A new monthly digital publication, which will retain the title NZ Catholic, will be developed and shared in the coming months.

The publisher of NZ Catholic, Bishop Stephen Lowe, sent a letter to subscribers, supporters, readers and friends of NZ Catholic outlining the changes.

“NZ Catholic and its predecessors, the Tablet from Dunedin and the Zealandia have been part of our Catholic print media since 1873,” the bishop stated in his letter, dated May 21.

The bishop added that much has changed in the last 150 years, and that the rate of change seems to be becoming even more rapid.

“In more recent years, we have seen dramatic changes in the media landscape with audiences moving away from print and the TV news towards digital, social, and video news, entertainment and networking platforms.

“Like all other newspapers, NZ Catholic has been impacted by falling circulation numbers, subscribers and advertisers.

Bishop Lowe noted that NZ Catholic now has fewer than a 1000 subscribers, and has reached the point at which “it is no longer sustainable to publish a printed Catholic newspaper and it is my sad duty to inform you that the issue published on 30 June will be NZ Catholic’s last printed fortnightly edition”.

“At this time, it is right to give thanks for the work of the NZ Catholic staff, past and present. They have been amazing. They have told the stories of our Church and society. They have published the joys and the sorrows of people’s lives. They have sincerely used the written word to point to Jesus Christ the Word. Thank you also to the contributors from across the country and the promoters in parishes. Your stories of people and communities will remain a treasure of the Church’s history in New Zealand,” the bishop wrote.

“While this might mark the end of a regular printed newspaper, the diocese remains committed to sharing our Catholic news and stories, and we intend developing a new monthly digital publication with enhanced use of video,” Bishop Lowe continued.

“This will allow us to continue to share news, comment, and reflections to inform, record, form, and inspire our community in the Diocese of Auckland and beyond. The digital news publication will be made available for free, and I want to encourage parishes, ethnic chaplaincies, schools and other communities to share through their newsletters, websites and social media pages.

“A digital/ video storytelling role will be added to the team to enhance our capability to use video and other digital platforms to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. This role will focus initially on producing videos that include prayer, homilies, event highlights, appeals, teaching, explaining, and helping to encourage a healthy dialogue [that] our world so desperately need

Bishop Lowe thanked the readers of NZ Catholic for their faithful support.

“You have enabled us to keep publishing the newspaper for as long as we have,” he wrote.

“For subscribers a refund of your subscription balance can be sought by completing the attached form and returning it to us or alternatively go to www.nzcatholic.org.nz/refund

“Unclaimed subscription balances will be used to launch the new digital version.”

Bishop Lowe concluded the letter by stating, “It is my hope that the digital NZ Catholic will continue to celebrate and promote our faith and to help continue to knit our diverse community into one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church”.

“I ask for your prayerful support as we make this transition.”

The June 2 and June 16 editions of NZ Catholic will be normal editions. The final edition, with a publication date of June 30, will be a commemorative edition making use of photographs to remember major events covered by NZ Catholic since it started in 1996.

It is understood that readers will be able to opt for a printed version of the new digital NZ Catholic if they cannot receive email communication. There is no mention of any cost.

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Father David Dowling has been appointed the new rector of Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland.

The appointment has been confirmed by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelisation. Fr Dowling is at present the Human Formator at Holy Cross. He will take over the role in April from the present Interim Rector, Bishop Emeritus Colin Campbell.

Holy Cross Seminary is the national seminary for the education and formation of diocesan priests for the Catholic Church in New Zealand.

Fr Dowling is a priest of the Archdiocese of Wellington whose priestly journey began when he entered Holy Cross in 2001 after an 18-year career as a customs officer. A born Wellingtonian and proud supporter of the Hurricanes, he attended St Patrick’s College, Wellington before his customs career. He studied for the priesthood at Holy Cross from 2001 to 2007 and was ordained in Wellington on September 1, 2007 by Cardinal John Dew. He has a Bachelor of Theology degree from Sydney College of Divinity and a Graduate Diploma in Theology from Good Shepherd College.

Fr Dowling said that he is committed as rector to following the example of Pope Francis in cultivating the joy of the Gospel with a sense of being part of God’s people.

