through participation in the sacraments, prayer, formation, lived-out and experienced in a short-term community environment.”

Hearts Aflame has been running since 1992, and a significant number of vocations to the priesthood, religious life or marriages were fostered through the school, said Miss Jackman.

“It was particularly moving this year to have Bishop John Adams with us – as he shared in his homily. Bishop John’s vocation to the priesthood was born at a Hearts Aflame school. He attended it as a young adult, then a seminarian, a deacon, priest and now as a bishop. We were also blessed by the presence of Bishop Michael Gielen, who has a long history of involvement with Hearts Aflame, as well as numerous young priests whose vocations were fostered through Hearts. There were also a few participants whose parents attended Hearts Aflame 18 years ago,” Miss Jackman said.

Participants got a taste for daily Mass, adoration, a candle-lit rosary procession, praise and worship, a half-day of grand silence, reconciliation, prayer ministry, and sung morning, evening and night prayer.

Miss Jackman said that the school was privileged to have so many priests present, who were constantly busy with the sacrament of reconciliation, giving spiritual guidance, and just being with the participants. She said that the school had left an impact on people in many ways.

“[There are] those moments of joy when you notice someone who began the school looking like they were down and struggling with life, now meeting your gaze radiant with joy towards the end of the week, because the Lord has been healing them and they have opened their hearts to his love,” said Miss Jackman.

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Joy was definitely in the air on Gaudete Sunday (December 17) in Advent at St Joseph’s Cathedral, Dunedin, at the 10.30 am Mass, and it wasn’t just in anticipation of the lighting of the pink candle.

As the congregation began to assemble, people’s attention focused on the sanctuary area, and comments were whispered and nods exchanged. The focus of attention and admiration were the two recently re-installed sanctuary angels. They had grown wings overnight.

One whispered explanation was that the sanctuary angels had celebrated their release from storage in a room in the cathedral’s tower, and their subsequent restoration by having a bit of a party overnight. During the celebration, they had imbibed a well-advertised drink that has the desired effect.

However, a more mundane explanation came to light upon checking the composition of the congregation which was gathering. In one of the front pews sat what could be described as three wise men from the north – up Rangiora way, to be exact. One of them was clearly Damien Walker, the artist who had restored the angel figures at his Studio of St Philomena. He was accompanied by his brother, Chris and father, Noel.

The angel figures had once performed their guardian role in the sanctuary until the 1960s, but were discarded following some of the changes prompted by Vatican II. They were rescued from a skip destined for the rubbish tip, and went into storage up in a room in one of the cathedral towers. At the time, the wings were in a damaged state and were not retained. Part of the restoration contract included the making of new moulds to produce replacements. While the repair and installation of the angel figures was achieved on the desired date in November, the making and completion of the wings took longer. Hence the further delay of nearly a month.

In discussion after Mass, it transpired that the three Walkers had travelled down from Rangiora on the Saturday, arriving at the cathedral late in the afternoon. They set about fitting the now cured new set of wings. The sight of the sanctuary angels, complete with their new wings, generated a lot of interest, to the point where many parishioners were busy after Mass using their phone cameras to record the scene.

The addition of the wings produced a new dimension to the figures by increasing their height. The artist noted that the figures themselves were now about two metres in height, and much higher than their bodies had been, standing on their individual plinths. The wings added to the visual appeal of the figures, with gold paint featuring prominently along the leading edges.

Parishioners are very pleased with the changes brought about in the sanctuary with the completion of this well-supported project, initiated by parish priest Fr Vaughan Leslie.

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Hundreds of teenagers from throughout New Zealand enjoyed Life Teen Summer Camp last month, with a memorable theme to reflect upon – “the real presence”.

Activities co-ordinator Thomas Dravitzki said that the planning team was “delighted” with the turnout this year, with nearly 200 youngsters turning up.

“We had 197 teenagers, 40 chaperones, and 63 summer missionaries/volunteers attend, for a total of 300 participants.”

Life Teen Summer Camp began in 2015 with around 19 campers. Mr Dravitzki says that the numbers have increased year on year.

International Catholic speaker Maggie Craig flew from California (USA) to speak to the young people, and explore the theme further.

