A new monthly digital publication, which will retain the title NZ Catholic, will be developed and shared in the coming months.

The publisher of NZ Catholic, Bishop Stephen Lowe, sent a letter to subscribers, supporters, readers and friends of NZ Catholic outlining the changes.

“NZ Catholic and its predecessors, the Tablet from Dunedin and the Zealandia have been part of our Catholic print media since 1873,” the bishop stated in his letter, dated May 21.

The bishop added that much has changed in the last 150 years, and that the rate of change seems to be becoming even more rapid.

“In more recent years, we have seen dramatic changes in the media landscape with audiences moving away from print and the TV news towards digital, social, and video news, entertainment and networking platforms.

“Like all other newspapers, NZ Catholic has been impacted by falling circulation numbers, subscribers and advertisers.

Bishop Lowe noted that NZ Catholic now has fewer than a 1000 subscribers, and has reached the point at which “it is no longer sustainable to publish a printed Catholic newspaper and it is my sad duty to inform you that the issue published on 30 June will be NZ Catholic’s last printed fortnightly edition”.

“At this time, it is right to give thanks for the work of the NZ Catholic staff, past and present. They have been amazing. They have told the stories of our Church and society. They have published the joys and the sorrows of people’s lives. They have sincerely used the written word to point to Jesus Christ the Word. Thank you also to the contributors from across the country and the promoters in parishes. Your stories of people and communities will remain a treasure of the Church’s history in New Zealand,” the bishop wrote.

“While this might mark the end of a regular printed newspaper, the diocese remains committed to sharing our Catholic news and stories, and we intend developing a new monthly digital publication with enhanced use of video,” Bishop Lowe continued.

“This will allow us to continue to share news, comment, and reflections to inform, record, form, and inspire our community in the Diocese of Auckland and beyond. The digital news publication will be made available for free, and I want to encourage parishes, ethnic chaplaincies, schools and other communities to share through their newsletters, websites and social media pages.

“A digital/ video storytelling role will be added to the team to enhance our capability to use video and other digital platforms to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. This role will focus initially on producing videos that include prayer, homilies, event highlights, appeals, teaching, explaining, and helping to encourage a healthy dialogue [that] our world so desperately need

Bishop Lowe thanked the readers of NZ Catholic for their faithful support.

“You have enabled us to keep publishing the newspaper for as long as we have,” he wrote.

“For subscribers a refund of your subscription balance can be sought by completing the attached form and returning it to us or alternatively go to www.nzcatholic.org.nz/refund

“Unclaimed subscription balances will be used to launch the new digital version.”

Bishop Lowe concluded the letter by stating, “It is my hope that the digital NZ Catholic will continue to celebrate and promote our faith and to help continue to knit our diverse community into one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church”.

“I ask for your prayerful support as we make this transition.”

The June 2 and June 16 editions of NZ Catholic will be normal editions. The final edition, with a publication date of June 30, will be a commemorative edition making use of photographs to remember major events covered by NZ Catholic since it started in 1996.

It is understood that readers will be able to opt for a printed version of the new digital NZ Catholic if they cannot receive email communication. There is no mention of any cost.

The post NZ Catholic to cease printing, and transition to a new digital publication appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

SYDNEY (OSV News) – The joy of Eastertide has turned to shock and bewilderment across Sydney’s Catholic community in the wake of a deadly knife attack at Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre on April 13, in which seven people were killed and a dozen injured, including a nine-month-old baby.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney joined fellow Australians in mourning the victims, in remarks made at Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on April 14, the day after the attack, which was by coincidence the Day of the Unborn Child, one of Sydney’s biggest pro-life commemorations.

“At a time of universal grief and horror at the multiple murders and injuries at Bondi Junction yesterday, including the stabbing of a baby – as well as celebration of the courage of the baby’s mother, the policewoman, and other bystanders – we reflect upon our community’s profound commitment to the value of every human life,” Archbishop Fisher said, as reported by The Catholic Weekly.

“In this Mass, we recommit ourselves and our community to that principle, even as we pray for eternal life for yesterday’s victims,” he said.

“We acknowledge that all human life is made in the image of God, made for a full life on earth and eternal life in heaven, and so demands our reverence and protection, especially when most vulnerable.”

Masses and prayers were offered across Sydney for the victims, with the Bondi Parish of St Patrick’s and St Anne’s offering three Masses for its grieving community.

At least two parishioners knew 38-year-old osteopath Ashlee Good – the mother of the nine-month-old baby currently recovering from the attack at Sydney Children’s Hospital.