Father David Dowling has been appointed the new rector of Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland.

“I am inspired and encouraged by the teaching of Pope Francis, who sees priestly formation as service, not simply as the transmission of a body of teachings, but also the art of concentrating on others, bringing out all their beauty and all the good that they carry within.

“As Francis has said, ‘we can only be missionary disciples all together.’ As a human formator at the seminary, I have endeavoured to encourage and challenge our seminarians to be fully human, mature, and capable of healthy relationships. We minister through our humanity and personality, opening ourselves to being transformed by the Spirit of Jesus.

“I hope to help form our seminarians to understand what it means to live ‘generative service’, which Pope Francis describes as ‘the identity card’ of Christ’s ministers.”

Auckland Bishop Stephen Lowe, who is president of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, said that the bishops are delighted with Fr David’s appointment as Rector.

“He is a prayerful man, who has had a rich pastoral experience as a priest of Wellington and who has done an excellent job of being the human formator. These qualities will enrich his overseeing the forming of the new priests for our dioceses,” said Bishop Lowe.

Bishop Emeritus Campbell has been Interim Rector since April, 2023, after the former rector, Fr Mathew Vadakkevettuvazhiyil, left.

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Is there a case for Roman Catholic thought in the public square today?

That was the question put by Palmerston North Bishop John Adams in a homily at the Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College inaugural Mass for 2024 celebrated at Sacred Heart church, Ponsonby. The answer, Bishop Adams said, is an emphatic “yes”.

The bishop started his homily by mentioning recent movies such as Barbie and Oppenheimer.  The latter movie prompted Bishop Adams to do some reading about physicist Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project, the development of the first nuclear weapons and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Bishop Adams mentioned the ethical debate over the dropping of the bombs. Then-President Harry Truman claimed the dropping of the bombs was justified because it brought about an early end to the Second World War, Bishop Adams said.

But it is also true that “80,000 people died instantly, at Hiroshima. Tens of thousands have died subsequently of radiation. Hiroshima was not a military centre. It lacked any major war industries. Those who targeted it ensured that the aiming point for the bomb was the middle of the city, whereas in every Japanese city . . . light industry was on the peripheries of the city. Truman’s diary entry was that the target would be a purely military one”.

Bishop Adams asked, “Now as we prepare at this Mass, in the spiritual sense, for the opening of the Catholic Theological College, we might ask – was there a Catholic voice in that debate?”

He suggested the English Catholic philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe as one such voice, albeit slightly later.

“She worked at Oxford University, and that university had decided to grant Mr Truman an honorary degree. Anscombe was appalled by the decision.” She composed a pamphlet (titled ‘Mr Truman’s Degree’) and forced through a vote of the doctors and masters of her university as to whether Mr Truman should be awarded the degree. She lost.

“Elizabeth Anscombe accused President Truman of a crude, consequentialist [reasoning],” Bishop Adams said.

“She claimed that it is a moral given that choosing to kill and innocent as a means to an end is always murder. She went on to say that the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were clearly innocent. The clear and immediate intention of the bomber pilots, [and] those who ordered the bombing, was to obliterate a huge number of Japanese people as a means to their further aim of bringing about a Japanese surrender.”

“Intentions matter,” Bishop Adams continued. “They help form our characters in a particular way. And that includes not only our ultimate intention, but all the means we choose to achieve them.”

Bishop Adams allowed that most people can and do act in ways that can have bad side effects. “However, intending bad effects is always to be avoided,” he said.

“I’m guessing most of us here today would concede that there is a difference between war crimes such as the targeting of civilians and the acceptance of the sometimes avoidable loss of combatants in the theatre of war [that] is, perhaps at times, in proportion, justified.

“Many of you will, of course, know these same consequentialist arguments are being used today on several fronts, most obviously in defence of the military action currently taking place in Gaza and in the Ukraine.

“Yes, innocent people are losing their lives because military and political leaders see them as being expendable in the light of the supposedly greater cause. According to Anscombe, this is never morally acceptable. I agree with her.”