“She’s an internationally acclaimed full-time Catholic speaker. She brought with her a deep love of Jesus, a passion for seeing young people transformed by the gospel, and a great sense of humour,” Mr Dravitzki said.

“The response from the teenagers was excellent. They brought an energy and enthusiasm to camp that meant they were highly engaged, had lots of fun, and most importantly were able to grow in their Catholic faith and relationship with Jesus.”

Mr Dravitzki said that the theme this year was awesome, and was all about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, in oneself, other people and the community.

“The teenagers engaged with this theme to not only learn that God is real, but also deeply present, as seen in the sacraments, people around us, and especially the Eucharist.”

Teenagers enjoyed messy games (always a favourite, said Mr Dravitzki), low ropes, resistance games, sensory prayer exercises, daily Mass, reconciliation, adoration, chapel times, parish korero, praise and worship, workshops and our main teaching sessions.

Eighteen-year-old Victoria Arrowsmith from Whanganui got a lot out of the camp, including knowing and trusting in the presence of God.

“Before I came to camp, I sometimes struggled to feel the presence of God, but I now realise that we don’t have to feel it to know he’s there. The presence of God isn’t limited to only Mass, but everywhere in the simple things in everyday life; like the wind and the faces of those around us.”

Another camper, 15-year-old Mavicle Auva’a from St Mary’s in Papakura, said that she enjoyed last year’s camp, and wanted to catch up with the people she met at the last gathering.

“To be honest I just wanted to see the people from last year, and [I attended] for spiritual reasons. I have really enjoyed getting to know Jesus more and deepening my faith. A highlight was adoration, I really loved sitting there in the presence of Jesus, I really felt the Holy Spirit.

“I will take home a love for Jesus. I was a bit spiritually weak coming into camp, but coming out after adoration and praise and worship has really helped strengthen my bond with Jesus.”

The camp was traditionally held in Forrest Lakes Christian Camp in Ōtaki, north of Wellington. However, the camp was cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to Covid-19. The planning team decided to move the camp to the Hamilton region thereafter.

“We brought it back for the first time last year in 2023 at St Peter’s [in Cambridge] and we held it again at St Peter’s this year.”

Mr Dravitzki said that the site suited the needs of the camp.

“It made a lot of sense from a health and safety and logistics perspective, because we’ve been able to have a site unlike Festival One [4-day Christian-music festival] last year that got rained [out] during Cyclone Gabrielle. But on our site we’ve got functioning toilets, we’ve got all of the facilities and security and surveillance, and all those sorts of things.”

The camp ran from January 16-20, and was organised by the Catholic youth offices of Auckland and Hamilton dioceses.

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For many, even young Catholic singles, the dating scene can be ruthless, painful, confusing and downright unpleasant. For others though it’s seamless and easy. In fact, a lot of Catholics have positive experiences that have led to happy marriages. How did that happen? And how did women find their husbands in a wholesome, Catholic and God-centred way?

It began as a long-distance relationship for Cantabrian Catherine McKenzie, who says that while she found her now husband, it took some time before meeting him in person.

“We just chatted about our lives and what was important to us. After we met for the first time. I was in the midst of preparing to go to WYD in Madrid. So, I kept him in the loop of my fundraising and travels. When we met and decided we wanted to spend more time together my now husband started to make arrangements to move down to Christchurch to be with me.”

Lakshini Mendis-David’s story is one that’s similar. It began online, on a dating app called Hinge. In 2021, Mendis-David was in Wellington and her then-match was in Melbourne. The single Catholic was very sceptical about trying online dating again after some “not so great” experiences.

With Covid-19 lockdowns in Australia and New Zealand, the chance of meeting someone was slim to none, says Mendis-David. But then there was Chryshan.

“The first thing that immediately jumped out at me (apart from his good looks) was the fact that the biggest risk Chryshan had taken was to move to Australia by himself.”

Mendis-David as interested. She too had moved to the United Kingdom by herself. After a few messages exchanged and numbers shared, the pair called each other a week later.

“That 20-minute phone call was enough to spark Chryshan’s interest . . . and the rest is history. We did long distance for about five months before we met in person.”

