The Children's Commissioner is concerned about child poverty in New Zealand. A recent Growing Up in New Zealand survey shows New Zealand child poverty has become worse over the past four years. Improving this has to be a cross partisan aspiration, says Chief Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad (pictured). She notes the avoidable hospitalisations shown by the recent update on the child and youth wellbeing strategy by Ministry of Child Poverty Reduction. It also shows school attendance of tamariki Maori has worsened since the first report in 2020. Resources needed Achmad says the survey rep ..read more

A Catholic priest who serves at St Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Amarillo, Texas, was pepper-sprayed while hearing confessions last week, according to a statement from the parish. The parish said in a statement on Facebook that "someone dealing with mental health issues" sprayed rector Father Tony Neusch with the irritant while he was hearing confessions. Police are investigating the incident. It's unclear whether officers have identified a suspect as yet. "I am okay and do not require medical attention," Neusch said in the statement. The cathedral has suspended its twice-weekly confessions, wi ..read more

An African cardinal widely seen as a conservative critic of Pope Francis and styled by some as a possible candidate for the papacy himself has warned of what he described as a "practical atheism" taking hold within the Catholic Church. Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea also repeated his criticism of Fiducia Supplicans, the recent Vatican document authorising blessings of couples involved in same-sex unions, insisting that it's not just traditional African culture but Catholic teaching itself which makes the document unacceptable. Speaking to the episcopal conference of Cameroon, Cardinal Sarah ..read more

The Catholic Church in Singapore has cautioned people against individuals and groups posing as agents connected to the ticketing process for the upcoming papal visit to the city-state from Sept 11 to 13. The public advisory issued on April 15 urged the public to "trust only official websites for information on the papal visit and Mass," Channel News Asia (CNA) reported on April 16. "We have received reports of individuals/groups attempting to phish/acquire personal information by misrepresenting themselves as being associated with the ticketing process for the Papal Mass," the press statement ..read more

The term "transhumanism" has been gaining prominence in recent times, sparking debates about the future of humanity and the ethical implications of new technologies designed to modify the human body. Transhumanism is a scientific and cultural movement that proposes the "modification of human biology through the convergence of new technologies" such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, computer technology, and cognitive science. This convergence aims to create a new species in which the boundaries between the biological and the artificial are completely blurred. One of the main ethical challenges ..read more

Fr Timothy Radcliffe, the Dominican friar, was chosen by Pope Francis to lead the three-day retreat for all participants prior to the first assembly last October of the Synod on Synodality. This was a position of great trust given the eyes of the Catholic world were gazing at this potentially earth-shattering event. Who is Fr Timothy Radcliffe? A former world leader of the Dominicans, Fr Timothy Radcliffe (pictured) is a well-known author with a world-wide following, whose six Synod meditations have now been published. His first meditation on 21 October 2023, called ‘Hoping against Hope', laid ..read more

In Europe, the number of church members is declining - but Christianity remains strong worldwide. However, the structures do not remain stable, but are constantly changing. Thomas Schlag is Professor of Practical Theology at the University of Zurich, where he heads the Centre for Church Development, where he conducts research into participation and church development. In this interview, he talks about the future of global Christianity and how it will change. Decline of Christianity Question: Mr Schlag, Christianity around the world is very colourful: in Latin America, for example, indigenous t ..read more

When I was studying political science in graduate school, I was surrounded by students who were much smarter than me. Most of my fellow students at the University of California Berkeley went to Ivy League schools as undergraduates. They were well read, articulate and confident. When they asked where I went to school, I responded, "St. Louis," and they presumed I meant Washington University, and I had to specify St. Louis University. "Isn't that a Catholic school?" I was asked. My response was, "Worse yet, it is Jesuit." As a result, I always felt like a tortoise among the hares. The only advan ..read more

The incoming class of seminarians who will be ordained in 2024 is young and involved in their community, an annual survey released April 15 found. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned the Center for Applied Research (CARA) at Georgetown University for an annual survey. From January to March of this year, CARA surveyed almost 400 seminarians who are scheduled to be ordained to the priesthood in 2024. Survey findings More than 80 percent of respondents were to be ordained diocesan priests, while almost 20 percent were from a religious order. The largest group of respondents, 80 p ..read more

Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel will "most certainly" forgive the teen who stabbed him several times during a church service in Sydney on Monday, says a neighbouring clergyman. Emmanual and another priest injured while trying to defend him were rushed to hospital after the incident. The 16-year old offender was arrested at the scene. "I think Bishop Mari will forgive the person who did this and will also expect him to be judged under the law" Syriac Catholic priest Fr Lenard Ina says. "I know him personally and am convinced he will forgive his attacker, just as Pope John Paul II forgave the ..read more