Bishop Adams referred to St John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendor (The Splendour of Truth), noting that this taught that universal moral norms can be known and applied by people.

“Again, I am sure that that is the case,” Bishop Adams said.

“I mention all that to you this afternoon because of a broader thought. And it is this – we need places which foster and protect the great Catholic intellectual tradition. We need places which value the great heritage of Catholic learning. Our theology is not a museum piece, but it is an understanding of the Gospel – I put it to you anyway – that the world needs to hear today more desperately than before.

“And for me personally, the courage and the Catholic insight of Elizabeth Anscombe had helped me enormously to negotiate the complex and so-often flawed world of ethical consequentialist thinking.”

Bishop Adams said that he offered the Mass for the staff of Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College “who are in the front line of this worthy mission to disseminate the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition to the students of this college and – I put it to you – further afield.”

“. . .  Is there a place for Roman Catholic thought in the public square today? Yes, most certainly, there is,” Bishop Adams said.

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A painting that is a modern interpretation and exploration of Mary as Mother of God and mother of all, was unveiled at The Logos Centre – Whānau Maria in central Auckland on December 14.

“E Maria e matou whaea (Mary, Our Mother)”, an oil on canvas, commissioned artwork, was created by law student Francesca Adams from Howick. Ms Adams works part time as a youth worker at The LOGOS Project, and is also a youth leader at Our Lady, Star of the Sea parish in Howick.

Speaking of the unveiling of the artwork, Ms Adams said that “both my immediate and LOGOS families gathered to celebrate a beautiful day of personal reflection, waiata, and prayer”.

A description of the artwork sent to NZ Catholic stated that “the work depicts parallels between Francesca’s whakapapa (genealogy) to Pawarenga and Pangaru, and the maternal side of Mary that could still be relatable. Within this Māori context, Francesca captured the role of Mary as the feminine version of great love, acceptance and hope. These aspects of motherhood are translated through her laughing with her baby and being surrounded by children. Honouring her in this context was also explored and commented on through the galaxy of stars overhead, illuminating her as the Queen of Heaven. The Matariki artwork imbued in the sky also evokes parallels between what Māori believe are a symbol of new beginnings, remembrance, and joy, and Mary’s message and role, which is eternal. Along with the sacredness emanating from the sky, there are two huia birds [which] accompany Mary. The huia was the most sacred to Māori, a symbol of rangatiratanga (leadership) and mana (power, essence, presence). A single huia feather was worn in the hair like a royal crown; the tapu (sacred[ness]) of the feather entwining with the tapu of the wearer. Francesca chose these birds to represent both the status of Mary as rangatiratanga, and flirt with the idea of traditional Catholic iconography such as angels in a Māori context”.

The description continued: “There was another interest in the interconnectedness of the past, the present, and the future, which Francesca wanted to capture. This work has been divided into three panels, not only by her choice of colours – muted tones in the past and vibrant in the present and future – but also by its subject. In the left section, a Māori boy contemplatively looks into the future with a sense of wonder and calmness. In the right section, a young girl looks to Mary with certainty, while Whina Cooper and her mokopuna march into the future. The whakatauki which can be seen in the bottom left corner of the work, Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua; ‘I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past’, informed Francesca’s exploration of time and life as a continuous cosmic process. This idea of whakapapa shaping both present and future identity is also integral to the story of the LOGOS Project. Symbolically through the waka, Francesca wanted to capture how the wairua (spirit) and whakapapa of LOGOS in its foundation continues on, with Mary at the centre for all inspiration. It is a reminder of where we have been and where we are going.”

“The resulting body of work is a celebration of motherhood through honouring Mary, and an acknowledgement of the interconnectedness of life.”

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We don’t really know what Jesus looked like, and every image of him in the movies is “imagination”.

So said Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College assistant dean Fr Mervyn Duffy, SM, at a Theology on Tap event held at the Apothecary Licensed Eatery in Howick, East Auckland, on November 28.

Fr Duffy was speaking on “Representations of Jesus: The first 300 years” at the event organised by young people from St Mark’s, Pakuranga.

