Station XV: Episode 64 — Saints, sinners and silliness
The panel kicks off the new year with a debate on the ongoing process of the expected canonisation of Blessed John Paul II. Is it happening too fast? How do we judge that? And what’s the purpose of sainthood? The billboard deemed not to have caused “widespread offence” is also discussed, along with the new reproductive health bill in the Philippines, passed against the Catholic bishops’ wishes. The Catholic ethos of Les Miserables and a wacky petition to have the Catholic Church designated a hate group round of the first show of 2013. Welcome back for the sixth full year of The 15th Station.
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Station XV: Episode 62 — Commission, Canonisation, Apparition
In this month’s episode, James and Gavin discuss the big news out of Australia: the establishment of a Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, with the Catholic Church currently public enemy #1 in the country. There’s even a question over the possibility of a similar New Zealand inquiry. What has happened in New Zealand, though, is the “quiet” opening of a new abortion clinic. There wasn’t much quiet in the northern hemisphere, though, with the canonisation of seven new saints and the US bishops speaking on moral issues making a fair amount of noise. Meanwhile, in Malaysia, is this an apparition of Our Lady?
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The View from Down Here: ELECTION PREVIEW
After months and months of anticipation and expectation, we’re now less than 48 hours away from the first polls closing as the US elects its next president. Three New Zealanders try to read the tea leaves from thousands of miles away, looking at the state of the race at this late stage, analysing how last-minute events can — or did — change the race and finally making a prediction on who will win. Join Brendan, Tim and Gavin as they break it all down with a distinctly New Zealand flavour. And if you think some Catholic leaders are being tough on the Democratic Party and its policies, watch this video we mentioned in the show. Enjoy the election, y’all. Whatever the outcome, we’ll be back to analyse it next week and see who was right and who was wrong.
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The View from Down Here: October 19, 2012
Another week, another debate (or two) and another show packed with a couple of New Zealanders’ views on what is unfolding in the US presidential election. Did Obama win the second debate? Was Biden’s performance forceful or overly aggressive? And what to make of the bishops’ rebuttal of Biden’s comments on the contraception mandate? Those stories and much more in this week’s show as Brendan and Gavin chew the fat. If you want some analysis on one of the second presidential debate’s most contentious moments — the moderator’s on-the-run fact checking of Obama’s use of the phrase act of terror — click here. Or if you want to have some fun with the electoral map and see how the race might pan out, click here. Less than three weeks till the election and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
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The View from Down Here: October 9, 2012
The presidential campaign had a possibly game-changing moment last week with challenger Mitt Romney almost universally declared the winner of the first presidential debate and seeing his poll numbers take a nice jump. But will it last? What do the new unemployment figures mean? Will the vice-presidential debate be meaningful? And why is David Letterman calling Romney a felon? Brendan and Gavin also find time to talk about a soon-to-be-canonised American religious sister and declining birth rates. Thanks for listener feedback, too. We’d love to hear from more of you out there.
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Station XV: It’s our birthday!!
As we mark the Feast of the Assumption, the patronal feast of New Zealand, The 15th Station celebrates our fifth birthday with a typically full show. Dunedin Bishop Colin Campbell’s strong letter denouncing the proposed opening of an abortion clinic leads the show, but other heavy issues like the Egyptian election, same-sex legislation in New Zealand and the mass shootings at a Sikh temple and a Colorado movie theatre. A big thank you to all our listeners over the past five years, during which time tens of thousands of shows have been downloaded. The show will go on 
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The View from Down Here: June 6, 2012
After a one-week hiatus, Brendan and Gavin catch up on some of the big stories in US politics, culture and religion. They include the changing face of the presidential election, as criticisms mount of President Barack Obama, even from “friendly” quarters, a marked shift in the proportion of pro-choice and pro-life Americans, and the law suit filed by 43 Catholic organisations, including the archdioceses of New York and Washington, DC. We’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment.
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Catechiwi: The Commandments, Episode 3
Fr Merv Duffy, SM, and Gavin continue to work through the Ten Commandments in the July episode of Catechiwi. This month, it’s commandments five and seven: Thou shall not kill and Thou shall not steal. As we’ve found with the other commandments, there’s often a lot more to them than meets the eye.
Sorry for the late upload. Technical difficulties.
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Station XV – Episode 30 – Around the world
A great show that takes us all over the world this month! We talk about the debate around adopting the upcoming changes to the Mass missal, the NZ Medical Council losing the plot and forcing Catholic doctors to refer for abortions, how Christian are the Christian Democrats in Germany, atheists failing to get on the bus with their ad campaign copied from the UK, and a French project for dialling in for Confession. Turns out, that’s not allowed. Check it out, and follow us on facebook.com/station15 or twitter.com/station15.
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Familia – Episode 11
This month’s edition of the Familia Podcast explores the following questions: with the recent referendum on the ‘anti-smacking’ bill does the Church have any new information to consider before we vote on it; Obama has recently put through some very controversial legislation on abortion in the states, what has been the Churches reaction; is there a set standard that a couple should be looking for in their marriage preparation; why don’t we hear more about avoiding pre-marital sex from our priests?
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