Kete Kо̄rero August - October 2022

Kete Kōrero

A MAGAZINE OF THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF HAMILTON

KAUHAUTIA TE KARAITI AUG - OCT 2022

AUG - OCT 2022 PUBLISHER: Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, New Zealand DIRECTOR: Alex Bailey alexb@cdh.org.nz EDITOR: Samuel Harris samuelh@cdh.org.nz ART DIRECTOR: Taila Burton-Gollop tailabg@cdh.org.nz PROOFREADING ASSISTANCE: Shona Roberts WEBSITE: ketekorero.cdh.nz EMAIL: kete@cdh.org.nz PHONE: 07 856 6989 POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 4353 Hamilton East 3247 ISSN 2357-2221

COVER: LIFETEEN RETREAT 2022 BACK COVER: ST MICHAEL’S, ROTORUA CONTENT PAGE: VIEW FROM TYBURN MONASTERY, NGAKURU PHOTOS BY TAILA BURTON-GOLLOP

CONTENTS BASKET OF STORIES: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 04 THE SPIRITUAL LIFE: WE CANNOT STAND STILL / FATHER CARL TELFORD, SM 06 THE CHURCH CALLS / DEACON PETER RICHARDSON 08 MARRIAGE & FAMILY: CHECKING IN AND CONTINUING TO CHOOSE / SAM AND CAROLINE COLLIE 10 CALLED TO SERVE: RNDM SISTERS’ MISSION APPEAL / SISTER ANNE SKLENARS, RNDM 13 WILD WEATHER BUT WARM FOOD AND GOOD COMPANY / DANIELLE MOURITS 14 SUPPORTING THE DIOCESE WITH CDF INVESTMENT / MARIAN GREENE 16 NEWS & EVENTS: LIFETEEN RETREAT / TIETIE KANINTEANG 18 LIFE AFTER DOBBS: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? / CHARLIE CAMOSY 20 MATAMATA CWL MILESTONE, NATIONAL SHRINE DEDICATION 24 ORDINATION OF ADAM KIRKEBY, ATAWHAI ASSISI CHAPEL ANNIVERSARY, UPCOMING EVENTS 25 OUR SACRED PLACES: CHURCHES OF ROTORUA / TAILA BURTON-GOLLOP 26 ART & CULTURE: UNIVERSAL STORIES: BOOK REVIEWS / SAMUEL HARRIS 28 QUIZ SAINTS & SOLEMNITIES QUOTES KIDS’ PAGE

05 30 31 31

LETTERS We always appreciate feedback. Let us know your thoughts.

Contact details are inside the front cover.

LAUGHS Enjoyed the Kete today.

A laugh for you, it is 5.22 p.m. and an 81-year-old and a 79-year-old just spent some time doing the kids’ word find.

Lots of laughs.

Thank you, Anne and John Griffin Cathedral Parish, Hamilton CONNECTIONS I was interested to see in the May edition of Kete Kōrero a photo of St Peter’s in Kawhia.

I was born on Hospital Hill just across the road from the church and I attended Mass there for the first twelve years of my life.

The Scott mentioned as one of the builders was my grandfather Tom Scott who was not Catholic at that time

04

but became one on his deathbed. Another of the builders (not mentioned) was my other grandfather, Percy Ward, the local Methodist bellringer.

The curtains in the church were of interest as well. The one on the left was that of the confessional where I made my first confession, followed shortly after by my first communion. The confessional I treated with a certain amount of trepidation because anyone confessing could be heard out in the church. This was especially so in the case of a dear parishioner who was very deaf. My mother impressed on me that I was to block my ears when this lady was confessing because it would be gravely sinful to repeat anything I had heard.

The last Mass I attended in St Peter’s was the Requiem Mass for my father, Lewin Ward. He had become a Catholic after returning from the war.

Peg Cummins, Parish of St Thomas Aquinas,Tauranga

EDITOR’S NOTE SAMUEL HARRIS

QUIZ 1. Where would you find an ambry and what is it used for?

2. How many skeletons are in the Capuchin Crypt under

This issue looks a little different - we’ve changed things up a small bit - but does the same thing as always, aiming to be a part of the activity of the Church in this place: to proclaim Christ: kauhautia te Karaiti.

New to this edition is a “letters to the editor” section, which we’d like to continue, so please send us your thoughts on any item in the magazine, or on the magazine as a whole, or indeed, on any Church topics.

We’re always happy to highlight other media outlets who are interested in the same mission as us, and we were interested to see our diocese’s synthesis of the recent Synod on Synodality kōrero appear in the pages of The Pillar, from the States. (You can read that synthesis on the diocesan website.)

Our bishops’ writing team is in the process of summarising the reflections from each New Zealand diocese into one final synthesis to go to Rome for the next stage of the synod.

This is an interesting event in the life of the Church, and we hope it produces good fruit.

Let’s pray for that, and let’s continue to pray also for the ongoing process of selecting a new bishop for our place - that God will provide for us a good and holy man to be shepherd here. We could and should pray also for courage and knowledge to make a difference in our own circles of influence, as the Hamilton Diocese synthesis document points out: “leadership and decision-making starts with each person ‘doing their bit’ wherever they find themselves.” Doing our bit to proclaim Christ Jesus - it’s an adventure. Hoake, let’s go.

the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini in Rome?