The Marist theologian and lecturer started by saying that there is very little in terms of imagery from the first years of Christianity. There are several reasons for this – there were very few early Christians, and most of them were not wealthy. And, with some exceptions, orthodox Judaism was opposed to depictions of people and animals.

“Christianity starts off like orthodox Judaism in not depicting people,” Fr Duffy said.

“But then they start arguing – you can depict Jesus because he became human. God is invisible – so you should not depict God – but Jesus is God made visible, so therefore you can have a picture of Jesus.”

But the “earliest portrayal of Christ is words – they tell the Jesus stories”. There is a period of oral transmission. Then the words get written down.

Fr Duffy noted that there are no documents that have survived that were in the handwriting of the four Gospel writers or St Paul. “What we have is copies of copies.”

The oldest surviving fragment of the New Testament is The Rylands Papyrus, which contains a very small part of John’s Gospel. Written in Greek, it is dated at about 125AD.

At this stage, there is not a single picture of Jesus, Fr Duffy said.

But grave markings, from catacombs and the like, tells us something. Christograms such as “Chi-Rho” the first two letters for Christ in Greek, are found, and they make a figure that looks like “PX”.

Other imagery on Christian graves involves people praying, and doves and olive branches, hinting at the biblical story of Noah and representing peace. A fish symbol is found on some grave markings. This is an anagram – the Greek word “Ichthys” (fish) standing for “Iota, Chi, Theta, Ypsilon, Sigma” which are the Greek first letters of “Jesus Christ God’s Son Saviour”.

“The word ‘fish’ is a cunning way of signalling you are a Christian. Because it is a word that is a picture that stands for a word that stands for a creed,” Fr Duffy said.

But what might be the first recorded image of Jesus is “a bit ambiguous and puzzling”.

A “graffito” image from an ancient army barracks in Rome shows a figure on a cross, but with the head of a donkey. A man is depicted praying to this figure, and what is scratched underneath is “Alexamenos worships his god”.

This image, dating possibly to about 200AD, is likely to be one soldier mocking the religion of another soldier, Fr Duffy explained.

“So here is a mockery of Christian belief. We have got so used to it [the cross], we wear little crucifixes around our necks. But the crucifixion was scandalous, it was shocking.”

“Alexamenos worships a god who got crucified. What sort of god gets crucified?”

Fr Duffy then spoke about the oldest Christian church found by archaeologists. This is in Syria. It is a house that was turned into a church, dating from the middle of the third century. This structure had a baptistry and paintings on the walls.

Figures like the Good Shepherd are depicted, as are Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, as well as Jesus healing the paralytic, and Jesus walking on the water.

“What do the people who gather in this house church believe about Jesus?” Fr Duffy asked.

“That he is miraculous, that he is a wonder-worker. . . . So Jesus has the power to heal, Jesus has the power to forgive, Jesus has the power to walk on water. Jesus is the wonder-worker.”

This depiction of Jesus healing the paralysed man is “the first clearly dateable picture of the Jesus of the Ministry”, the historical Jesus. The image can be dated to 232-252AD. Jesus is wearing a toga, has bare feet, spikey hair and is clean-shaven, Fr Duffy said.

There is no halo. He looks like a human being, Fr Duffy noted.

But later grave art did start to show Jesus with a halo. “It is a symbol of the emperor. Kings have halos. As well as calling Jesus ‘king’, they start giving him the attributes of a ‘king’.”

Summarising his talk, Fr Duffy said that nowhere in the four Gospels is there any description of what Jesus looked like, or what any of the apostles looked like.

“They are remarkably uninterested in his appearance. There are legends that St Luke was an artist, and legends that there are pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary. . . . There is the legend of Veronica and the veil. . . It is not in the Bible. It is a Christian legend.”

“There are no photos of Jesus. Every movie you have seen is imagination. So really, we don’t know what Jesus looked like.”

Fr Duffy finished by stating that his talk covered representations of Jesus up to 300AD. Then everything changed.

“In 313 AD, [the Emperor] Constantine declares Christianity to be a tolerated religion, so it is no longer persecuted. . .. Suddenly, lots and lots of people become Christian, and the Church becomes wealthy, the art becomes public,” Fr Duffy said.