Despite the best attempts of bystanders and doctors to save her life, Good died from her wounds at St Vincent’s Hospital, after pushing her baby into the arms of strangers.

Several members of the congregation at St Patrick’s Church in Bondi wept as visiting priest Father Ninian Doohan offered words of comfort in his homily at the morning Mass on April 14.

Around 60 – many of them from Bondi parish’s thriving community of young adults – remained to pray the rosary and comfort each other immediately afterwards.

Father Doohan was likewise among those on the scene shortly after the attack, emerging from Bondi Junction train station minutes after the chaos had taken place.

A delay in catching public transport to go shopping meant he missed the events by less than 15 minutes, arriving to see a large crowd and emergency response presence.

The priest blessed the ambulances and emergency crews as they were departing, adding in his homily that he “did under-estimate the danger even with the police presence there”.

While he felt “totally inadequate to the task” of pastoral support in the face of such horror, Father Doohan urged the congregation to reach out for support and offered to be available to anyone who wished a pastoral visit.

“The only thing that sounds clear in my mind is that God put me in the close proximity of horror and tragedy so that therefore I can be . . . one with you, and with them, and not an outsider to it,” he said.

“I ask that we would all be prepared to ask God for forgiveness and also be prepared to give forgiveness and to participate in his mercy,” he added.

“That challenge to live in and with and through his compassion, even when it is beyond our comprehension and even when injustices have been committed against us.”

The priest from Edinburgh, Scotland, had only been in the parish a week as a replacement for parish priest Father Anthony Robbie, who was on holiday.

Pope Francis sent a telegram to Archbishop Fisher soon after the knife attack, expressing his “spiritual closeness” with Sydney.

“Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the violent attack in Sydney, and he sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all affected by this senseless tragedy, especially those who are now mourning the loss of a loved one,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said in a telegram on April 13.

“He likewise offers his prayers for the dead, the injured, as well as the first responders, and invokes upon the nation the divine blessings of consolation and strength.”

Police identified the attacker, who was shot and killed by New South Wales Police Inspector Amy Scott, as 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi.

The police officer entered the Bondi Junction shopping centre alone after being guided to the scene by bystanders.

According to reports in The Weekend Australian, Cauchi was known to police for mental health issues, and had previously advertised his services as a male escort.

The dean of St Mary’s Cathedral, Father Don Richardson, also posted a call for prayers on social media for all affected by the tragedy.

“Many people who come to St Mary’s Cathedral for Mass or other prayers live in that area and the mall at Bondi Junction is a place they know well,” he wrote.

“Holy Cross Catholic Church is just down the street from the Bondi Junction Westfield. May its tall spire and cross be a beacon of hope to all the people affected by this tragedy,” he said.

“Let us all remember in our prayers the souls of those who have died,” Father Richardson added, “and pray too for those who have been wounded, their families and friends, the police, emergency paramedics, the staff and all who witnessed those traumatic scenes on what should have been a beautiful Saturday afternoon.”

Marilyn Rodrigues is a senior journalist at The Catholic Weekly.

Photo: Parishioners pray and grieve at St. Patrick’s Church, in Sydney’s Bondi neighborhood, in the wake of the horrific knife attack at Bondi Junction on April 13, 2024. Father Ninian Doohan, visiting from Edinburgh, Scotland, was present at Bondi Junction in the aftermath of the attack. (OSV News photo/Patrick Lee, The Catholic Weekly).kly

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Newly- appointed rector Fr David Dowling expressed hope that these young men will approach their formation with humility.

“My hope is that these young men will open themselves to be conformed to Jesus, who ‘did not come to be served, but to serve.’,” Fr Dowling said.

“I hope that they will humbly approach their formation, like clay to be moulded, so that the Holy Spirit, with the collaboration of seminary formators can shape them to be good pastors in the image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.”

Auckland

Zecharia Mathew, 24, said  he considers his vocation story as a “conversion” and a “love story between myself and God”.

He said he fell in love with the Lord when he was eight years old when he received his first Holy Communion.

“When I received Jesus for the first time, I was like, ‘oh, snap!’ I want to do that. I want to be able to give Jesus to others,” he said.

As he grew up, he had thought of becoming a doctor as well as a professional football player but the call to priesthood got stronger during his student years at Liston Catholic College.

“I had a massive conversion experience there,” he said.