3. Which Old Testament figure is said to have stopped the sun, and why?

4. What are the main colours in the uniform of the Swiss Guards?

5. Which school in the Hamilton Diocese is owned and run by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions?

6. Who wrote the poem The Windhover, which religious order did he belong to, and what is a windhover?

7. Who said, “Never see a need without doing something about it”?

8. Who is the minister of the Sacrament of Matrimony? a) the presiding priest b) the concelebrating priests (if present) together c) the couple d) the bishop 9. What portion of what animal when prepared for eating is known colloquially (and depending on the speaker’s religious persuasions) as “the pope’s nose” or “the parson’s nose”?

10. How many times in total do we say, “Amen,” during a solemn blessing and final blessing at the end of Mass? a) one b) two c) three d) four

Answers are on page 30.

05

WE CANNOT STAND STILL FATHER CARL TELFORD, SM

Father Carl Telford suggests that if we look to the saints when we feel burdened, and shift the focus from ourselves to others, we make space for God’s healing action in our lives.

I

remember once meeting in a parish a man whose wife no longer went to Mass with him. He was faced with a new choice: would he himself continue to go to Sunday Mass?

He did continue and so grew in his faith. I was struck by his courage and love for the Mass. This new choice he made, he had not had to make when both of them went to Mass.

This example might help us to understand the growth in faith that is part of our Christian walk. We cannot stand still.

As they say: “God is not finished with us.”

06

The basic truth is that God is at work in our entire lives helping us to grow and often that growth is by God pruning us. I trained as a priest at Greenmeadows surrounded by grape vines. After the annual harvest there was a pruning, a severe pruning to get ready for the next vintage. There was a cutting back to the basic stem and so next year there was a whole set of new branches bearing new fruit. Pruning and new growth: that is easy to write but testing to live. It is based on the skill of the pruner. In this case God, an expert

TABERNACLE AT ST GEORGE’S, TE KUITI, PHOTO BY TAILA BURTON-GOLLOP ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX STATUE - SAINT JULIE BILLIART CATHOLIC PARISH (HAMILTON, OHIO), PHOTO BY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

pruner. He is keeping his eyes on us producing more fruit.

Our faith assures us that all things work unto good for those who serve the Lord. All things! Say, “Yes,” to his pruning in your life.

If I was to give any advice (realising I am not so wise in living it) I would say: read Saint John of the Cross. He is a writer for today and today’s various trials. He, a humble Doctor of the Church, teaches us that darkness is merely our human experience of God at work doing something new and wonderful. Saint John had many trials in his life but always said, “Yes, Lord.” At the worst point in his life, imprisoned, in danger of dying, he discovered even more God’s love and wrote some of the most sublime poetry we know. Begin with The Spiritual Canticle then Ascent of Mt Carmel.

Secondly, I would recommend Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, the Little Flower. Not that she was a naive woman!

She is also a Doctor of the Church and wrote of her love for Jesus and how she also said, “Yes,” to the various joys and trials in her life. She was a spiritual warrior, a mature wise guide. There is so much written about her so begin with her Story of a Soul.

Thirdly, I would recommend praying near the tabernacle.

Contained in that holy place is the very reality of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. He is so accessible there to us. Ask him to use your prayer there for the little ones, the broken, those who are frightened of God or fearful that he is only a judge. Intercede for them. Amazing how if we shift the focus off our woes and pray for others we are healed.

07

THE CHURCH CALLS DEACON PETER RICHARDSON

Deacon Peter Richardson explains some of what the permanent diaconate involves and issues an invitation to those who are interested in finding out more.

E

very day each of us experiences calls on our time, maybe to complete a task that we have been putting off, maybe to phone someone, maybe to exercise or pray.

For some the call can be more substantial and persistent such as a call to ministry within the Church and the permanent diaconate in particular.

Are you being called to use your gifts and talents in a special way through the Sacrament of Orders, to be open to receiving the special grace of the Holy Spirit in ordination, enabling the exercise of this sacred ministry?

The diaconate is as old as the Church itself. In Acts of the Apostles the apostles ordained the first deacons after asking the other disciples to choose seven of their number who were filled with the Spirit and wisdom. These men devoted their lives to serving the Church under the direction of the apostles.

The diaconate is a vocation from Christ through the Church to an order of sacred ministry. Deacons do this in

a particular way in their ministry of the Word, at the altar and of charity. Deacons are tasked to do the background work, gathering, teaching, and helping the faithful to come before the Lord in holiness.

The diaconate is not a profession nor a part-time job.

Deacons are ordained “not to priesthood but to ministry” and are particularly dedicated to duties of charity and of administration (see Lumen Gentium, Light of the Nations, 29).

The diaconate is an order in its own right adding to the sacramental fabric of Christ’s Church on earth - the Christ who came to minister, not to be ministered to - and the work and spirit of the diaconate continues to be as relevant as it was 2000 years ago.

If you sense that this is you and you’d like to know more please contact Deacon Peter Richardson at the Diaconate Office in Hamilton or the Director Fr Aidan Mulholland at Waihi Parish.

"Dedicated to duties of charity and of administration, let deacons be mindful of the admonition of Blessed Polycarp: 'Be merciful, diligent, walking according to the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all.'"

- From Lumen Gentium.

08

09

CHECKING IN AND CONTINUING TO CHOOSE SAM AND CAROLINE COLLIE

Young couple Sam and Caroline explain what the Equipes Notre-Dame movement is about, and the benefits its activity and events have for married couples wanting their marriage to be all it can be.

T

here is something inherently Catholic about people gathering together for a meal, and talking and praying together in company with Mary. A movement called Equipes Notre-Dame or Teams of Our Lady (which we affectionately refer to as Teams) is about just these things.