And then there are many, many depictions of Jesus in art.

Photo: Some of those at the Theology on Tap event.

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In his short book, “Jesus of Nazareth – The Infancy Narratives”, Benedict explored the fact that there was no “room” for Jesus when he came into the world.

“He who was crucified outside the city (c.f. Hebrews 13:12), also came into the world outside the city,” Benedict wrote, citing Scripture passages along similar lines (John 1:11; Matthew 8:20).

“This should cause us to reflect – it points towards the reversal of values found in the figure of Jesus Christ and his message. From the moment of his birth, he belongs outside the realm of what is important and powerful in worldly terms. Yet it is this unimportant and powerless child that proves to be the truly powerful one, the one on whom ultimately everything depends. So one aspect of becoming a Christian is having to leave behind what everyone else thinks and wants, the prevailing standards, in order to enter the light of the truth of our being, and aided by that light, to find the right path.”

That right path usually involves living and working in the “city”, as it were, whilst not being of that city. The risen Christ gives Christians the grace, spiritual power and sustenance for this life.

Benedict also reflected on the fact that Mary wrapped the infant Jesus in swaddling clothes.

“Iconographic tradition has theologically interpreted the manger and the swaddling clothes in terms of the theology of the Fathers,” Benedict wrote.

“The child wrapped stiffly in bandages is seen as prefiguring the hour of his death; from the outset, he is the sacrificial victim . . . The manger, then, was seen as a kind of altar.”

The light of the manger at Bethlehem, likely in a cave in a hillside, is not without end – there is a shadow cast from the cross on the hill of Calvary.

But for believers, the shadow from Calvary is itself overshadowed, as it were, by the radiant light from the empty tomb, on the first Easter day. God has the last word as well as the first.

In the letter to the Romans, Benedict wrote, Paul calls Jesus the “first-born among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

“Having risen, he is now first born in a new way, and at the same time he is the beginning of a host of brethren. In the new birth of the Resurrection, Jesus is no longer merely first in dignity, he now ushers in a new humanity. Once he had broken through the iron door of death, there are many more who can pass through with him – many who, in baptism, have died with him and risen with him.

Benedict continued: “In the letter to the Colossians, the idea is developed further: Christ is called ‘first-born of all creation’ (Colossians 1:15) and ‘first-born from the dead’ (Colossians 1:18). ‘In him, all things were created’ (Colossians 1:16), ‘that in everything he might be pre-eminent’. (Colossians 1:18). The concept of first-born takes on a cosmic dimension. Christ, the incarnate Son, is – so to speak – God’s first thought, preceding all creation, which is ordered toward him and proceeds from him. He is both the beginning and the goal of the new creation that was initiated with the Resurrection.”

“Luke does not speak in these terms, yet for us, reading his Gospel with the benefit of hindsight, this cosmic glory is already present in the lowly manger in the cave at Bethlehem: here, he who is truly the first-born of all that is, came to dwell in our midst.”

Let us rejoice. Gloria in Excelsis Deo.

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New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have given a copy of their new ethics teaching document to all 123 members of the recently elected 54th Parliament.

The bishops published “Te Kahu o te Ora: A Consistent Ethic of Life” in September.

Bishop of Auckland Bishop Stephen Lowe, the president of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference, told the MPs in an accompanying letter that the document was a reminder that the political issues dividing the country were all connected.

“So too is the solution—a lens that sees all life as sacred taonga,” said Bishop Lowe.

“We in our respective positions as parliamentarians and bishops are expected to lead and make decisions for the common good. Each of us is also given a lot to read. Nonetheless we hope that you will find Te Kahu o te Ora is a worthwhile summer read and a resource to dip into as you reflect on the issues we face in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

The letter assured MPS of the bishops’ prayers and the prayers of the Catholic community.

“Our hope is that you may govern for the common good of all in our land, especially those most vulnerable,” the letter stated.

