Featured | Ngā Korero
WelCom Office
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 8 December
‘As has been the custom for many years an archdiocesan Mass will be celebrated on our diocesan feast day, 7pm, Thursday 8 December, at St Teresa’s Pro-Cathedral, Karori. The archdiocese will again be entrusted to the care of Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception at this Mass. Parishes are asked to renew that Consecration on the following Sunday, 11 December, at All parish Masses.’ – Cardinal John Dew
WelCom December 2022
The latest issue of WelCom is available to read here.
‘A very blessed, peaceful and happy Christmas to you all’
As we come to the end of what seems to have been for many a tumultuous year, and as we seem to be hurtling towards Christmas faster than ever, it is time for me to say THANK YOU to everyone around the Archdiocese of Wellington and the Diocese of Palmerston North. It is also time to stop and reflect once again on what it means to have our God living among us, present to us and walking with us.
Pope tells people of Ukraine: ‘your pain is my pain’
Nine months from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis has sent a letter to the Ukranian people praying for peace and saying he shares in their suffering, especially that of the children, the elderly and women who have endured violence.
Cathedral restoration project close to completion
Wellington Coadjutor Archbishop Paul Martin sm is calling on the Catholic community of the archdiocese to help bring the Sacred Heart Cathedral Restoration project to completion. A cathedral is the cornerstone of a diocese and a point of unity for everybody in the diocese, says Archbishop Paul.
News
Becoming Pākehā – an exploration of spirituality and bi-culturalism
Retired Anglican bishop, former Dean of Christchurch Cathedral, theologian and writer, John Bluck has written a new book exploring spirituality and biculturalism in this country.
Kainga Pasifika Services Trust officially opens
A new initiative to provide support services for Pasifika Communities in the Hawke’s Bay was officially launched in Hastings last month. Kainga Pasifika Services Trust was formally opened on 24 November at a ceremony at the Aubert Centre in Flaxmere, the base of its operations.
COP27 on climate: ‘Tangible action not promises to pay required’
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply concerned carbon-cutting commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change still leave the world facing a 2.5°C temperature rise – and that’s if countries deliver on their promises.
Diocesan News
Sr Francesca Bourke – centenarian
On 19 December 2022 Sister Francesca Bourke rsj, of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart will be celebrating her 100th birthday in Whanganui. Family, Sisters and friends will be gathering with her to reminisce and be thankful for her long life.
Workshop about film on Pope’s vision for the environment
To mark World Day of the Poor on November 13, Dr Mary Eastham and Dr Mary Nash held a workshop at Palmerston North’s diocesan centre about The Letter – a new documentary, directed by Emmy-winner Nicholas Brown. The film premiered at the Vatican on 4 October and can be viewed online at theletterfilm.org
Catholic school principal to Palmerston North deputy mayor
Palmerston North’s new deputy mayor, Debi Marshall-Lobb, is a former Catholic school principal, including at Hato Pāora Catholic Māori Boys’ College and Masterton’s Chanel College.
International News
Christian youth find their voices at COP27
They sang, they danced and they clapped. As world leaders gathered in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, faith organisations found their voices through protest.
Meat-free Fridays reduce carbon emissions, study shows
One in four Catholics in England and Wales changed their eating habits after the Catholic bishops asked them to return to foregoing meat on Fridays, saving more than 55,000 tonnes of carbon a year, according to a new study led by the University of Cambridge.
Ancient Christian monastery found in Arabia
Archaeologists in the United Arab Emirates have unearthed the ruins of a Christian monastery on an island off the coast of the Umm al-Quwain emirate. Hidden for more than a millennium beneath a sand dune, the monastery may predate the rise of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula.
Features
Remembering Sr Mary Marcellin CNZM (Marcia E Wilson) rsm
A long-time member of Ngā Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand, Mary Marcellin (Wilson), went to God on 24 October 2022.
Synod on synodality: Where has it been and where is it going?
With the calling of a worldwide synod on synodality, Pope Francis set in motion the most extensive consultative process the world has ever seen.
World Day of the Poor: 13 November 2022
The World Day of the Poor is commemorated annually on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar, which this year falls on 13 November. In this year’s message themed, ‘For your sakes Christ became poor (2 Cor. 8:9)’, Pope Francis recalled the words of St Paul to the Christians of Corinth, to encourage their efforts to show solidarity with their brothers and sisters in need. The Pope noted the World Day this year comes ‘as a healthy challenge, helping us to reflect on our style of life and on the many forms of poverty all around us.’
Reflections
Mary’s Joseph and the strength of silence
In every Nativity tableau, the figure of Joseph stands out as a proud guardian and protector of mother and child.
The Christmas story casts him in a privileged role, a character with integrity, trustworthy and reliable. But without a word to say.
Joseph’s strength is in his silence.
The question
Love’s hypnotic question,
asks you to be
penitent,
or joyous
or trembling,
Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention
During the month of December 2022 Pope Francis’ intention is: for volunteer not-for-profit organisations
We pray that volunteer non-profit organisations committed to human development find people dedicated to the common good and ceaselessly seek out new paths to international cooperation.
Young Church
Pope Francis registers for the next World Youth Day in Lisbon
At the conclusion of the Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis registered for the next World Youth Day to be held in Lisbon, Portugal, in August 2023. Assisted and accompanied by Portuguese university students studying in Rome, the Pope tapped his way to becoming the first officially registered pilgrim for World Youth Day.
New library for St James’ School
The newly refurbished library building at St James’ School in Palmerston North was blessed and opened in September under the name of ‘Te Whakaruruhau – The Sheltering Place’.
Solidarity toy and book sale for foodbank
Rooms 6, 7 and 8 at St Brendan’s School, Heretaunga, Upper Hutt, have been demonstrating their faith in action. The students have been learning about the Catholic social teaching principle of Solidarity, recognising others as our brothers and sisters and actively working for their good.
What's on
Dates and events – what’s on
December 2022
If you would like your event listed on this page, please send an outline to welcom@wn.catholic.org.nz including name of event, date, time, location and contact.
Workshop: The Letter documentary
To observe the sixth International Day of Prayer for the Poor on 13 November, Mary Nash, who is actively involved in the Laudato si’ movement, and Mary Eastham from the Religious Diversity Centre Climate Action workgroup, will facilitate a workshop about Pope Francis’ documentary, The Letter.
Dates and events – what’s on
If you would like your event listed on this page, please send an outline to welcom@wn.catholic.org.nz including name of event, date, time, location and contact. Saturday 5 November Home of…