Straight out of high school, Mr Mathew joined the religious order of the Capuchin Franciscans. He went to the Philippines and stayed there for three years for his initial formation. Then, he went back to New Zealand, took his first vows and a little bit of ministry here.

“I get assigned to India and then, in my prayer and my discernment in India, I realised… that I didn’t want to serve anywhere else in the world, except here in New Zealand,” he said.

Mr Mathew said a religious priest would not have any say in where he will be assigned.

“New Zealand is my home. New Zealand is the country that I love, and this is the people that I want to serve. So, after much prayer and discernment, I discerned to come back home and join the diocese of Auckland,” he said.

Although he had years of training already, he came in as a first-year seminarian because of the differences between the formation of a religious and diocesan seminarian.

As for going straight from high school to the seminary, he said he does not feel that he has missed out on anything.

“It only fulfilled me all the more. My vocation has enabled me to live life to the fullest and to give myself completely to the Lord and to his Church,” he said.

Mr Mathew said he hopes to be a priest to the youth, one who is joyful, orthodox and holy.

Joshua Brodie, 24, was born and raised in West Auckland in a loving and practicing Catholic family.

“My childhood and teenage years were filled with really good, positive memories all around with friends and family and Church. I also had positive experiences just filled with love with school, college, university and work,” he said.

He said his vocation journey started four years ago on Divine Mercy Sunday after Confession and receiving the Holy Eucharist.

“I went and prayed really deeply in adoration,” he said. “It was this one time. I really felt called to the priesthood. [Priesthood] was not something I’ve seriously taken before that even though I did have inclinations or feeling wanting to join.”

“He said it suddenly made sense to him that “everything the Catholic Church teaches in its deposit [of faith] is fully true and I received enormous grace that day.”

Mr Brodie finished his university degree in Commerce at the University of Auckland and did some research work there as well. He also worked in the corporate world before going to the seminary.

Mr Brodie who was also consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary according to St Louis de Monfort said he had “a lot of miracles of Jesus and Mary making it obvious that I should consider priesthood”.

Mr Brodie said a year after his Divine Mercy experience, he deep and meaningful conversations with priests, especially those in Auckland. After tests, evaluations and discussions, they told him he would be a good fit for the seminary.

He said everyone should do God’s will because it is what is best for them. He added that he will “leave it to God” as to what kind of priest he may become.

“I also want to mention that we also really need prayers. Because without Jesus and Mary, we won’t get there. We won’t be holy men and holy priests,” he said.

Christchurch

 Matthew Clark, 27, said teen angst had him confused and frustrated about life.

“I really didn’t understand what was going on. I was searching but I never really came to an answer definitively,” he said.

He went to Catholic schools in Wellington. When he was in college, he said a good friend  persuaded him to attend a camp called “Jesus for Real”.

“I went because I didn’t really have any expectations. I just thought that going to a camp would be cool. I walked in and everyone was happy. That didn’t make sense to me,” he said.

Mr Clark said he met “a really amazing priest, Fr Kevin Connors, the chaplain of the group, who made a profound impact on him (Mr Clark).

“He (Fr Connors) was always happy. And that really struck me because, for me, a priest is someone who sacrificed a lot and didn’t have a lot. But he was still happy,” Mr Clark said.

He said near the end of the camp, he had a personal encounter with God during the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

“I felt so overwhelmed with love in my heart for the first time that I reasoned that that was God. And that was really Jesus for me, an interaction with me and just for me, to know the love of God for me,” he said.

He did some youth work in Wellington and later moved to the Christchurch diocese to join the Mission Team. “That really set my heart of fire for the mission in Christchurch,” he said.  He, then, was invited to do youth ministry in America.

When he went back to New Zealand, he fulfilled his grandfather’s dying wish for him (Mr Clark) to become a teacher. He taught at a primary school.

Mr Clark said teaching gave him a foresight of how life would be as a priest.

“I still struggled with the idea of sacrificing a lot to enter the priesthood and being a gift of ourselves as well,” he said. “But working with some really incredible mothers, I saw the sacrifice and the gift of their life that they had for their kids and that really inspired me to say yes to the Lord.”

He said, like St Therese of Liseux, he will be faithful to what kind of priest God calls him to be.

Tuong Duong, 27, was born to and raised in a devout Catholic family in Vietnam, however, he did not really consider the priesthood until he was in high school.

“My parents introduced me to a priest. They wanted me to stay in the presbytery with the priest. At that time, I didn’t think about becoming a priest, but I obeyed them,” he said.