“In our pre-election statement, we wrote of our concern at the growing trivialisation of politics. We lamented that politicians and media often focus on the mistakes, misdemeanours or scandals of individual parliamentarians and tear each other apart. We said we believe the real scandals in our land are the growing indifference to the sanctity of life, rising levels of poverty and the lack of affordable housing, mental health, and the storm events that have beset our islands as global climate change impacts on us and so many in our world. Our election statement also affirmed our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi as offering a pathway of unity for our nation. At the same time, we expressed our dismay at the rapidly growing toxicity in our communities, which is dividing us as a nation and generating anger, hate and even violence. These issues especially affect our most vulnerable people. For too long they have been treated as political footballs.”

The letter noted that “successive election-season promises and the changing of policies in line with the agenda of each new government are not working”.

“More and more people in our land are becoming disillusioned and feel disenfranchised. We need you, our parliamentarians, as a House united, to work together across party lines to make real progress in finding genuine, lasting solutions to solve our problems.

“Without this, rising levels of discontent will further divide our beautiful land and peoples. To this end we would like to present you with the enclosed copy of our new teaching statement, Te Kahu o te Ora: A Consistent Ethic of Life. This document is a reminder that the issues dividing us as a nation are all connected. So too is the solution —  a lens that sees all life as sacred taonga.”

The letter also gave the contact details for each diocesan bishop and expressed a desire to meet with MPs.

A copy of the letter can be found at https://www.catholic.org.nz/assets/Letter-from-Catholic-Bishops-to-members-of-Parliament.pdf

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But every time he feels pain from his injuries suffered during his incarceration from 1975 to 1988, Fr Andrew offers up a prayer for Bui Dinh Thi, “the guy who killed me” in Thanh Cam camp.

The third edition of Fr Andrew’s book “I Must Live” has now been published, and it has some additional supplements from earlier editions, one of which describes the meeting between the priest and his principal persecutor many years later in the United States.

In 1996, Fr Andrew met Dinh Thi and forgave him. But it wasn’t easy.

“This was a very important book for myself because, when I saw him, it was a big event of my life,” Fr Andrew said of his book, which has become a classic of Vietnamese “gulag literature”.

“It is very easy to talk about forgiving your enemies – this is true – but when you step into the house of someone who wanted to kill you, to destroy you, it is very hard, it is not easy. But I tried my best. I came to see him and I forgave him.

“I shook hands and I said ‘I forgive you’. I think this sends a very strong message. I hope that, when people read my book, it strengthens their faith.”

As described in a NZ Catholic article in 2020 about the second edition of the book, Bui Dinh Thi had been one of the detainees responsible for enforcing camp discipline. A Catholic parishioner, he murdered two men who had been with Fr Andrew in a failed escape attempt, and he tried to kill the priest too. He beat one of the men (Diep) to death and starved the other one (Vanh) until he died. He dumped the former’s body on top of Fr Andrew.

Among Bui Dinh Thi’s many acts of violence against Fr Andrew was this: “Then the guard seized me, punching my belly, making me fall backwards. Bui Dinh Thi punched me forwards again, and so they continued like two soccer players using me as a ball.”

The accounts in Fr Andrew’s book led to Bui Dinh Thi being reported to US authorities. Fr Andrew was to testify against Thi in court and he was deported back to Vietnam in 2004. But because there was no treaty between the US and Vietnam to enforce this, Bui Dinh Thi reportedly ended up in the Marshall Islands, where he is said to have died in 2011.

Fr Nguyen’s 13 years in the camps left him with impaired vision in one eye, with leg injuries which prevent him from walking freely, and with reduced use of one lung.

What he went through was a form of hell on earth.

There was “baking” heat, with the priest being in a windowless cell with several other men, with the air so hot that breathing was an exhausting struggle. There was being in a prison – the so-called “Gate of Heaven”, near the Chinese border – that was so cold that some men “howled like wolves”, before falling asleep from exhaustion. There was being shackled in a punishment cell in “the bottom of hell” at Thanh Cam camp, and having to live for weeks in one’s own excrement, cleaning oneself with one’s hand and using clothes to clean those hands. There was reeking of the smell of faeces and urine, to the degree that even a fellow priest could not stand being too close. There was being tortured, beaten, starved, nearly dying of thirst, being naked. There was seeing another prisoner’s eye cut out. It is hearing of fellow prisoners’ plans to eat you. There was seeing a friend beaten to death and having his corpse thrown on top of you, so that you couldn’t breathe.

