NEWS
News from our member churches and the wider ecumenical movement, with our monthly roundup and a library of stories from ecumenical bodies around the world.
Catholic and Anglican bishops meet in Auckland
New Zealand’s Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops met in Auckland in September for their regular joint gathering, which takes place every year or two, and an Assistant Anglican Bishop from Polynesia joined them.
A liturgy tour of all six dioceses
At the bishops’ invitation, the American liturgist Fr Paul Turner, a priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph in Missouri and a consultant to the Vatican, was due to visit all six New Zealand dioceses between 21 July and 8 August, starting in Hamilton and finishing in Christchurch.
Nominations open for the Delargey Awards
Nominations opened in July for the 2026 Delargey Awards, which have recognised people who serve young Catholics in Aotearoa New Zealand every two years since 2004.
A New Zealand response to Pope Leo’s letter on artificial intelligence
Bishop Richard Laurenson of Hamilton welcomed Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, which was published on 25 May and is about protecting the human person in an age of artificial intelligence.
Bishop Steve Lowe re-elected to lead the Catholic bishops
Meeting in Hamilton for one of their four gatherings of the year, New Zealand’s Catholic bishops elected Bishop Steve Lowe of Auckland to a second three-year term as president of the Bishops Conference.
Prison and hospital chaplains gather together
Catholic chaplains who serve in prisons and hospitals spent a weekend together at St Francis’ Friary in Auckland, the first time the two groups had met in this way.
Parishes pray for peace after Easter
Catholic parishes around New Zealand took up Pope Leo XIV’s Easter invitation to pray for peace by setting aside ten minutes after each Mass on the weekend of 11 and 12 April for a short liturgy of prayer.
A relic of St Carlo Acutis comes to New Zealand
A relic of St Carlo Acutis, the Italian teenager who was canonised in September 2025 and is often called the patron saint of the internet, was to tour New Zealand in June with an exhibition on eucharistic miracles.
The Bishops’ Lent Appeal for 2026
During Lent, New Zealand’s six Catholic diocesan bishops wrote to Catholics around the country inviting them to support the Bishops’ Lent Appeal, which Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand runs on their behalf.
Indigenous Catholics from four countries meet in Auckland
The second International Conference on Catholic Indigenous opened in Auckland on 2 March, with New Zealand delegates hosting visitors from the United States, Canada and Australia, along with representatives of the Vatican.