He helped the priest with whatever work was needed in the parish. During this time, he grew to love the work he was doing for the people in the parish.

“I think that is when I fell in love with priesthood,” he said. “I prayed and discerned, and I was advised by a priest so that I decided to follow the vocation in Vietnam.”

While he was helping out at the parish, Mr Duong was studying IT at a university. He also joined a group of people discerning their call.

After graduating from university in 2021, he took the entrance exam to the seminary of the Vinh diocese but failed the examination.

This didn’t discourage him, however. “I think I still had a chance to become a priest, that’s why I kept waiting for the next exam. I still studied more and more to get more knowledge [so I can] be confident in the next exam. But suddenly, I received a call from New Zealand,” he said.

It was Christchurch vocations director Fr Tien Cao, also the nephew of Vinh Auxiliary Bishop Pierre Nguyên Văn Viên. It was Bishop Viên who recommended Mr Duong to Fr Cao.

“It took me half a year thinking about this call. And by Christmas 2021, I said yes. I came here in October 2022,” he said.

Mr Duong said his parents were not exactly happy that he was leaving Vietnam but he was able to convince that that this was what he was called to do.

He said is open to be moulded to the kind of priest God wants him to be.

Hamilton

Nhat Cao, 23, was born and raised in Vietnam. He said he did not really want to become a priest when he was in high school.

“I wanted to be a famous person,” he said. “I wanted to be a manager of famous singers. This is a way to become famous [in Vietnam].”

He said because a number of talent managers went to the same university he got into, he was able to talk to these managers to find out how he can get into show business.

“I feel that my life is not going to be peaceful if I step into showbiz,” he said. “That environment is not good for me to be a good person. Because my personality would be changed. Because I have to adapt to that toxic environment. When I heard that, I changed my mind.”

His path to the priesthood became clearer when his godfather asked him to come to his (godfather’s) parish to teach people to play the piano so that these people can serve in the church.

“I felt that it was very peaceful, and my life is better than [if I were to] spend all of the time doing toxic things in a bad environment. And after that, I always prayed constantly to realise my vocation,” he said.

In his second year in university, he received a call from Bishop Viên. Mr Cao said he did give his answer right away.

“It took me one week to think about that, to reflect about that. After nearly one week, I decided to go to New Zealand,” he said.

Mr Cao said when he started his university studies, he decided to take up English. He said this was unusual because he found studying the English grammar “boring”.

However, after Bishop Viên’s call, he linked the two together and thought that he must have been directed by God towards studying English so that he can be prepared for priesthood in New Zealand.

He said he would simply like to be a priest who can bring people to the Church.

Wellington

 Max Copley, 34, said for him, the call to priesthood “wasn’t a one moment flash of light”.

“I just know that, at a certain point, after ignoring the call to priesthood for many years…I became convinced that Christ was actually saying to me, ‘Come follow me!’,” he said.

“There was a clear sense that what I heard in my heart was no human voice, nor was it just an idea of my own. Christ was calling me to serve him as priest. It was a desire in my heart that I couldn’t keep a secret anymore so I decided to take action and apply for seminary,” he said.

Mr Copley graduated in 2017 from the Victoria University with a Bachelor of Software Engineering decree. He, then, worked in the areas of Information Technology, Transportation as well as for the New Zealand Defence Force.

“As a young child, I do remember having a particular devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus because of a family painting we used to hang over the kitchen table,” he said.

Mr Copley said his vocational discernment lasted many years during which he developed his prayer life with the following devotions: The Flame of Love Rosary by Elizabeth Kindelmann and the Divine Mercy Devotion by Sr Faustine. He said praying and being a part of Opus Dei New Zealand helped his discern his path.

Mr Copley said former Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand Archbishop Patrick Coveney inspired him to become a priest. He remembered attending the Mass at the Apostolic Nunciature in Wellington at a young age.

He said he used to ask, “Lord, why me?”

He attended many vocations meetings hosted by the Wellington Archdiocese since 2022 and finally made the decision to follow Christ.

Mr Copley said he wants to be a priest “that shares the mercy and love of Jesus Christ”.

The post Introducing first year seminarians, 2024 appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

CSS manager Luis Arevalo announced the decision on a post on the diocese’s Facebook page.

“We’ve been running the foodbank here are Catholic Social Services since its inception. Unfortunately, due to the rising costs of food because we have to purchase all our food, we’ve had to shut it down,” he said in a video message.