Chryshan popped the question in July, 2022, and the two were married six months later. She admits to being “impatient” at times during her single years, but is “awestruck” at how God’s plan worked and how she met the man she had been been praying for.

“I feel so blessed each day.”

Happy in self

The best thing that helps is the good old cliché that you have to be happy in yourself before you can be happy with someone else. That’s what Christchurch-based Megan Gregory believes.

“Having left my journey towards religious life at 30, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to find anyone suitable. I did keep my eyes open, went on the occasional date, and kept praying. But basically, I just kept living my life, doing the things I loved, and then he turned up,” says Gregory.

Some Catholics are opting for a ‘strict’ courting style – not holding hands or kissing. They say it helps them discern further the will of God in the relationship and keep purity intact.

This includes PM [who chose not be named for this article]. After growing up atheist, PM met a man [also a convert to the faith] in 2020 through a friend group of mostly other converts who were fans of the traditional Latin Mass.

“We ended up having a traditional courtship instead of dating, meaning we kept a lot of firm boundaries including no touching of any kind or sharing intimate words, which helped in my discernment of him as a man, since it cut out all the immediate perks that would attract somebody who wasn’t totally serious about the faith.

The couple spent all of their pre-courtship time at Mass and adoration and in a group setting.

“It really meant we were focusing purely on where God was leading us in advance of our marriage, rather than following our own minds or hearts, says PM.

“In my opinion, a better catechised Church will increase the pool for both men and women, as lack of knowledge and seriousness about the faith is a major factor in mine and my husband’s opinion in why so many men and women are considered unmarriable by the opposite sex.”

On the other hand, Whangarei resident Quita Clifton and her now husband Brad, both were active in Catholic circles, in youth ministry and Mass.

“When we realised the other was interested in each other, Brad was going to ask me out but before he did, I said please don’t ask me out [I’d just come out of a relationship] and I said ‘can we be friends and get to know each other first’, to make sure that what we wanted from a relationship was the same and being the gentleman he was he respected that, so we had a number of chats over coffee [first].”

After meeting up a few times, the pair quickly realised that they were on the same page on family dynamics and history, past relationships, values, marriage and kids. Their courtship had a few ground rules though.

“No kissing. Holding hands only. I had come out from a physical relationship and if you know the five love languages, physical touch was one of mine, [but in this case] I wanted to know him as him.

“We hung out with flatmates and one of our couple friends who were married. We made a point during this time to read a book together – First Comes Love by Scott Hahn, which goes into God’s covenant with his people and his great sacrifice for us. The love of giving his all in death, and that marriage is a covenant/oath/promise we make before and with God.”

She says the book was a perfect marriage prep tool, a way to understand what sacrificial love is in the context of God’s love and marriage.

“We would finish our weekend with each other with Mass at the cathedral and dinner out with other, often but not always, young adults who had been at Mass too.”

“Brad and I were very aware that until we were before God in a church making our vows, we were not each other’s but God’s, and so having boundaries in place like no physical contact, no staying at each other’s flat where possible. [We also] hung out with specific friends.”

She says this meant that if God turned and said “I want you to enter religious life’, the pair were free to do so without extra bonding needing to be broken.

Carmel Ann Malone found her now husband in the old-school way, at the local Catholic Social Club in 1974.

“They were purely social clubs specifically for Catholic singles [any age]. There was one in each of the four main centres. Before I moved up to Auckland, I attended the Christchurch one too. So, I guess they had been around since the 1960s maybe,” she said.

“A few people found marriage partners like me. Others just wanted to socialise. There were a whole range of activities, but something every weekend like films, house parties, restaurant dinners. I met my husband on the very first occasion I attended. Also, his first time as well. He said he fell in love with me at ” first sight”. So, I guess that was ‘a match made in heaven’, she laughed.

“We were married almost seven months later. As they say the rest is history.”

Being happy with who you are, enjoying your life, and embracing the journey you’re on right now seem to be major threads running through the stories above. The bottom line is: stay focused on your personal growth and relationship with God, and leave the rest up to the man above.

The post Modern Kiwi Catholic dating experiences appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

At a recent debate organised by Catholic Young Adults Community [CYAC] in Auckland, the topic was “Should Catholic priests be allowed to marry?”

