HAMILTON The establishment of new offices for liturgy and young people demonstrates the emphasis New Zealands bishops place on those aspects of Church life, Bishop Denis Browne has said. As NZ Catholic reported in September, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference is undergoing a restructure with the aim of fulfilling the pastoral priorities it set out last year. It includes the establishment of a secretariat to support the conference and its subsidiary bodies, as well as providing a range of services, including finance, employment, communications and research, for the bishops agencies.
The Catholic Communications office will close at the end of this year, with two communications roles incorporated into the new secretariat.
Also part of the restructuring plan is the dissolution of the National Council for Young Catholics and the National Liturgy Commission in favour of offices and paid positions in each area.
We are expanding and strengthening our work in these areas, said Bishop Browne of Hamilton, president of the bishops conference.
He said the final meeting of the liturgy commission was a bittersweet one, with sadness that a commission that had been very effective was finishing its work, but excitement that the bishops were obviously stressing the importance of liturgy with a full-time position being created.
Job descriptions are being drawn up for the position in the new liturgy office and in the National Office for Young People, with the number of employees in that office yet to be determined.
The jobs are expected to be advertised in coming weeks.