He said clients who need food will be put in touch with the St Vincent de Paul (Christchurch) team. The CSS’s last boxes of food had already been sent over to them (St Vincent de Paul).

Mr Arevalo said CSS will continue to serve the community through  free counselling,

free child and family psychology as well as free learning assessments into our schools.

They will also continue with their free group courses, particularly their new Community Connector Pilot Programme and soup kitchens and other initiatives in the coming 12 months which reach out to the most vulnerable.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re looking forward to seeing you,” Mr Arevalo said.

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                    Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa

Auckland Bishop Stephen Lowe, president of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference asked Catholics to keep Archbishop Rugambwa in their prayers.

“It is with much sadness that we farewell Archbishop Novatus,” says Bishop Lowe. “The bishops acknowledge our deep gratitude for his services to the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific. We pray for his safe travels to Rome and we invoke the prayers of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven, our New Zealand patroness, for his healing and continued wellbeing.”

Bishop Lowe noted Archbishop Rugambwa had overseen the appointment of bishops in five of the country’s six dioceses during his time here – Bishop Lowe in Auckland, Archbishop Paul Martin SM in Wellington, Bishop Michael Gielen in Christchurch, Bishop John Adams in Palmerston North and Bishop Richard Laurenson in Hamilton.

Archbishop Rugambwa was appointed the Apostolic Nuncio – the Pope’s chief diplomatic representative in New Zealand – in March 2019.

He suffered a stroke in October last year and has been recovering and undergoing rehabilitation in Wellington since.

Archbishop Rugambwa left Wellington accompanied by Sr Maria Ann Singer, LSP (Little Sisters of the Poor) and Fr Giosuè Busti, First Secretary-Deputy Head of Mission at the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See (papal embassy). He will continue his rehabilitation at a Catholic facility in Rome.

Some two years of Archbishop Rugambwa’s time in New Zealand encompassed the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, with churches often closed by government decree as a public health measure.

Archbishop Novatus has arrived in Rome the following day after a smooth journey.

The post Papal Nuncio goes back to Rome appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

It was in late January that parishioners throughout the diocese were alerted to the problem confronting finance committees as the time for renewal of insurance policies fast approached.

A video presentation was put together by the vicar-general, Fr Gerard Aynsley, and the newly appointed diocesan operations manager, Paul Olsen, setting out the rationale for a new approach to the vexed question of risk protection.

In the presentation, Fr Aynsley outlined a proposal for parishes not to continue to renew existing insurances for parish assets such as churches and presbyteries in the face of impending insurance premium increases. Instead, parishes would seek to build a “self-insurance” trust fund that would provide some level of protection in the event of a mishap. Of course, parishes would still have to insure their parish schools, as required by the Government.

Mr Olsen then outlined details of the fund which would see the parishes opting in to pay the money they would have spent on insurance into a trust fund established by the diocese. The aim would be to build the fund over a 5-year period to a $1 million pool of money. In order to preserve the fund, contributions would be increased by the rate of inflation each year. For audit purposes, the money held in the trust would be in the name of each parish.

The need to rethink how to provide some protection in case of a significant event arose with the prediction that current insurance premiums are to rise about 27 per cent in 2024, and by a similar amount again in 2025. Already several parishes had been considering ceasing their insurance cover because of the present drain on parish funds.

Charts in the video presentation showed what various diocesan parishes had paid for insurance in 2022, and the predicted premiums for 2024, and invariably it indicated a significant increase in premiums by this year.

For example the Cathedral and Hill Suburbs Pastoral Area (which includes the Cathedral, Kaikorai parish and Mornington parish) paid $14,727 in 2022, which increased to $22,065 in 2023, and is predicted to be $ 28,022 this year. Predictions for most parishes in the diocese also mirrored a doubling of premiums.

Another angle in support of the proposal was provided by graphing the payment of annual diocesan premium totals year-on-year from 2015 to the present and comparing this to claims. The average over the years was a total of $150,000 in premiums, with very minor claims most years. There was only one year when the claim exceeded the premium cost and that was when an arson took place at an Invercargill presbytery and resulted in a significant claim in 2017. In fact, that would still be the case if a 30-year period was selected.

It was also indicated that, while it was obvious that individual people would be wise to have insurance cover on their properties to mitigate risk, the situation was not the same for the diocese as it was a collective and not an individual. So being a collective entity provided it with some degree of flexibility, and hence the idea of the trust fund.