Some background: In the Latin Rite, according to the Code of Canon Law (277, no 1), “clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, and therefore are bound to celibacy, which is a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart, and are able to dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and humanity”.

Married men can be ordained as permanent deacons, and there are cases of married ministers of other denominations becoming Catholic and then being ordained as priests.

In the Eastern churches, a different discipline applies – bishops are chosen from among celibates, but married men can be ordained as priests and deacons.

In both the East and the West, once a man is ordained, he cannot subsequently marry.

The moderator of the Auckland debate, 32-year-old Joshua King, says it was “great fun and a worthwhile event”.

“It was good for people to understand that there are many things that go into Church disciplines like this, which most of us just have no idea about.”

Mr King works as the national campus director for an ecumenical pastoral apologetics ministry called “Thinking Matters”. He said that, while the moot was phrased as to whether priests should be allowed to get married, he believed they shouldn’t.

“It is just a fact that, with a healthy community, living a celibate life can be just as rewarding, if not more rewarding, than being married.

“Being celibate is a true blessing so that one can be free to fully pursue the ministry that burns within their heart. Any argument against the celibacy of the priesthood seems to be something that could easily be mitigated by a good pastoral bishop, or clear expectations surrounding the discernment and formation of priests, or even just in the taking up of more permanent deacons by the many eligible married men in parishes all around the world.”

He says that he can’t see any reason for such a change to be made in the Church. As a former Protestant, Mr King is “very glad that the Church has this discipline for its priests”.

Arguments in favour of allowing priests to marry included the belief that marriage is a natural and healthy expression of human relationships, and that allowing priests to marry could help address issues such as a shortage of clergy, loneliness, and instances of celibacy being difficult for some individuals to maintain.

“The affirmative team had some great rhetoric and anecdotes for pushing a number of emotionally powerful arguments. However, I think the moot was not in their favour,” Mr King said.

Lawyer Nick Robertson’s childhood priest, Fr Martin Flatman, was and still is a married priest. Mr Robertson, 27, recently moved to Auckland from Mosgiel after attending Hearts Aflame Summer School in 2022/2023 and meeting people from CYAC. His love for a debate and argument brought him to this debate.

Mr Robertson was on the supportive team for this debate, adopting a “much more practical line of argument”.

He said that Lutheran pastors and their families are looked after well by parishes when they move, so we have good modern-day examples of what married priests might look like.

He also said that the Church has had married priests in the past, and even some Popes who are saints were married [became priests after being married]. There have been at least four Popes who were legally married before taking Holy Orders: St Hormisdas (514–523), Adrian II (867–872), John XVII (1003) and Clement IV (1265–68) – though Hormisdas was already a widower by the time of his election.

Mr Robertson added that some priests suffer from loneliness and alcoholism, and would greatly benefit from a family to return to.

He said that the negating team took a more theological approach, which was “a surprise” to him. However his personal stance on the matter is a strong opposition to a priest marrying.

“I believe there [are some] sound prudential reasons that it’s not permitted in the East or West. Even Protestants, in my experience, want their pastors to be in a stable marriage, he said.

“A parish or community where Father is ‘on the hunt’ or even just open to marriage does not seem like it could be a safe or stable environment, especially for women – being a spiritual father and looking for a spouse amongst your spiritual daughters seem fundamentally incompatible states of life.”

Mr Robertson said that this discussion “is a useful way to talk about issues that the Church is facing”, especially the priestly vocation crisis.

On the other hand, those in favour of maintaining the celibacy requirement often argue that it is a long-standing tradition within the Church, and seen as a way for clergy to fully dedicate themselves to their religious duties without the responsibilities of family life.

On the negating team was Niel Kulkarni, a 24-year-old junior medical doctor who described himself as “a cradle Catholic”, taking on this opportunity as a means to learn more and grow in this subject.

“While my stance prior to preparing for this debate was superficially equivocal, learning what the Church has taught throughout the centuries was certainly eye-opening, and has me leaning in favour of keeping things as they are.”

He said that, while his team angled their points from the theological and historical perspective, the affirming team used “personal anecdotes quite effectively” in revealing the practical, day-to-day challenges of celibacy.

