WelCom is the official monthly newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington and the Diocese of Palmerston North and is free in all parish churches and schools in the two dioceses.
As well as reporting on activities that occur in the two dioceses, WelCom aims to present educative and thought-provoking articles about the Church in the world.
WelCom February 2019: Pope Francis has convened the presidents of all the episcopal conferences throughout the world for a meeting in Rome in February this year to discuss the prevention of abuse of minors and vulnerable adults. The Holy See announced the Summit on Safeguarding last September. The meeting with the Pope and representatives of all
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WelCom February 2019: ‘I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word’ Luke 1:38. Annette Scullion Pope Francis issued a powerful ‘wake up’ call to hundreds of thousands of young people from 155 countries, in his homily at the closing Mass of the World Youth Day in Panama
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WelCom February 2019: Invitation to join the Challenge 2000 Marist Internship and Development Year Kitty McKinley Challenge 2000 and The Society of Mary is a Youth and Community development Trust. It offers an intensive training programme and employment opportunities that develops leaders and graduates to prepare for a servant leadership role in our church, community and
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WelCom February 2019: ‘A Future Full of Hope’ Kāpiti’s new church and parish centre Michael McCabe, Parish Priest The vibrant Parish of Our Lady of Kāpiti, Te Whaea Tapu o Kāpiti, takes its name from the statue of Our Lady on the hill overlooking Kāpiti, and extends from Pekapeka in the North to Paekakariki in the South.
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WelCom February 2019: Waitangi Day: Day of rest? End-of-summer-holidays-day? Holy-day? Monsignor Gerard Burns Waitangi Day has perhaps many layers but it is also officially a national day commemorating the first signings of the Treaty of Waitangi – Te Tiriti o Waitangi, in 1840. When I was younger, back in the early 1970s I remember graffiti around
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WelCom February 2019: Safeguarding practices have become the norm in society for organisations dealing with children and vulnerable adults, to ensure all are kept safe from harm, trauma and abuse, whether it be emotional, physical, or sexual. Within the Church everyone has responsibility for ensuring safe practices at all levels. Safeguarding practices apply to all volunteers,
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WelCom February 2019: “We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves” – Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate YOUR LENT DONATIONS WILL CHANGE LIVES THE LENTEN JOURNEY Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving that leads up to Easter on
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WelCom February 2019: John A. Cardinal Dew, Archbishop of Wellington Greetings to all WelCom readers and every good wish and blessing for 2019. On the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Sunday 13 January 2019, I read and ended up praying with, what to me was, a magnificent reflection for that day. Basically, the author was
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WelCom February 2019: 1955–2018, RIP Annette Scullion It is with sadness that WelCom acknowledges the passing of Mark Edward Richards – long-standing leader of the Diocese of Palmerston North Pastoral Services team, Cathedral Parish member, highly-regarded academic, tertiary teacher and governor for The Catholic Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand, regular columnist to WelCom, and much-loved husband
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WelCom February 2019: John Kleinsman Maryan Street recently claimed that ‘Parliament will pass Seymour Bill this year’ (Stuff, Jan 4, 2019). But, her arguments for that claim are based on little more than her wish for change. Contrary to what she states, the ‘clear trend’ overseas is that the vast majority of assisted death bills continue
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WelCom February 2019: Annette Scullion At the launch of his new book As Good as Gold – Essays from a priest on the road, Fr James Lyons was described as a ‘Renaissance Man, author, writer, homilist, and poet’. Held at Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Connelly Hall, 3 December last year, Fr James was joined by many friends,
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WelCom February 2019: Nicola McCarthy Anne Powell’s new book of poetry, The Edge of Things, was launched among 100 guests in Te Whaea Tapu o Kāpiti School Hall, Paraparaumu, on 1 December 2018. Many of the poems in this fourth book of Anne’s involve ‘the language of water’, parish priest Fr Michael McCabe said in his
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WelCom February 2019: The New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Interfaith Relations has released a revised booklet promoting Interfaith Relations in Aotearoa New Zealand – Te Whakatairanga i te Nohotahitanga o ngā Whakapono i Aotearoa. The booklet provides guidance and encouragement for people to welcome and nurture relationships with those of other faiths. NZCBCIR chair Colin
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WelCom February 2019: Ruchika Jayatilaka Suzanne Aubert knew the importance of tertiary education for young people. In 1992, the Centennial Year of the Sisters of Compassion, the congregation established the Suzanne Aubert Tertiary Scholarship Grant. Since then, many students have benefitted from the grant and have gained national recognition in their respective professional careers. In December
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WelCom February 2019: Entries are open for the Charles Brasch Young Writers’ Essay Competition. The annual award, launched by Otago University Press, is open to New Zealand writers aged 16 to 21. The competition was founded in 2017, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Landfall, New Zealand’s longest-running arts and literary journal; and is named in
