Birthday Celebrations for Mary the Mother of Christ

Today 19th September at 3 pm at St Matthews Church (Hillcrest), Siverdale Road. All are warmly invited to join in this beautiful service and afternoon tea.

For inquiries Ph. 07 8560314 (Teresa).

Catholic bishops oppose extension of Easter trading hours

New Zealand's Catholic Bishops strongly support Dunedin Bishop Colin
Campbell's
opposition to extending Easter trading hours in the Waitaki district.

Bishop Campbell has written to MPs to ask that they maintain
Parliament's tradition of
rejecting further changes to Easter trading by using their conscience
vote against the Shop
Hours Act Repeal (Waitaki Easter Trading) Amendment Bill, due to have
its first reading
today.

"Obviously, allowing trading on Good Friday and Eater Sunday would
undermine New
Zealand's Christian traditions. However, while the three and a half
shop-free days remain
significant holy days for many New Zealanders, their significance
extends beyond religion,"
said Bishop Campbell.

"These holidays have become times for family and community groups to
gather, hold events
or rest, opportunities which are becoming increasingly rare. If this
current Waitaki Easter
Trading Bill gets passed, it would come at the expense of family and
community time and
simply be another step towards opening up Easter trading throughout New
Zealand".

The bishops' social justice agency Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has also
written to MPs
asking them to oppose the Bill. Caritas has made submissions on the
subject during the
numerous reviews and Private Member's Bills which have unsuccessfully
reopened the
debate 10 times in the past 20 years.
"Time and time again churches and various other community groups have
been forced to
defend keeping three and a half days a year shop-free," says Bishop
Campbell. "This is
despite numerous conscience votes from Members of Parliament who support
limiting
shopping days to 361 and a half a year".