Such a move still brings risk. For instance, St Joseph Cathedral alone in 2023/24 had insurance cover for material damage including fire insurance for just over $18 million, and even then that would not provide for a like-for-like replacement in case of a major damage event. The cathedral and the three basilicas in the diocese ( South Dunedin, Oamaru and Invercargill) are the most expensive buildings to insure.

Individual parishes had to consider the proposal and respond by February 20 so that the Diocesan Finance Committee knew what it was to do and could advise their insurance providers. Many of the 29 parishes have indicated a positive response, with a couple at late February still considering their view.

In the case of the Cathedral and Mornington Parish Finance committees, they have both decided to favour paying contributions into the trust fund. In order to lessen the risk as much as possible, limited works will take place on the properties to inspect electrics and install simple fire and security systems, where possible.

The post Dunedin diocese eyes self-insurance as premiums soar appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

This was an initiative of the Roman Catholic/Lutheran Dialogue, who in a statement stressed, “we have all been baptised in Christ and, realising this provides a starting point for the seeds of unity to take root”.

RC/Lutheran dialogue member Fr James Lyons told NZ Catholic that the NZCBC agreed to the initiative last year, but the Lutheran dialogue group only complete their arrangements last month.

The other members of the dialogue are Sr Kathleen Rushton rsm, Fr Tom Rouse ssc, Rev Mark Whitfield, Mr Petrus Simons and Mr Jim McAloon.

In the statement, the dialogue said the first disciples were urged by Jesus to remain in his love, commanding them to “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15). This is also the Gospel reading on May 5.

“No Christian community has consistently lived that commandment, but in our own time, we are witnessing hearts changing, prejudices disappearing and good will coming to the fore.

“By designating the Sixth Sunday of Easter as a Festival of New Life, our bishops signal both hope and confidence in the movement towards Christian unity,” the group said.

The dialogue’s statement invited parishes to “appreciate the gift of faith through baptism”.

“Baptism is the sacrament that unites Christians in the Body of Christ, the People of God,” the dialogue said in their statement.

“Whether or not there is a parish celebration, we can each make the Sixth Sunday a personal ‘Festival’, giving thanks for the amazing gift of faith and sincerely praying for all who share faith with us,” they added.

This is the first time a Catholic/Lutheran initiative is offered to all New Zealand parishes according to the statement.

The dialogue explained in its statement that for the last 500 years, the Church of Jesus “looked and acted as very divided” with many sects and denomination.

However, over the last century, there was a desire among the different Christian churches to restore unity.

“Just as every new life signals a new beginning, may this Festival of New Life become a sure stepping stone on our journey to unity,” they said.

The post Festival of New Life date announced appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

She joins Deacon Danny Karatea-Goddard, appointed in April 2022, as Māori Tumu Whakarae / Co-Chief Executive of the group.

Deacon Packer previously worked at Crown Law, specialising in public law. She is very familiar with the sisters’ mission, having served on the Mother Aubert Home of Compassion Trust Board and the Sisters of Compassion Group Board for several years.

She and her husband, Matthew, were recently ordained as deacons in the Anglican Church.

In her work in the justice sector, her governance responsibilities, academic study, and voluntary activities, she has remained committed to advocacy on behalf of the marginalised and to the pursuit of justice and reconciliation.

A morning pōwhiri was held at Our Lady’s Home of Compassion in Island Bay, to welcome the new CoCE Tumu Whakarae and other staff who have joined the Sisters of Compassion Group.

“It is a privilege to step into the role of Tumu Whakarae / Co-Chief Executive of the Sisters of Compassion Group at this time.

“I look forward to partnering with Compassion whānau to build on the strong foundation of prayerful and practical service established by Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert and faithfully embodied by the Sisters of Compassion and by supporters and volunteers over many years,” she said.

“I am very pleased to take up this opportunity and to help ensure the transformational work of Compassion continues to flourish in Aotearoa New Zealand, for the benefit of our communities and to the glory of God,” she added.

The Venerable Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert (1835-1926) founded the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion (the Sisters of Compassion) in 1892.

Mother Aubert was a friend and advocate for Māori, children, the poor and the sick, with the Sisters continuing her work to this day. Among her many achievements, she founded the Compassion Soup Kitchen in Wellington which is still run by the Sisters.

The Sisters are at present considering their next step in Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert’s path to sainthood, which has been delayed by a Vatican committee ruling a possible miracle attributed to her could be explained by medical science.

The post New Anglican deacon appointed as Sisters of Compassion Co- chief executive appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

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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