Founded in Paris in 1939 when a group of four young couples sought to grow in faith and grow in love for each other, Teams is now established as a global movement

10

including groups right here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

A few years ago, we were invited by friends (another married couple) to join them and three other couples for dinner and in this simple way we were invited to come and see what Teams was about. Naturally, we were extremely apprehensive about the prospect of sharing personal details of our lives out loud - let alone directly with others

- but after that one evening we agreed that we wanted in at the table. We observed a small community of people who were committed to accompanying each other through life and who were determined to rely on the graces of the sacrament each one received in their marriage.

Teams provides couples with an authentic means by which they can be nourished, supported, and formed, through accompaniment and prayer, as they seek to live faithfully their vocation to marriage. Father Henri Caffarel, whose cause for canonisation was opened in 2006, took the movement from its humble beginnings with the initial group through to the vast movement that it is today. Father Caffarel said to couples, “The demands of holiness concern you.

In order to answer it, you have your own sacrament, the sacrament of marriage.”

is perhaps a need for urgent assistance, but simply we believe that it is necessary to acknowledge the reality that for everything worth fighting for, we safeguard its wellness or wholeness.

For the most vulnerable such as children, older people, or those who are impoverished, we protect and defend the dignity each possesses, yet in many ways we do not do the same for marriage. No expense is spared for the big white wedding and as the happy couple sails off into the sunset we thank God for marriage and we offer them best wishes for the adventure that is marriage. It is the most wondrous adventure, yet the wedding day is only the very beginning. We believe that the dignity of marriage needs to be safeguarded, protected, and defended so that, like

At an international level, the organisation of the mission of Equipes Notre-Dame is done by an International Leading Team that is made up of eight couples (each representing different regions) and a priest who collaborates with the couples in their activities. At a local level, this structure is very similar. Each Team is made up of four to five couples and may have a priest who also accompanies them. Each couple in the Team is committed to making time for a monthly check-in type conversation with each other, and to attend a monthly gathering with the other members of the Team.

The check-in type conversation is where each couple is encouraged to take a moment for themselves and to discuss and reflect on their married life over the month since the last meeting, noting points they would like to share with their Team. The format of the monthly gathering is simple and involves listening and sharing while a meal is eaten together, followed by discussion and prayer.

For us, Teams has been an amazing experience for two reasons. Firstly, Teams gives support to something marriage - that we know we ought to protect more than our culture tends to do. Secondly, it has helped us to keep what we want as a priority, a priority.

Teams has given us faith-filled friendships and it supports our marriage. Often when the word support is used, there can be an assumption that something is broken or there PHOTOS PROVIDED BY SAM AND CAROLINE

11

a ship, it can navigate any conditions or calamities that it encounters.

And secondly, Teams helps us stick to our priorities. We all know that the most frustrating phrase to hear is that “things are so busy,” yet amidst the myriad activities we all tend to throw ourselves into, the priorities of our lives can become muddled or overlooked. Teams allows for what ought to be our number one priority, to grow in love of God through the pathway God has set for us: married life.

Almost every single time we drive home from a monthly gathering, we say to each other, “How good is it, to know that we are not alone?” This sense of solidarity is one of the most tremendous gifts of Teams. We are not perfect individuals. We are not perfect spouses. Our marriage isn’t perfect. The check-in type conversations can be challenging at times, or can feel more like a shopping list of struggles that doesn’t seem to get any shorter. Yet through

12

all of this, our Teams gatherings remind us that this is our pathway and it is as beautiful as it is challenging.

Together under the loving mantle of Mary, we continue to choose marriage, we continue to choose each other, we continue to know that as we grow in love for one another, we can grow in love for God, and we share in the knowledge that others want to choose all of this too.

Sam and Caroline Collie live in Hamilton and attend St Columba’s parish in Frankton, Hamilton. Caroline is a teacher of religious education at Sacred Heart Girls’ College and Sam is an electrician. If you are interested in getting in contact with Sam or Caroline for more information about Teams in Hamilton they welcome any response, questions, or queries to samandcarolinecollie@gmail.com and Alex Bailey can also take queries about Teams in this diocese at alexb@cdh.org.nz

RNDM SISTERS’ MISSION APPEAL 2022 SISTER ANNE SKLENARS, RNDM

A

s Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions we are an International Missionary Congregation of Women.

We have recently launched our annual mission appeal, seeking financial support for our provinces who are not able to continue their mission efforts without assistance.

This year the appeal connects us to families in Almel village, India South, where people are outcast and abandoned due to suffering from HIV/AIDS. Mothers are left to support children, to find the means and medication to support the health care of the family, yet are unable to work.

The appeal will also support the sisters’ work in Senegal, where women are empowered to share in the micro-credit project that the sisters in Ndondol have been assisting with for many years. This successful programme has been interrupted by Covid-19. Rising costs and the loss of husbands to the war have meant an increase in the burden on the women of Senegal.

Any contribution is gratefully received. Thank you.

By direct credit into our bank account Account Number: 06-0529-0413665-03 Account Name: Institute de Notre Dame des Missions Particulars: MA2022 Code: Your surname Email office@rndm.org.nz to obtain a receipt.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY SISTER ANNE SKLENARS

13

WILD WEATHER BUT WARM FOOD AND GOOD COMPANY DANIELLE MOURITS

Diocesan Young Adults Coordinator and student nurse Danielle Mourits reports on the recent community dinner hosted by the Youth Office, and reminds us of the presence of Christ in those who are in need.