Fr Andrew came to New Zealand in 1990, at the invitation of Bishop Denis Browne, to be chaplain to the Vietnamese community in Auckland. Thirty three years later, his injuries cause him great pain in the cold of the New Zealand winter.

Asked if he prays for Bui Dinh Thi, Fr Andrew said “all the time, especially in the winter time, when my body is very sore because he tortured me a lot. Last winter was the worst of my life. Every time, I pray for him”.

The book also has an added supplement in which Fr Andrew describes how a Master Sergeant Ha gave him a can of water in the “bottom of hell” in Thanh Cam camp. Despite Bui Dinh Thi knocking over the can and half the water spilling out, this act by the guard saved the priest’s life.

Fr Andrew was so moved by this act, that he offered a $5000 reward for anyone who could give him information “about where to find this man who gave a favour to save my life”.

The lesson that can be taken from this is “Do not refuse when people ask to you to do something – your small gift could save another person’s life”.

Fr Andrew said that he wrote the book because it is good for young Vietnamese living abroad to know the past.

“Secondly, for the outsiders, people outside Vietnam, so they know exactly what happened to the Vietnamese people. The Communists make very strong propaganda and tell lies about what it was like,” he added. From 1975, some 400,000 people were put through the camps.

“Why did I survive?” Fr Andrew asked. “Maybe God has given me the opportunity to do something? To personally talk about the reality of the situation for so many people.”

The book is also a reflection by the priest on how God’s providential love was present throughout his many ordeals, enabling Fr Andrew to be an instrument of God’s love and mercy in desperate situations.

Fr Andrew said that word is spreading about his book – and he has even had an approach from Netflix. But he just hopes that as many people read his book as possible.

“I Must Live” by Father Andrew Nuu Le Nguyen is available from outlets like Paper Plus and Amazon.

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“I continue to follow with sorrow and apprehension what is happening in Israel and Palestine. So many people killed, and others injured,” the Pope said on October 11 at the end of his weekly general audience.

As the Pope spoke, the Israeli Defence Forces website was reporting more than 1200 Israelis killed by Hamas and more than 2800 Israelis injured. At the same time, the Gaza Ministry of Health was reporting a death toll of more than 950 Palestinians and said 5000 others were injured as Israel continued its airstrikes on Gaza.

The initial Hamas attack on October. 7, the Pope said, took place on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which marks the completion of the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll. “I pray for all those families that saw a day of celebration be transformed into a day of mourning,” the Pope said.

“And I ask that the hostages be released immediately,” he continued. Israeli government officials have estimated that Hamas is holding some 150 Israeli hostages.

“One who is attacked has the right of self-defence,” the Pope said, “but I am very concerned about the total siege under which Palestinians are living in Gaza, where there also have been many innocent victims.”

“Terrorism and extremism will not help reach a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, but only increase hatred, violence and vengeance and only make each other suffer,” Pope Francis said.

Photo: Pope Francis begins his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 11, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

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Archbishop Paul Martin, SM, of Wellington, New Zealand, and Bishop Chad Zielinski of New Ulm, Minnesota, sat down with OSV News in late September amid meetings of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on Native American Affairs, of which Bishop Zielinski is chair.

The meetings brought together groups from Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada “to really talk about the experience of being Indigenous people in (those) countries, (and) what issues they are facing”, said Archbishop Martin.

According to the United Nations, there are more than 476 million Indigenous people representing more than 5000 groups in 90 countries, accounting for 6.2 per cent of the world’s population. Most of the world’s estimated 7000 languages are spoken by Indigenous people.

The UN also notes Indigenous peoples across the globe continue to face a number of challenges, such as a lack of political representation and access to social services — as well as denials of their right to self-development according to their own cultural values.

The Catholic Church is working to change that, even as it reckons with its own legacy of involvement in colonialism, said Bishop Zielinski.

