Charity boss praises Church’s reach across political spectrum

ChildFund chief executive Josie Pagani told Newstalk ZB’s Real Life with John Cowan that her Catholic faith had helped shape her politics.

“When most people think about the Catholic Church and politics, they think of social justice, and absolutely it’s a church that’s rooted in community and grounded in the needs of community, and that’s worldwide,” Ms Pagani said.

“But I think yeah, for me, it was as much about having, I suppose, a place . . . where you almost kind of meditate and you can touch base with yourself. And I think also a feeling, again, that sense of a broad church of Catholicism that everybody in the congregation is there to be loved and understood,” she said.

Ms Pagani, whose background was with the Labour Party, spoke of her friendship with former National Party Prime Minister Jim Bolger, a fellow parishioner at Kapiti, who died last year.

“I became friendly with him and his wife Joan over the last few years, and you know, I was involved in the Labour Party. Obviously, he’s a former National Party Prime Minister, and I just had such respect for him, and I think that sense of reaching across political spectrums in the Catholic Church makes perfect sense.

“I have many Catholic friends who are on the other side of politics. So for me, the politics is really about the sense of no one is excluded . . .”

A self-described “bad Catholic”, Ms Pagani spoke about her appreciation for the sacraments. She said queuing up for Communion is “so physically grounding”.

“I just remember this image of Jim and Joan [Bolger] . . . they walked to Communion and in front of them would be you know, someone with no shoes on, who’s living in the homeless or living in the Catholic housing estates, and it’s just the sense of everybody’s equal before the altar.”

In the Real Life interview, Ms Pagani also discussed a goal to get clean water to every child in the Pacific within 10 years, which would be a major step towards alleviating poverty.

FULL STORY

Real Life: Josie Pagani on ‘portfolio career’ and clean water goal for Pacific (By Matt Burrows/New Zealand Herald)

Josie Pagani, CEO of Child Fund NZ – Real Life With John Cowan (iHeart Radio)

Meet Josie Pagani | ChildFund (ChildFund)