14+ hour, 40+ min ago (667+ words) Thousands of worshippers battled the rain to join Pope Leo XIV as he celebrated mass in Istanbul on the last full day of his visit to Turkey. Earlier on Saturday (local time), the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque, huddled with local church leaders and met Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at his palace on the banks of the Golden Horn estuary. After two days of blue skies and sunshine, the heavens opened, but the downpour did little to dampen the enthusiasm of those in attendance, some of whom had travelled for hours to see Pope Leo on his first overseas trip as the pontiff. Before the ceremony, the streets were filled with umbrellas as people walked through the rain towards the stadium, the crowd giving off a palpable buzz of excitement. "I'm going to the…...

4+ day, 8+ hour ago (493+ words) The popemobile used by the late Pope Francis on his 2014 visit to Bethlehem re-emerged today as a mobile children's clinic to be deployed in Gaza. The vehicle is still unmistakeable as a popemobile: pristine white inside and out, and with the familiar raised canopy. But instead of transporting the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, the re-branded "Vehicle of Hope" is now set to serve in the war-battered Gaza Strip, in accordance with the late Pope's wishes. It was unveiled in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, around the corner from the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square, where preparations are well under way for Christmas. "The Vehicle of Hope is ready for its new mission," Cardinal Anders Arborelius, the Bishop of Stockholm, told a press conference, after blessing the vehicle. "We want every child we reach to…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago (464+ words) Every nail, every brushstroke carries the aroha and resilience of our people." That's how Archdeacon Zhane Tiopira T'hau described a historic Hawke's Bay church as it reopened to the community. It's been almost three years since Cyclone Gabrielle floodwaters tore through the settlement of "m'hu near Hastings, with the St John's "m'hu Church at its heart. The church, the oldest M'ori Anglican church in Hawke's Bay, was built in 1879. Both it and the adjoining urup' (cemetery) were severely damaged when a stopbank failed nearby. The church congregation has been meeting across the road at "m'hu Marae in the interim but, following extensive restoration work, celebrated the grand reopening with special services and gatherings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's been nearly two years of steady work," Archdeacon Zhane Tiopira T'hau, 27, who is an "m'hu local and pastor at the church,…...