The problem of sexuality education in Catholic schools

It is a new school year, and parents are once again entrusting their children and young people into the care of teachers for large portions of each day.  Along with reading, writing and arithmetic, schools are required to teach “sexuality”…

Prayer: Day of Reparation for euthanasia

On Sunday 7 November 2021, euthanasia and assisted suicide will become legal in New Zealand. The End of Life Choice Act, 2019 permits terminally ill people who experience "unbearable suffering" to request to die at the hands of a health…

Submission: Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill

The Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill is an omnibus bill that seeks to ban "conversion therapy" and is currently before the Justice select committee. In the bill's explanatory note, the term is explained as including "a broad range of practices that…

Pastoral dilemmas posed by legal euthanasia

In November, the contentious legislation that allows euthanasia and assisted suicide to be sought and provided will come into effect throughout New Zealand. Passed in November 2020, the law permits terminally ill adults, in the name of autonomy, to request…

Children are a blessing: Respect Life Month Day 12

Children are a blessing, and the family is the very foundation of civil society. In a society where the contraceptive mentality has seeped into almost every corner of society, including the Church, larger families are often frowned upon. Many husbands…

The glory of the cross is not overcome by darkness

As we enter into this Easter season, all appears to be lost.  The culture of death has woven its ugly tentacles into the very fabric of society, threatening to completely strangle all that remains of respect for human life. The…

Remembering Saint John Paul II the defender of life and family

“A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members; and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying.” Address to the New Ambassador of New Zealand to the Holy See May…