The Human Rights Commission award recognises the commitment of the Trust to diversity action in their various ministries, which include aged-care facilities, secondary colleges for girls, spirituality and retreat centres, and a range of community development and social service initiatives.

This year the Trust’s projects have included talks encouraging interfaith understanding, and school celebrations of Matariki and Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori.

On behalf of the Trust, Sister Anne Frost rsm accepted the award, which was presented at the recent Annual New Zealand Diversity Forum held in Christchurch.

Sisters Catherine Jones and Bertha Hurley smsm from the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference Committee for Interfaith Relations also attended the Forum, which had as its theme: “We are New Zealand: it’s About Us”.

The focus was on developing strategies for a society inclusive of all kinds of diversity, such as religious, ethnic, economic, age, educational, health, family, language, sexual and physical.

Race Relations Commissioner, Joris de Bres, delivered the Forum’s opening address. He was joined by members of the Human Rights Commission and various MPs who attended the Forum.

Key speakers included Australian Race Discrimination and Disabilities Commissioner, Graeme Innes; Victoria University Lecturer in Religious Studies, Paul Morris; Chief Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission, Rosslyn Noonan, and Maori Language Commissioner, Hana O’Regan.

There was also a Youth Forum, which concluded with 65 youth leaders from around the country presenting their findings to other Forum participants through drama, music, dance and humour. Children’s Commissioner, John Angus, responded to their presentations.

In their letter the bishops encourage parishes and schools to find ways to celebrate the canonisation of Mary MacKillop to take place in Rome, 17 October 2010.

The canonisation will recognise for the first time an Australian born saint among the great models for Christian living, say the bishops.

“Mary MacKillop is truly a woman for our time.  Her holiness, powered by her deep love of God, together with her street-wise philosophy, make her a model of hope for all who grapple with doubt, misunderstanding and injustice.  She brings us the gift of hope”.

The bishops describe Mary MacKillop’s strong connection with New Zealand. Her Sisters established many schools throughout the country and Mary herself visited on four occasions between 1894 and 1902 to assist the Sisters.

“She felt very much at home here and was loved by the people she met,” say the bishops. “She would often speak of them and the country with great affection”.

In Australia, a national tour of the MacKillop Cross will begin in Goulburn on Sunday. The cross, made from timber in the first MacKillop school house in Penola, will travel through each Australian state and territory before returning to Sydney in time for canonisation celebrations.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We are a priestly people. Christ’s work has made us so, through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. It is our vocation to gather Sunday after Sunday in the presence of God, on behalf of the world, to celebrate Mass, the treasure at the heart of our life as Church.

The ritual text that draws us into this liturgy and our participation in the paschal mystery is the Roman Missal. On 30 April 2010, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments gave its final approval (recognitio) to the Third Edition of the Roman Missal, the new English translation of the Prayers of the Mass. Now we are working towards the printing of this new liturgical book for the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand.

It is our desire that we will be able to pray these new texts on the First Sunday of Advent, 28 November 2010.

We are ‘a community of memory’1, a people who has become deeply familiar with the texts of the Mass we have prayed with for almost forty years now. It is rare for ritual language to change. It will not be easy to let go of the words that we have said, heard, and sung at Mass and receive the words that are changing. Bishops, priests and people alike will need to learn again how to use these words for our prayer - ‘to praise, bless and thank God, to ask for God’s help in our need’2.

In the months that precede the publication of these new texts, we invite you to join us in making use of the different opportunities that will be offered in each diocese to look once again at how Eucharist is being celebrated in our parishes, schools and communities; to give prayerful and thoughtful consideration towards our liturgical practices; and above all, to make time to explore the new texts. We are convinced that by paying close attention to both the demands and the delights these new texts will place upon us, we will inevitably be drawn “more fully into the beauty of liturgical prayer.”3

It is fitting that such a new and significant unfolding of the prayer life of our Church begins with the Season of Advent, in the company of Mary, the Mother of God. For God will surely make present amongst us a new birth in our liturgical life and grace us in the weeks and months ahead with a new way of Becoming One Body, One Spirit in Christ.

 In Christ.

+ John Dew

Archbishop of Wellington

President

+ Pat Dunn

Bishop of Auckland

Secretary

+ Denis Browne

Bishop of Hamilton

+ Colin Campbell 

Bishop of Dunedin

+ Peter Cullinane

Bishop of Palmerston North

+ Barry Jones

 Bishop of Christchurch

 Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

18 July 2010

1 Mark Searle, Barabara Searle and Anne Y. Koester, Editors. Called to Participate. The Liturgical Press 2006 .

2 Fr Tom Elich. “The new translation: Dread or Delight?” Liturgy News. March 2010.

3 ibid.

The letter says, “It is rare for ritual language to change. It will not be easy to let go of the words that we have said, heard, and sung at Mass and receive the words that are changing…We are convinced that by paying close attention to both the demands and the delights these new texts will place upon us, we will inevitably be drawn more fully into the beauty of liturgical prayer”.

The bishops invite people to join them in making use of the different opportunities that will arise over the following months to look at how Eucharist is being celebrated in parishes, schools and communities; to give prayerful and thoughtful consideration towards liturgical practices; and to make time to explore the new texts.

The bishops are currently working towards the printing of the new book, which received final approval (recognitio) from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments on 30 April 2010. They hope it will be in use in New Zealand Catholic Churches by November.

The draft discussion document, ‘Freedom of Religion and Belief’, forms part of the Commission’s status report ‘Human Rights in New Zealand Today’, currently being updated.