T

he rain lashed heavily against the roof as a group of Catholic young adults hastily prepared the space to welcome their friends off the streets into a warm and dry escape for the day. On June 11 the Youth Office hosted its second “community dinner,” welcoming those who are doing it tough, experiencing homelessness, or just in need of a hot meal. It was a day of wild weather but there was good shelter and company to be found at the Gerry Sullivan Events Centre at Marian Catholic School, and our friends were not deterred. With open doors from 2pm the young adults welcomed friends from across Hamilton to come and relax, and when they walked in the doors they were greeted with lots of laughter, chatter, and warm smiles. The joy was tangible as we reconnected with old friends and welcomed new faces too. With books, games, and art supplies available there were plenty of ways to relax and stay entertained.

The volunteers all put their gifts and talents to good use, whether it was playing chess, making hot drinks, or spending the day in the bustling kitchen to prepare the meal. Two of our local hairdressers gave up their time to offer free trims to their new friends, who all came away looking and feeling fresh.

Around 6pm we sat down to a delicious meal, beginning with soup and then enjoying a mid-winter Christmasinspired ham dinner accompanied by live music from Miguel. The generosity of our volunteers meant we were able to feed about 60 people, and the volunteers all sat down with our guests and also enjoyed the meal.

14

The community dinner always promises rich conversation and a real opportunity to connect with those that are doing it tough. Every person has a place at the table at the dinner; it doesn’t matter if they have lived on the streets for twelve years or a month, are fresh out of prison, or are just there to enjoy friendship and a warm welcome. We are there for far more than just serving a meal, but we truly seek to build connections, heal isolation, and bring joy to their lives, even if it is just for one evening.

The community dinner is far more than just a dinner. It is an effort to live out the words of Jesus: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me” (Matthew 25:35,36 NIV). We all deserve to deeply encounter the love of Christ, and our hope is that this dinner can be a place where we encounter Christ in the poor, and they can meet him in the love that they receive.

After the main course, smiles erupted on faces as the ice cream trike from Sunny Nelson rode into the room, delivering free real fruit ice cream in all sorts of flavours.

Sunny Nelson was incredibly generous to donate all of the ice cream for the event! Full of ice cream and dinner, we danced and sang and relished the company we shared.

This would not be possible without the generosity of so many. The youth office wants to extend a sincere thank you to all those who supported the dinner, either in prayer, in generous donations, or with their time and effort. When we seek together to be a Church that is a home for all people, it unites us together in heart and mission, and it really is beautiful to behold! So thank you to all those who joined us in this small act of love for our friends. We hope that this is just a starting place, and from this dinner we can all go out more encouraged to meet those on the streets, buy them a coffee, enjoy a chat, and carry with us daily, in every interaction, the love of Christ that has been poured into our hearts.

The evening ended with our guests collecting all sorts of donations to take with them. Leaving with arms loaded full of coats, new shoes, blankets, toiletries, sleeping bags, and all the goodies that were so generously donated by our Church community. There were a lot of happy faces heading out the door.

THE LOVELY TABLE SETTINGS - BEFORE DINNER BEGAN ARTS AND CRAFTS TABLE, DONATIONS, KITCHEN VOLUNTEERS PHOTOS BY TAILA BURTON-GOLLOP

15

SUPPORTING THE DIOCESE WITH CDF INVESTMENT MARIAN GREENE

You’ve probably heard of the Catholic Development Fund but do you know how it works, and how it benefits the mission of the Church in this diocese?

Fund manager Marian Greene explains the work of the fund and how you can be involved.

T

he Catholic Development Fund (CDF) of the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton has its origins in the Diocesan Development Fund, established in 1981 by the diocese’s founding bishop, Most Rev. Edward Gaines. In July 2001 the name was changed to Catholic Development Fund to better reflect its Catholic identity and ability to respond to the needs of our diocese.

A socially responsible investment A deposit in the CDF is an investment in our Catholic parishes, schools, and religious orders. It is an investment in our Catholic community now and for generations to come.

Deposits made with the CDF are not donations. Rather, they are contributions made to assist with mutually beneficial works within our diocese. No administration fees are charged, and all deposits earn interest and are 100% guaranteed by the bishop.

Your money remains yours We know that, as much as we would like to, not too many of us have funds that we are able to simply donate. We appreciate that people need to provide for things like education costs, retirement, and the future well-being of their families. However, one of the great things about the CDF is that it provides an opportunity for you to open an account, safe in the knowledge that your funds are still yours and will be safely returned to you – plus interest!

16

a few.

As we lend only to Catholic organisations, you can be sure that your investment in the CDF is used in an ethical way and upholds the teaching and values of the Catholic Church.

The CDF is vital to helping fund the diocese. We are sincerely grateful to you if you are already a depositor with us, and thank you in anticipation should you become a firsttime depositor. All deposits are very much appreciated.

Get in touch If you share our values and wish to contribute to our shared mission, we invite you to view the great range of products and investment options detailed on our website: www.cdf.cdh.nz/cdf Alternatively, if you would like to have a chat in person, please don’t hesitate to contact our CDF Manager, Marian Greene: 07 856 6989 or mariang@cdh.org.nz We would love to hear from you.

This allows you to provide for the future and protect your loved ones while your generosity will allow the bishop to undertake his works within our diocese. Therefore, you can still deposit with the CDF and support the diocese, the Catholic Church, and the Kingdom of God. Your investment remains in our diocese The CDF reinvests deposited funds with the margin being used in our diocese to support the religious and charitable objectives of the diocese. These include helping fund our chaplaincies (prison, hospital, tertiary education, and ethnic), pastoral care in the diocese, Meinga Ākonga, marriage preparation and marriage tribunal, youth ministry, religious education in schools, diocesan archives, social justice services, and more.