There are a few reasons why priests shouldn’t marry, Mr Kulkani said.

“Firstly, there is the conflicting matter of having our ‘spiritual father’, potentially also looking for a woman to marry, assumedly amongst his congregation. Secondly, from our understanding, it is theologically incongruent, and could be considered a form of bigamy [the offence of marrying someone while already married to another person], as a priest is meant to be set apart by God, and in the person of Christ is to have one bride only.

“Finally, it is not Church teaching to allow an ordained priest to marry.”

Fr Mahir Murad, Chaldean Catholic priest at Our Lady Guardian of Plants in Melbourne, was ordained as a priest in April this year after years of being married to the love of his life, Rasha. They have two children.

He said that the Church maintains the sanctity of the priesthood, stating that, once a priest is ordained, they are always a priest.

Fr Mahir said that St Paul, who was among the first apostles, promoted the virtues of celibacy, both for those dedicated to serving the kingdom like him, and for Christians in general (1 Corinthians 7:6,32-40).

“The early Church followed Christ’s advice to practice celibacy while serving the kingdom, and preached and practised it accordingly.”

He said that it is difficult to alter a law that has been in place for over a thousand years.

“I think the reason is that big changes can be a source of fear as we enter the unknown, and that can frighten the Church. In the event that the Church decides to alter the Church’s rules [allowing priests to get married], the crucial question is, what will be done with over 400,000 celibate priests who have taken a vow of chastity or have advanced in age?”

Mr Kulkarni said that his personal gain from the debate went “beyond the debate moot”.

“It instilled in me a great reverence for the holy priesthood, and the hands that hold our Lord. The call to celibacy asks those who choose it to image our Lord, in the most perfect way possible.”

Mr Robertson said that the debate offered a chance to discuss loneliness in the priesthood too.

“Particularly relevant, as smaller families and much more mobile populations means priests often no longer live in the same community as their families – and the dearth [lack of] of lay volunteers at parishes.”

Mr Robertson said that, as the ratio of priests to laity continues to get worse, more conversations are needed around how priests can be enabled to perform their roles by the laity, without the laity forcefully taking over the priestly role, or turning them into “sacrament dispensers”.

He said that a serious consideration of priests’ own pastoral needs will need to be addressed as well.

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The Dunedin Diocese synod hui struck a bit of initial turbulence at its startup at St Patrick’s Basilica, South Dunedin, on November 18. The keynote speaker, Dr Therese Lautua, a theologian from Auckland, missed her flight to Dunedin earlier in the morning, and had to arrange a later arrival.

Unfazed by the hiccup, the organisers went ahead with discussions about aspects of the draft Diocesan Strategic Plan document with the 50 or so attendees. Participants came from Invercargill, Gore, Balclutha, Alexandra, Oamaru and Dunedin.  Once the meeting got underway, they were provided with seven leaders, and participants could self-select which small group of about seven people they would join to discuss some key questions.

At the beginning, Bishop Michael Dooley spoke about the background to the day, and recommended that discussions should follow the synodal pattern of prayer, discussion, and then a three-minute period of silent reflection to allow for any inspiration by the Holy Spirit.

Discussion was to focus on selected parts of the draft plan, which had been developed from the earlier Diocesan Synodal Synthesis. The draft had identified four “calls”, which were “Leadership”, “Inclusive Community”, “Liturgy” and “Outreach”. The first discussion session focused attention on Leadership. Comments were recorded, and a summary was provided in a reporting-back session to the whole gathering. Further discussion sessions followed, with a lunch break about 12.30 pm.

Dr Therese Lautua delivers her address at the Dunedin diocese synod hui.

The main afternoon session was the talk by Dr Lautua. She was on the writing group for the Oceania Synod document. The experiences of having a mixed cultural heritage, as well as her Catholic faith, have inspired her research pursuits in the areas of Practical and Contextual Theology, Pacific identity and mental well-being. At the start, she identified that her own ancestors came from multiple places, Samoa, Ireland, and Switzerland, and that she was proudly from Manurewa in South Auckland.