In a submission to the Human Rights Commission, the bishops say the document’s statement that “matters of religion and belief are deemed to be a matter for the private, rather than public, sphere,” is not easily reconciled with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the New Zealand Bill of Rights.

“These speak of the right to manifest religious belief in public or in private and to teach one’s religious beliefs,” say the bishops. “To suggest that matters of religion and belief belong only in the private sphere undermines the right of churches to seek to influence public opinion and political decision-making”.

The bishops also suggest that the document’s description of New Zealand as a “secular state” implies that a majority of New Zealanders have no religion. “This is contradicted by official statistics which show that a majority of New Zealanders described themselves as having a religion in the 2006 census”.

To arrange an interview with one of the bishops contact

Angela Pyke

Communications Adviser

New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference

apyke@nzcbc.org.nz

Tel 04 496 1725, Mob 021 611 052

The group is made up of respected academics, representatives of beneficiary groups, people with disabilities, and churches and was established out of concern that the government’s official working group does not represent those most affected by changes to the welfare system.

The government’s proposed changes include reducing the number of people receiving benefits by supporting them back into work and tightening rules around eligibility for state support.

At the launch Rev Dr Anthony Dancer, Anglican Social Justice Commissioner, expressed his concern at the growing gap between rich and poor in New Zealand and emphasised the importance that any review of welfare proposes outcomes which are just and of benefit to all of society. 

This was reflected by Mike O’Brien, who added that welfare reviewers must ask, “What will the changes mean for those who have the least resources and are most vulnerable?” Mamari Stephens expressed the importance of having consistent principles between the welfare and legal systems, and of Maori voices being heard.

Like the government-appointed working group, the alternative working group is writing a report which will be presented to the government in December.

Opportunities to engage in discussion and debate about the future of the welfare system will be notified on the group’s website, which went live today www.alternativewelfareworkinggroup.org.nz

The Alternative Welfare Working Group members are:

• Mike O’Brien (Chair), Associate Professor of social policy and social work, Massey University
• Paul Dalziel, Professor of economics, AERU, Lincoln University
• Māmari Stephens, Lecturer in welfare law, Victoria University of Wellington
• Sue Bradford, community and welfare activist, PhD student in public policy
• Wendi Wicks, National policy researcher, Disabled Persons’ Assembly
• Bishop Muru Walters, Pihopa o Te Upoko o Te Ika and Chair of the Social Justice Commission of the Anglican Church

Auckland University associate professor of economics Susan St John and Massey University associate professor of public health Cindy Kiro have also agreed to act as formal advisors to the Alternative Welfare Working Group.

Copies of the booklet ‘Creating inclusive and connected communities’ will be sent to New Zealand Catholic parishes over the next week.

The booklet provides background reading and questions for parish councils to consider as a means of reviewing how welcoming and inclusive their parish community is. It encourages them to identify any barriers that might be preventing some cultural groups from participating.

Parish councils are encouraged to identify steps to begin to respond to increased cultural diversity, to improve on what is already working, and to set new challenges. They are also asked to consider how their parish acknowledges and fosters the presence of Maori.

The booklet reflects the bishops’ Pastoral Priorities Plan which expresses their desire for parishes to recognise the gifts and new life migrants are bringing to the Church and for migrants to take opportunities to contribute fully to the life of the Church. This process, they say, begins with welcoming migrants in parishes and into all aspects of Church life.

“It is our hope that parishes will remain unified while celebrating the richness of this diversity,” the bishops say. “We wish to equip parish councils to respond to different groups in their parishes to consider how they could change or improve their current responses to the cultural diversity in our midst”.

The booklet prepares the way for the Social Justice Week 2010, which will have the same focus.

For more information or to arrange an interview with one of the bishops contact

Angela Pyke

Communications Adviser

New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference

apyke@nzcbc.org.nz

Tel 04 496 1725, Mob 021 611 052

Mr Metuamate, 25, is Secretary of Te Rūnanga o te Hāhi Katorika ki Aotearoa, the Catholic Maori advisory body to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference. He is currently completing a Masters degree at the Australian National University on a Freyberg scholarship, and was recently elected one of two student presidents at the University - a first for a New Zealander.

Having competed with thousands of applicants aged between 18 and 28 from across Australia, Mr Metuamate says he was “absolutely blown away” by his selection to be part of the Summit.

“I’m usually good at guessing my fate, but I really didn’t expect to be selected for this,” he says. “I am really grateful and happy to show that Kiwis can also compete with the best here in Australia”.

Organisers selected the brightest young people not only on their academic ability, but based on the attributes of Leadership, Passion, Creativity, Initiative, Intelligence, Charisma, Communication and Perseverance.

The Brightest Young Minds Summit will take place from Sunday 4 to Friday 9 July in Sydney.

Sister de Porres taught at various primary and secondary schools around the country for more than 50 years. For 21 of these years, she was Principal at three Catholic colleges - St Catherine’s, Kilbirnie (1967-1973); St Peter’s, Palmerston North (1980-1981) and St Mary’s, Wellington (1983-1994).

Also an author, Sr de Porres last year published ‘Like a Mustard Seed’, one of three histories she has written of the Sisters of Mercy. Currently, Sister de Porres is the archivist and librarian for the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington.

Sister de Porres says she was “quite overwhelmed” when she found out she was to receive a Queen’s Service Medal, but “honoured that recognition was being given to Catholic Education as well as to my family and congregation”. 

“I have always regarded teaching as a great privilege as well as a big responsibility to help form the minds of young people and assist them to develop their talents and achieve their dreams in life,” she says.

Sister de Porres is still actively involved in Catholic education, helping college students with debating, oratory, drama and public speaking.