Ethical investments Furthermore, our investment policy provides that we do not re-invest depositors’ funds in purposes contrary to Catholic teaching or purposes which could be ethically problematic things like gambling, cigarette manufacturing, ammunition, firearms dealers, or companies linked to abortion, to name

PHOTOS: UNSPLASH.COM

17

LIFETEEN RETREAT TIETIE KANINTEANG

LifeTeen leader Tietie Kaninteang reports on the recent LifeTeen retreat and reflects on the gift it was to the participants.

P

eople wait all week for Friday to come as that’s where the fun of one’s week truly begins. However on June 24, on an (extremely) cold Friday morning, 20 teenagers along with seven leaders decided to be bold and venture on a Discovery Retreat, a voyage to discover what faith is, where their faith lies, and how to strengthen it. How fitting to embark on this journey during Matariki weekend!

After an hour-long drive filled with sometimes beautiful, sometimes out of tune singing and chit-chat, our journey came to a stop at Hoatu Kaimua lodge, a place we would call home. A place where we would take our faith to heightened levels and form a meaningful relationship with God. Throughout the weekend, we uncovered the true meaning of faith, our personal vices, and how to cultivate an authentic relationship with Christ through prayer. A real highlight was witnessing such raw vulnerability and authenticity from the teens and leaders.

18

PHOTOS BY TAILA BURTON-GOLLOP

We can all agree other than brother/sisterhood time, a terrifying Burma trail and a human version of “Hungry Hippos,” the highlight was singing and dancing to It is Good, which I am sure a lot of us are still humming to this day. What a gift it was to be able to rejoice, dance, and proclaim our love for the Lord! You had to be there to truly feel, and see, the Holy Spirit blazing through each happy camper. We had set the mountain on fire!

Sooner rather than later, our journey back home began.

Only this time we left feeling ready to take on the world, knowing that we had God on our side. This retreat allowed us to dive head first and learn how to deepen our faith to shift from a “crescent” to a “full moon.”

Please pray for our Life Teen and Edge youth as they continue this voyage of discovering their faith, and how they can use faith to overcome life’s challenges. May they all continue to be vulnerable, transparent, and courageous disciples.

19

LIFE AFTER DOBBS: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? CHARLIE CAMOSY

Writer and professor Charlie Camosy interviews bioethicist Carter Snead about the recent legislative change regarding the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case in the United States, which is of interest to people all around the world.

T

he [United States] Supreme Court on Friday issued a decision in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the power to legislate limits on abortion to the states.

The decision represents a seminal victory for the pro-life movement, one for which generations of lawyers, activists, and legislators have fought.

To discuss the significance of the decision and what happens next, Charlie Camosy talked with Carter Snead, a law professor and director of the de Nicola Centre for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame - and a

20

member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Snead is author of What It Means to be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics, which was named one of the Ten Books to Understand the Abortion Debate in the U.S. by the New York Times.

You have been among Catholics working for decades to help make the US more open to a culture of life.

Before getting into more substantive questions, let me ask these two: How do you feel? Did you ever really think this day would come?

You are very kind for saying so. I’m a great admirer of your

work to build a culture of life and resist a throwaway culture!

I did think this day would come, to be honest, because Roe and Casey were so manifestly and egregiously wrong as a matter of law and such a grievous miscarriage of justice.

The death toll since 1973 – over 60 million dead – is staggering. Not to mention the countless lives of women and men broken, corruption of the rule of law, and corrosive effects on the practice of medicine. I don’t think that it’s an exaggeration to say that it’s the most important development for basic human rights in our lifetime. (I think we’re roughly the same age!)

But, to be clear, it merely removes a lawless 50-year impediment from extending the protections of the law to the weakest and most vulnerable. Now we must begin the hard work of persuading our friends and neighbours to enact laws and policies that provide protection and comprehensive support to moms, babies (born and unborn), and families, from conception onwards, throughout their lifespan.

Pro-lifers are now going to have to answer criticisms of the Supreme Court decision, over and over for the foreseeable future. Let’s dive into some of them.

Does this ruling criminalise abortion and lead to the prosecution of women?

Aren’t women already being prosecuted for miscarriages?

Also, does this mean that women won’t receive care for ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage?

Some people of good will are worried about these sideeffects of overturning Roe and Casey, whereas others, I fear, are making such claims to mislead and confuse the public.

Overturning Roe and Casey does not criminalise abortion.

Unfortunately, social science surveys show that upwards of 65% of the American public mistakenly believe that this is the case, which inflates support for retaining Roe as a precedent. General ignorance also inflates such support; the same surveys show that more than 60% of the American public cannot identify what Roe v. Wade was about. Some think it had to do with school desegregation!

The Dobbs case merely returns the matter of abortion to the political branches for resolution through the deliberative

democratic process, where some states will impose significant restrictions and others will promote abortion access, depending on the views of the electorate.

Moreover, no modern abortion laws provide for the prosecution of women for seeking abortion. The last such recorded case is from 1922. One woman in American history was convicted for unlawfully self-managing an abortion under the state feticide statute (in my home state of Indiana), but that conviction was vacated by the intermediate appellate court as a dramatic misconstruction of the law at issue, which does not apply to abortions. The recent proposal to prosecute women made by a Louisiana legislator was immediately and roundly criticised by his pro-life lawmaker colleagues, the pro-life governor, and national pro-life leaders. The proposal was withdrawn.

