Catholic Church
http://www. catholic. org. nz/our-story/dsp-default. cfm? loadref=45 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_New_Zealand http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council http://www. liturgy. co. nz/blog/the-new-zealand-solution-to-missal-translation/3887 how and why your your chosen religious movement expresses religion in New Zealand the effect of the way your religion is expressed by your chosen religious movement on New Zealand society the implications for New Zealand society from the way your chosen religious movement expresses religions he way in which your chosen religious movement has changed its approach to spirituality and/or worship and/or the role of women Catholicism is one of the popular religions in New Zealand, and presently there are around 508,000 Catholics in New Zealand, which is approximately twelve percent of the whole population. Since the arrival of the first Catholic settlers in the 1820’s, the number of Catholics in New Zealand has been rapidly increasing, and if this trend continues Catholicism will most likely be the biggest faith in the next New Zealand census.
There are a diverse range of age and ethnicities represented in the New Zealand Catholic population. Catholicism is expressed throughout New Zealand through weekly Masses, which they call the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The churches in New Zealand’s cities and towns sustain the historical importance of Catholicism in the country. The Catholic Church in New Zealand is composed of six regions, called dioceses, which are made up of parishes. There are currently 271 Catholic parishes in the 6 dioceses in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Only under a quarter of those who identify themselves Catholic attend Mass at least once a week. The church continues to grow though, as the involvement of laypeople has increased, due to the number of priests, brothers and nuns being declined. Expression of the Catholic religion is also evident through the numerous Catholic churches throughout the country. Following the opening of the first Catholic school in 1841, just a year after the Treaty of Waitangi, the new central government passed a Secular Education Act and the church decided to establish its own network of schools.
Catholic schools promote a full understanding of Catholic education. Around 64,000 or 11 percent of the country’s school students are enrolled in the Catholic school system. Presently, there are 190 primary schools and 49 high schools integrated into the state education system. Effects of the Second Vatican Council became apparent in New Zealand following its end in December 1965. The Roman Missal had to be revised; there was a total use of English at Mass and an altar facing the church attendants.
Other significant changes included the greetings and responses at the beginning of Mass, the texts of the penitential Act, the Gloria, the Creed, the prayers and responses during the Liturgy of the Word, the Holy, Holy, the Memorial Acclamations, the Doxology, all the prayers and responses of the Priest, Deacon and Assembly from the Communion Rite to the Concluding Rites, and those gestures and postures required by the accompanying rubrics and/or the relevant sections of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. These post Vatican II changes were definitely affecting the New Zealand Catholic Church..
Church attendants held more by habit then conviction completely stopped attending mass. Others who thought the pace of change of the Church was not rapid enough stopped as well. TSome believed the Church was rushing change. There were a number of Catholics, though, who did their best to follow the Church’s lead, accepting new ways and trying to get used to them. Another influential effect of Catholicism in New Zealand are the observance and maintenance of Catholic public holidays such as Good Friday, Easter Monday and Christmas day.
These are the only public holidays based on the beliefs of a religion. Through the observances of these holidays we see the level of expression of religion of Catholicism in New Zealand, and the effects this has on New Zealand society. In New Zealand the shape of Christianity is constantly changing. Since it is the 21st century, the Church in New Zealand is focusing on discovering new effective ways of sharing the Gospel with young people. Because of this the numbers of young adults attending Mass and participating in the Liturgy will ossibly increase, if this attempt is successful. With outdated religious expression New Zealand society will possibly be drawn away from the Catholic religion. With outdated beliefs such as the protest against abortion, many New Zealanders will oppose to this, possibly causing them to leave the religion altogether. Considering the current trends, this is not likely as it is a fact that the number of Catholics is rapidly increasing, and it has potential to be the largest religious denomination in New Zealand.