The reason she talked about positionality and kinship ties was because this is really unique and important for our region here in Aotearoa, in the way that we view synodality and how we relate to one another in our parishes. She then put up a slide with the title “Talanoa”, and asked the attendees to form pairs for a couple of minutes, and discuss what they thought a Samoan proverb meant in this context. (“Papata pe, ke na’e lalanga” which means “It may be coarse in texture, but it was woven well”).

After a chance for comments, she then went on to express her view that the Catholic Church in Aotearoa needs to be a bit stronger in expressing our multi-cultural identity, and commitment to being bi-cultural without it being lip service or tokenistic.

Dr Lautua then went on to share some observations about the Trinity and the relationship with our existence. She explored several aspects of this.

Commenting about the Church and its mission, she suggested that there ought to be greater recognition that the parish should exist to support family life, and not that families simply exist to support the parish.

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St Joseph’s Cathedral, Dunedin, attracted a full congregation to its much heralded 10.30am Solemn Mass, on November 19, which witnessed some significant changes in the sanctuary area – which was to the satisfaction of many.

The special occasion was to welcome and acknowledge the return of two restored angel statues on either side of the high altar, as well as the return of the Blessed Sacrament from the side chapel to the refurbished tabernacle in the high altar, thereby establishing a clear central focus.

Not that the lead up to the occasion had been plain sailing. A major blow was the unavailability of the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, when he suffered a severe stroke in Wellington recently. It had been intended that he would celebrate the Mass.

Bishop Michael Dooley was also unavailable, as he had a commitment to celebrate Mass down at the historic Broad Bay church for the Polish community, who were celebrating special milestones over the weekend.

Then there were doubts about whether the two statues would be available in time. The compounding issues saw the main driver of the changes, Fr Vaughan Leslie, darkly mutter a comment about watching out for a plague of locusts.

An angel (unveiled) on the left of the high altar and leading to the tabernacle.

However, despite the issues which seemed to be intent on raining on the parade, the angel statues did manage to arrive from the Studio of St Philomena in Rangiora with the artist, Damian Walker, and his brother Chris, late on the Saturday afternoon. A small team then set things up ready for the Solemn Mass on Sunday.

The opening procession was accompanied by the cathedral choir singing Edward Elgar’s Ecce Sacerdos Magnus, as a tribute and acknowledgement for the recovering Archbishop. Besides the organ, there was also a trumpet adding its fanfare to the music. Fr Leslie was the main celebrant, assisted by Msgr Vincent Walker, Fr Mervyn McGettigan and Fr David Hercus.

The three concelebrants wore new, identical vestments donated to the cathedral by a well-wisher. Following the opening prayers and readings, it came time to undertake the unveiling and blessing of the repaired angels, and blessing of the restored tabernacle. Fr Leslie noted that, at this stage, the angels were “wingless”, since the newly-formed wings were still curing and drying. They should be added in early December.

(From left) Fr Mervyn McGettigan, Fr Vaughan Leslie, Msgr Vincent Walker, and artist Damian Walker

Then to the sounds of a trumpet fanfare, the two statues on either side of the high altar were unveiled. This was followed by a prayer and blessing by Fr Leslie. Next a prayer of blessing was read by Msgr Walker, with Fr Leslie incensing and blessing the high altar and restored tabernacle. It is worthy of note that Bishop Dooley and Fr Leslie combined their skills in producing important aspects in the restoration. Bishop Dooley had used his previous metal-working skills to produce the metal rods and fittings for the front of the tabernacle, while Fr Leslie had shown his fine sewing skills in producing frontals for the normal altar and lectern and the tabernacle veils, as well as fitting out the interior of the tabernacle.

Later, following Communion, the ciborium containing the consecrated hosts was carried by Fr Leslie in procession, beneath a canopy carried by four laity down the side aisle, then around and down the main aisle to the sanctuary, and up to the high altar to be placed into the tabernacle there for the first time since its restoration. During this formal procession an organ voluntary (Processional  by William Mathias) was played.

At the conclusion of Mass, the congregation assembled down the front steps to have a group photo taken on this historic occasion. After that, there was a cup of tea available up in the pastoral centre. There were even some passengers from a visiting cruise ship that enjoyed taking part in the special occasion and the hospitality.

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