Some media outlets have breathlessly suggested that women are being prosecuted for miscarriages. This is a highly misleading and, I think, sophistical claim. These cases have involved women who have used illegal drugs, thus negligently causing the deaths of their unborn children that they had not intended to abort.

They are, in effect, criminal child neglect cases applied in

PHOTOS: PEXELS.COM

21

utero, which is a much-contested area of the law that exists entirely apart and is unaffected by the laws of abortion.

Those cases proceed (or not) no matter what the Court does in Dobbs.

You also hear that women will no longer receive care for ectopic pregnancy and miscarriages. This is also false, as a description of the current laws restricting abortion that will take effect once Roe and Casey are overruled.

Take, for example, the most recently restrictive laws in Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama.

Every one of those laws makes explicit exceptions for ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage management. Moreover, I’ve never seen a modern abortion law that doesn’t make an exception for the life of the mother, and the modern trend is to include an exception for “medical emergencies” that involve risk of irreversible nonlethal impairment to major bodily functions.

Does this decision open the door to making contraception, IVF, interracial marriage, and/or same-sex marriage illegal?

No. It is a basic principle of American criminal law that statutes are not construed to incidentally ban adjacent but unrelated conduct. The law must be specific in what it prohibits. So, a law banning abortion does not affect contraception or IVF, unless it says so specifically. And I have not seen any such laws that purport to do so. In fact, the definition of “abortion” in the state laws I have studied specifically refers to a procedure that is performed on a woman known to be pregnant, which rules out IVF. But to be clear, states have long had the authority to regulate or ban IVF, and I’m not aware of any states that have. Dobbs doesn’t change that.

Most abortion laws that I have seen (especially recently) specifically note that they do not restrict contraception.

Indeed, it would violate Supreme Court precedent to ban the use of contraceptives. But this is a purely academic point, as I’ve never heard of any state legislature that wants to do so. In any event, the decision goes out of its way to explicitly note that overturning Roe and Casey does not affect precedents involving contraception, same-sex

22

marriage, and interracial marriage.

He notes that these practices are conceptually distinct from abortion, because none of them involves the intentional killing of an innocent human being. And it could not be clearer that the right to abortion is not even adjacent to rights that were firmly and deeply rooted in American law and tradition.

Abortion has always been legally disfavored, and indeed criminally prosecuted since the nation’s founding.

Is this the first time the Supreme Court has ever withdrawn something it previously regarded as an individual right?

Not at all, despite the claims of some in the public square.

Most obviously, the Court reversed 40 years of precedent in 1937 to take away the individual unwritten “liberty of contract” that it had invented at the end of the 19th Century and used to invalidate economic regulations. But more to the point, Planned Parenthood v. Casey reversed

substantial parts of Roe itself, abandoning the trimester framework, downgrading the right from “fundamental” to a mere “liberty interest,” changing the legal standard, and even altering the normative foundation from privacy to liberty.

Casey actually reversed precedents that had been decided under Roe and expanded state authority to impose marginal side constraints on abortion.

Some of these concerns you just addressed seem like they come from a genuine (if mistaken) place, while others are so bizarre and, frankly, toxic that they seem like they have to come from a place of straightup partisanship.

How should Catholics who do not share the political values and strategies of those who led the way to overturning Roe and Casey think about this Supreme Court decision?

I would urge all Catholics to stay counter-cultural and do not become appropriated by either political party. Ours is a unique voice and should remain so. Which is not to say that we should avoid temporary political alliances with Republicans or Democrats to protect human dignity and pursue the common good on matters including not just abortion but also immigration, gun control, poverty, racial justice, environmental issues, and criminal justice reform.

But it is a sign that one may be moving dangerously close to being appropriated when one cannot celebrate and embrace objectively good outcomes for the weakest and most vulnerable because they come at the end of a chain of events set in motion by a person or a party we have good reason to dislike intensely. Keep Catholicism weird!

Originally published by The Pillar on June 25.

Re-printed (and lightly edited) with kind permission.

The Pillar is an independent “Catholic media project focused on smart, faithful, and serious journalism, from committed and informed Catholics who love the Church” - visit pillarcatholic.com for more stories including “Who are the women appointed to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops?” and “Who ‘won’ Australia’s plenary council, and why it matters.” Hamilton Diocese is featured in the recent item “How many people took part in the synod’s diocesan phase?”

PHOTO: PEXELS.COM

23

NEWS AND EVENTS NEWS Milestone for Matamata Catholic Women’s League

By Clare Gallagher Matamata’s Catholic Women’s League has celebrated its eighty-fifth birthday - and it turned up some historical treasures.

With a significant birthday on the horizon, league members undertook research, including scrolling local newspaper files and Holy Angels Church archives. Among the treasures uncovered was an original minutes book from 1938. It set in train a great history of how a committed bunch of women supported every effort through the times.

In the war years the group agreed to provide all its support and efforts to the local mayor and mayoress in their war efforts, as did most community organisations, and it stood on the war effort leadership committee.

The collection of photos and articles was displayed and drew great interest at the branch birthday event.

Among key activities of the time were fundraising gala days, knitting and sewing circles, helping run the Red Cross Shop, and bridge competitions.

With changing needs has come a changed focus over the years. The league continues to support many local community groups and their work by fundraising to support their activities. These include Starfish Social Services, IHC, Women’s Refuge, Kids In Need Waikato, St Joseph’s School, and Food for School lunches programme.

The branch marked its birthday with a lunch in Matamata on July 6, attended by Cambridge and Morrinsville branch members also.

After 85 years the branch is still an energetic and forwardthinking group who actively live out the Catholic Women’s League motto, “In Faith and Service.”