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WelCom February 2019: Thom Saywell The Young Catholic Leader (YCL) programme in the Palmerston North Diocese is often described as a ‘turning point’ by past participants. It’s a week-long experience of faith and community that sets up senior college students for leadership in their schools for the year ahead and beyond. Our 2018 camp, held in
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WelCom February 2019: David Ivory St John’s College Social Enterprise Team and creators of ‘GEORGE’ took out two of the six National Excellence Awards at the Young Enterprise Scheme gala event in Wellington, December 6, 2018. The Hastings team of eight Year 12 and 13 students, won the Unitec Award for Enterprising Technology and the Gallagher
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WelCom February 2019: Congratulations to 12 ‘The Final Straw’ team members from St Mary’s College Wellington who won the National Award for Social Enterprise with their entry in the 2018 Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES). The award was presented in Wellington last December. The YES programme requires students to create and run a company to
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WelCom February 2019: After more than six months with Sunday Mass at St Mary’s College Hall, Sacred Heart Cathedral parishioners are once again on the move. From the first weekend in February, the 5.30pm Saturday Vigil and the 10.30am Sunday Mass will be celebrated at St Thomas More Church, Worcester St, Wilton. The regular 7pm Sunday
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WelCom February 2019: Cardinal John Dew, Archbishop of Wellington, confirmed the following clergy appointments late last year for the Archdiocese of Wellington, to take effect from 1 February 2019. Holy Family, Porirua East Missionaries of Faith Fr Andrew Antonio, Parish Priest Assistants – Fr Tuli Paulo and Fr Ramesh Songa Sacred Heart, Reefton Fr David Gruschow,
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WelCom February 2019: Parishes throughout New Zealand are being encouraged to mark the 2019 World Day of the Sick on 11 February through prayer, reflection, anointing of the sick and a pastoral response to acknowledge care givers. St John Paul II instituted World Day of the Sick in 1992. Since then it has been celebrated all
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WelCom February 2019: Trevor McGlinchey On February 20, the United Nations Day of Social Justice, the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services will join with its member churches and church social services agencies in worship to focus on those who are poor and marginalised in society. Joining in prayer is a witness to our unity
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WelCom February 2019: WelCom’s Hikoi of Faith returns to the Palmerston North Diocese as we continue to feature pastoral areas in the two dioceses. This year begins with a visit to Our Lady of the Snows Parish in the central North Island plateau area of Tongariro National Park and hill country areas around Taihape. Our Lady
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WelCom February 2019: Zachariah Duke On Tuesday, 27 November 2018, The Catholic Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand – Te Pūtahi Katorika ki Aotearoa, hosted a graduation for its 2018 students. In a simple and heartfelt ceremony at St Joseph’s Parish, Mt Victoria, TCI admitted 23 students who graduated from qualifications in Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.
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WelCom February 2019: Tony Harrington A few years ago, I had to make a decision about engaging a professional painter to paint our weatherboard home. I was leaning towards DIY as I had that general kiwi attitude, ‘it’ll be okay’. I eventually made the decision to use a painter and after seeing how much preparation was
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WelCom February 2019: A few years ago, I learned something that started me on a journey of reflection. It is this. Of the three Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – the only one to believe in the Fall and Original Sin, is Christianity. Why was this? I wondered. I knew the origin of the
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WelCom February 2019: WelCom’s ‘Catholic Thinking’ series presents a range articles about theology, mortality, ethics and faith heritage written for WelCom by lecturers from New Zealand’s Catholic Tertiary Education providers: Good Shepherd College – Te Hēpara Pai and The Catholic Institute of New Zealand – Te Pūtahi Katorika ki Aotearoa. Zachariah Duke of TCI discusses theology about
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WelCom February 2019: Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C: Luke 4:21-30 21 Then Jesus began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening.’ 22 And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips. They said, ‘This is
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WelCom February 2019: Kathy Kavanagh Fr Patrick (Pat) Cooke, much-loved and former parish priest at Havelock North, Hawkes Bay, passed away aged 89 years, in his homeland Ireland, on 15 November 2018. Fr Pat died peacefully in the presence of his brothers, Fr Walter and Joe Cooke at Portlaoise, County Laois. Fr Pat spent much of
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WelCom February 2019: Gabrielle Carman Members of St Vincent de Paul Conference in New Plymouth, with help from other parishioners, held a heart-warming event in the lead up to Christmas last year. Volunteers who regularly serve meals at St Joseph’s community dinners, instead tried out their beautician skills offering hair washes, painted nails and massages to
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