July 2016 | Hōngongoi
Diocesan News | Ngā Pitopito Kōrero a Rohe Pīhopa
Lorraine McArthur
We have already passed the shortest day this year and the biting cold of winter is kicking in. In this Year of Mercy, during July we’re asking Archdiocese of Wellington parishioners, through their parishes, to donate new pairs of shoes and socks for school-aged children and students. These will be distributed to schools where student need is the most pressing. In some areas principals tell us that on any given day up to 10 per cent of their children are in need of footwear.
The Archdiocese Year of Mercy committee with the support of the St Vincent de Paul Society, has come up with this practical idea to help some of our most vulnerable.
Parishes will collect shoes and socks donated from parishioners during July. Organisers will be asked to deliver the collections to the piazza in front of Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hill St, Thorndon, on Sunday afternoon 24 July. We hope to create a shoe and sock mountain that we’ll call ‘A Mountain of Mercy’. The next day, St Vincent de Paul members will help deliver the new shoes and socks to schools.
‘May the Church never tire of extending mercy and be ever patient in offering compassion and comfort.’ – Pope Francis.
For more information please contact Lorraine McArthur, pastoral assistant to Cardinal John Dew at the Catholic Centre, on phone (04) 496-1796.