Originally published in Scene, a newspaper for the Matamata and Tirau community, on July 19.

Dedication of National Shrine A Mass of Dedication of the church of St Mary of the Angels in Wellington as the National Shrine to Mary, Mother of God, Assumed into Heaven was held at the church on Sunday August 14 2022.

Everyone was welcome to attend, from anywhere in Aotearoa New Zealand, and the Mass was livestreamed - details on the website of Te Ara a Maria (Mary’s Way): www.tearaamaria.nz The Mass was the culmination of the year-long nationwide hīkoi of the artwork Ko Hāta Maria, te Matua Wahine o te Atua (Holy Mary, Mother of God) by the artist Damien Walker (Studio of Saint Philomena, Rangiora). The hīkoi began with a Mass at St Mary of the Angels on the Feast of the Assumption last year. The artwork is now on permanent display in St Mary of the Angels.

24

PHOTO LEFT (SUPPLIED): CUTTING THE CAKE ARE BRANCH PRESIDENT CLARE GALLAGHER (R) AND LONG-TIME MEMBER NOELINE GIBBONS (L) PHOTO RIGHT: BISHOP STEVE LOWE HUGS NEWLY ORDAINED FATHER ADAM PHOTO BY TAILA BURTON-GOLLOP

Atawhai Assisi Anniversary

By Mariette Poortman

UPCOMING EVENTS

On July 31 Monsignor Frank Eggleton (celebrant and chaplain), Father Anselm Aherne, MHM, and residents and volunteers at Atawhai Assisi, in Matangi, Hamilton, marked 40 years since the dedication and blessing of the extension of our beautiful chapel. We prayed for, and remembered, past and present residents, staff, chaplains, volunteers, and families.

Directed Silent Ignatian Retreats, with Father Richard Shortall, SJ

New Hamilton Priest With thanksgiving to God, Bishop Steve Lowe and the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton celebrated Adam Kirkeby’s ordination to the Order of Priests in a joyful Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hamilton, on August 6. See ketekorero.cdh.nz for photos and watch the ordination at tinyurl.com/Kirkebypriest

A silent directed retreat consists of individual spiritual direction each day (roughly 20 to 30 mins). Retreatants will be directed by Father Richard Shortall, SJ. The remainder of the day is at your disposal for prayer/spiritual reading/ relaxation/leisure. The retreats are fully catered and include accommodation - each retreatant will have their own room.

“The retreat was just what I needed to give my prayer life a rev-up! The opportunity for spiritual direction was incredibly helpful for me to dig deeper into what the Lord is saying through prayer and my life.” - Past retreatant, 2022 Weekend Retreats - fee $118: 21-23 October - Cluny Retreat Centre, Tauranga 18-20 November - Cluny Retreat Centre, Tauranga Weekday Retreats - fee $220: 23-28 October - Cluny Retreat Centre, Tauranga 20-25 November - Cluny Retreat Centre, Tauranga To register please visit cdh.org.nz/retreats Parish Leaders’ Retreat 2022 Our best date for this event is November 12 at Cluny Retreat Centre, Tauranga.

We will send updates to those who registered for this retreat but in the meantime, please save the date.

Parish Leaders’ Formation Day 2022 Save the date, the morning of November 26, and come for a time of learning and networking among parish leaders and volunteers. Get some help on how to sustain your ministry for your parish community. Listen and discuss live with Dr John Evangelista, former dean of Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College, on the current trends in lay leadership and evangelisation. Venue to be confirmed.

Food and drinks to be provided by CDH Pastoral Services Team. Talk to Robert on 027 6274475 for more information.

25

ST MARY OF THE CROSS MACKILLOP, ROTORUA TAILA BURTON-GOLLOP

The beautiful and historic churches of St Mary’s, Glenhome, and St Michael’s, Ohinemutu, in the pastoral area of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop.

St Michael’s was established in 1888, while St Mary’s was established in 1954 when the Catholic population grew and it was evident that a second church was needed.

St Mary’s was visited by the artwork Ko Hāta Maria, te Matua Wahine o te Atua in June, during the national pilgrimage to commemorate the rededication of Aotearoa New Zealand to Mary, Mother of God, Assumed into Heaven.

PARISHIONERS GATHER AT ST MARY’S TO SEE THE ARTWORK

26

PHOTOS TOP AND CENTRE: ST MARY’S PHOTOS ABOVE, RIGHT AND BACK PAGE: ST MICHAEL’S

27

UNIVERSAL STORIES: BOOK REVIEWS SAMUEL HARRIS

Mihi and Koro, written and illustrated by Gavin Bishop.

Gecko Press: Wellington, New Zealand, 2020 and 2021 respectively.

These two board books for children are a delight. My oneyear-old (a discerning reader!) loves them, particularly Mihi. I think it’s the faces he particularly likes, drawn in Bishop’s recognisable style in a childlike but not sentimental way - and with the big eyes that kids like - alongside the musical sounds of te reo Māori words. Telling universal stories in a particularly Māori way, these books are another neat way to share something of te reo Māori (the Māori language) and te ao Māori (the Māori worldview) with your Kiwi kids.

Mihi is a version of a pepeha or mihi, which is an introduction that lays out the speaker’s whakapapa (genealogy/ ancestry) and is designed to make, or highlight, connections between speaker and listeners - or, as the publisher puts it,

to “introduce ideas of me and my place in the world”: “Ko ahau tenei - this is me.”

Beautifully simple and lovingly created, this book makes a space to talk with your little one about their ancestors, their background, their special people and places, and their story. The older kids, I’ve found, are listening too when

28

these other stories are told.