While the Church is “serving [such] communities . . . sadly, part of the history of the Church is that [it] really did not at times stand up, and in the name of Christian justice, in the voice of Jesus Christ, stand up for these people who were really being mistreated,” he said.

In July 2022, Pope Francis embarked on a penitential pilgrimage to Canada, during which he apologised for the Church’s role in that nation’s residential school system in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Months after the pope in Canada condemned colonialism as incompatible with the Gospel, the Vatican publicly repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery”, a political and legal theory based on 15th century papal bulls, which European and North American governments utilised to justify their colonisation of Indigenous land and peoples.

One of the key topics that emerged during the USCCB’s Subcommittee on Native American Affairs meetings was “intergenerational trauma”, Bishop Zielinski said.

While Bishop Zielinski noted the “commonalities” among Indigenous communities, Archbishop Martin also stressed the uniqueness of Indigenous experiences in various areas.

In New Zealand, where the Maori have lived since at least the 14th century, “we didn’t have any history of reservations or residential schools”, said Archbishop Martin, making the historical relationship between the Maori and the Church “somewhat different” from the Catholic Church’s other encounters with Indigenous people.

Among New Zealand’s population of some 5.2 million, Te Reo Maori is increasingly spoken “throughout the country”, said Archbishop Martin. “There’s a real revival of the language . . . a renaissance and reclaiming of Maori language and Maori culture.”

As a result, “Catholic people in New Zealand are being exposed” to Maori culture, a process that is even “more intimate” due to the nation’s smaller population, Archbishop Martin said.

Archbishop Martin said his nation’s six dioceses regularly meet with Maori representatives “to hear the voice of Maori Catholic people” by making sure they “have a seat at the table”.

“We use a lot more Maori in the liturgy,” involving “particular things from the culture within the life of the liturgy, while still respecting the nature of the liturgy itself,” said the archbishop.

At the same time, the Church also needs to have the ability “to critique culture and not to be mean,” said Archbishop Martin. “It’s really hard when you’re immersed in the culture, but (you also have) to be able to step out and say, ‘Actually, this is not a good part of our culture.'”

Bishop Zielinksi recommended having parishes “do presentations” and other initiatives that “would facilitate a dialogue” on Indigenous concerns while “honouring and learning” about Indigenous culture.

Those cultures are too often in danger of being left behind as “younger people . . . embrace Western society,” he said. “Their influence is coming from everything they see (on) the Internet, social media, Facebook and all that, and it has a huge Western influence which is quite different than their traditional ways of thinking.”

Bishop Zielinski said that the Catholic Church’s approach to Indigenous peoples should start with recalling “you’re a guest” in such cultures.

“How do you honour that?” he asked. “Once you enter into that with the right mind, then things start to happen.”

“We’re just beginning to learn the value of a listening, spiritual conversation,” said Archbishop Martin.

Bishop Zielinski said it is crucial for those “entering into this dialogue . . . (to) want to do the will of God.

“You’re there with an open heart and mind, and it is the Spirit who leads us. … We’re brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,” he said.

In an earlier interview with NZ Catholic, Auckland diocese vicar for Maori Manuel Beazley, who also attended the conference, noted a return to traditional beliefs.

“One of the things that I might particularly highlight is, based on census data, that [there is] a growing return for Maori in the practice of traditional Maori beliefs. That figure, according to the census data, doubles every time there’s a census,” Mr Beazley noted. “That’s a trend or something that we need to be mindful in the Church’s ministry to Maori.”

Mr Beazley said that he suspects this will be a common theme among Indigenous people who had their religion suppressed or taken over by Christian beliefs.

He said that looking at how the early missionaries approached and converted the Indigenous peoples to Christianity might provide some insights for the mission in the 21st century.

Mr Beazley said that another key issue that he will raise is how the Church engages with Maori today.

“How well has the Church taken the face of its Indigenous cultures?” he asked. “There is a tension between traditional Maori belief and spirituality and Christian spirituality, but it’s something that we need to be able to dialogue, both Maori amongst Maori, and with Maori and the Church.

“This is where I think the upcoming synod and the process of synodality is going to be quite important.”

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