Koro (or Pops in the English version) tells the story of Pops and grandchild, Koro and mokopuna, spending a day together, eating, talking, and napping - “ka toro ki a Koro - visiting Pops” (my translation). The pictures are lovely a wee hand in a big one, bare feet scampering with big booted ones - “He aha māu, e moko? - Let’s go, moko.”

The two friends put a sandwich together with hēki, pūhā, kāroti, and rēwana, then chat (interestingly, the image next to “he kōrero’’ shows the two looking at each other but with mouths closed - I’m going to say the artist wanted to suggest that “chatting” often involves just gazing at your loved one), and finally nap together, eyes closed and contented smiles on their faces. “Night night, Pops! - Ā! He moe!”

Like the best art, these two books allow the readers to see something of their own story in the work alongside the stories or other, different (or not-so-different), humans, and to bounce off the images and words in front of them into the big themes and stories. (See the publisher’s website for interesting background to the making of these books.)

Highly recommended.

29

SAINTS & SOLEMNITIES

19 - Saint Paul of the Cross 22 - Saint John Paul II 25 - Saints Cuthbert Mayne, John Houghton, Edmund Campion, Richard Gwynn, and Companions 26 - Saints Chad and Cedd

AUGUST 6 - The Transfiguration of the Lord 8 - Saint Mary of the Cross (Mackillop) 9 - Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross 14 - Saint Fachanan 15 - The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 21 - Saint Pius X 23 - Saint Rose of Lima 25 - Saint Louis, St Joseph of Calasanz 26 - Blessed Dominic of the Mother of God 27 - Saint Monica 29 - Saint Augustine 29 - The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

NOVEMBER 1 - All Saints 2 - The Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day) 3 - St Martin de Porres, St Winifride 4 - St Charles Borromeo 6 - All the Saints of Ireland 8 - All Saints of Wales

OCTOBER 1 - Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus 2 - Day of Celebration for Ven. Suzanne Aubert 4 - Saint Francis of Assisi 5 - Saint Faustina Kowalska 7 - Our Lady of the Rosary 9 - Day of Prayer to Support Life 11 - Saint John XXIII 13 - Saint Edward the Confessor 18 - Saint Luke

30

QUIZ ANSWERS 1. An ambry is a niche or cupboard used to store the sacred oils used in sacraments, and is typically found in a church’s sanctuary near the baptismal font.

2. The bones of approximately 3700 Capuchin brothers are displayed in the crypt as a reminder of our mortality and as an exhortation to live well.

3. Joshua 10:12,13 talks of Joshua praying that the sun would be stopped to aid his army in battle, and “the sun halted in the middle of the sky” (NAB).

4. Red, yellow, and blue.

5. Sacred Heart Girls’ College, Hamilton.

6. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote the poem. He was a Jesuit. A windhover is a kestrel or falcon.

7. St Mary Mackillop.

8. c) The couple being married minister the sacrament to each other. The priest witnesses.

9. The fatty end of the tail of a cooked chicken (or other fowl).

10. d) four - three during the solemn blessing and one in the final.

SEPTEMBER 1 - Day of Prayer for Care of Creation 3 - Saint Gregory the Great 8 - The Birthday of The Blessed Virgin Mary 12 - The Most Holy Name of Mary 13 - Saint John Chrysostom 14 - The Exaltation of the Holy Cross 15 - Our Lady of Sorrows 17 - Saint Robert Bellarmine 21 - Saint Matthew 23 - Saint Pius of Pietrelcina 26 - Saints Cosmas and Damian 27 - Saint Vincent de Paul 28 - Saint Lawrence Ruiz and Companions

This is not the full or official liturgical calendar for New Zealand - it’s a list of some highlights, some members of the communion of saints to pray with and be inspired by.

There are various resources available online to learn more about particular saints and their feast days, including nlo.org.nz

QUOTES

KIDS

To marry the present age and its spirit is to become a widow in the next. - Ven. Fulton J. Sheen

Being Catholic means knowing the truth, and it is our job to share that truth with others. You might be familiar with some of the words below: fill in the blank letters and then find those words in the wordsearch!

The Cross is, at the same time, both remembrance and hope. Let us always clasp it with love and let us always carry it. - Ven. Suzanne Aubert Miserando atque eligendo (He [Jesus] saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him). - Pope Francis’ motto Wisdom begins with wonder. - Socrates, a founding figure of Western philosophy The deepest wonder is appreciation, contemplation: something very close to love. When you wonder, you get all still inside, not wordy. - philosopher Peter Kreeft In Catholicism, the pint, the pipe, and the Cross can all fit together. - G.K. Chesterton O hail, holy Mary, abounding in grace / O star for the travellers who sailed to this place / Ave, ave, ave Maria!

Ave, ave, ave Maria! - from the hymn Te Ara a Maria, new words by Robert Loretz and others, set to the tune of the Lourdes Hymn

AN_ELS BI_LE C_RIST DIS_IPLES EVAN_ELISE FA_HER FOLL_WER GOOD _EWS G_SPEL HOLY _PIRIT J_SUS LO_D SA_NTS TR_TH WIS_OM

Be who you are, and be that well, so that you may bring honour to the master craftsman whose handiwork you are.

- St Francis de Sales A person who lacks the verdancy of justice is dry, totally without tender goodness, totally without illuminating virtue.

- St Hildegard of Bingen.

When this perishable nature has put on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, then the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? - 1 Corinthians 15:54,55, from the second reading of the Vigil Mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

31

CDH.ORG.NZ