Now in Easter Week we know that the unimaginable has actually happened.

Covid-19 has shattered the illusion that we are somehow invulnerable.

We find ourselves feeling as helpless as our ancestors did when terrible plagues decimated local populations, except that this one has global tentacles.

Many of us in the post-coronavirus era will be re-examining our personal priorities. Hopefully, we will be paying special attention to kindness and compassion towards those most in need, starting with those in our own families and neighbourhoods.

This crisis will also prompt many people to ask deeper questions, because human beings innately resist the thought of personal extinction. Despite the fact that death eventually claims us all, our secret longing is that this is not the end of the story.

Even secular funerals often let slip the hope that we will one day “meet again” with the deceased.

The Easter story confirms this human yearning for some new life, with no more pain or suffering or tearful farewells.

Easter also prompts us to reflect more deeply on who Jesus is.

St John opens his Gospel with the majestic, but mysterious, prologue: “In the beginning was the Word . . . All things came into being through him . . . And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory.”

Following his conversion, St Paul could think of no one but Jesus: “I regard everything as rubbish because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8)

During these Easter days, it would be great if we could pray to see Jesus more clearly so that we can work more effectively as his missionary disciples when life gradually returns to normal, as it surely will over time.

— Bishop Patrick Dunn

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For the first time in the history of the Catholic Church in New Zealand, the son of a permanent deacon has been ordained as a bishop.

Deacon Henk Gielen acted as deacon during the ordination Mass of his son, Bishop Michael Gielen, 48, as an auxiliary bishop of Auckland, at the Vodafone Events Centre in south Auckland on March 7.

More than 3000 people from throughout New Zealand attended the celebration, which had strong Maori and Pasifika cultural elements. The venue was chosen because St Patrick’s Cathedral in Auckland was not large enough to accommodate the expected congregation.

Before the Mass, NZ Catholic asked Deacon Gielen if he could ever have imagined when his son was growing up in the central North Island forestry town of Tokoroa, that the pair of them would one day be flanking Auckland Bishop Patrick Dunn, with one as a deacon and the other as a new bishop.

“No father knows what will become of their children,” Deacon Gielen said. “But you love them and give them your best and hope they will flourish.”

Deacon Gielen, from Papamoa Coast (All Saints by the Sea parish), is very proud of his son – the oldest of six children in his family.

He said that the news that his son was to be a bishop came as something of a shock and he is still getting used to the idea.

But he thinks God called Bishop Gielen to this ministry because “Michael has a heart for[the] less privileged and a heart of compassion”.

Deacon Gielen thinks there probably are other instances in the Church where a permanent deacon has a son who is a bishop. But this is the first time it has happened in New Zealand. (Speaking to NZ Catholic when his appointment was announced in January, Bishop Gielen said he has met priests in the United States who have biological fathers who are permanent deacons – but he has never met a bishop who has.)

March 7-8 was a busy weekend for the Gielen family, with 35 relatives travelling to Auckland for the ordination from various centres, including Nelson, Whangarei, Pirongia, Hamilton, Tauranga and elsewhere in Auckland.

Bishop Gielen’s family had various roles at the ordination Mass, including Deacon Gielen being the deacon and proclaiming the Gospel reading, John 21: 15-17. Bishop Gielen’s sister Anna Francis read the first reading, Jeremiah 1:4-9, and the prayers of the faithful were read by Bishop Gielen’s nieces and nephews. Bishop Gielen’s mother Maureen and sister Leah Clark took part in the procession of the gifts.

In his words of thanksgiving at the end of the Mass, Bishop Gielen thanked his mother and his father, and all his “precious family”, for “your unwavering love, your challenges and your encouragement”.

He made mention of the people watching a live stream of the service, including his sister Liz – who was too pregnant to fly – and her husband Andy, as well as a cousin who is a religious sister in England.

When NZ Catholic asked Deacon Gielen what final word of fatherly advice he might have for his son as a new bishop, he said: “Be a man of prayer, be humble, be compassionate and learn from Bishop Pat.”

Bishop Gielen, who has served as director of formation at Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland, spoke in his thanksgiving speech on March 7 about when he was seven years old, a time when he was battling with asthma and struggling at school.

 “A year later, all that changed. We started going back to Mass as a family. It was like rivers, fresh springs of living water, flowing within us, slowly changing us. And as a little boy, I noticed it.”

It was in Tokoroa that Bishop Gielen was ordained as a priest in 1997 by the late Bishop Max Mariu, SM, who was the first Maori priest ordained as a Catholic bishop. Bishop Gielen recalled in Auckland that he was the only priest Bishop Mariu had ever ordained.

As well as working in parish ministry in Hamilton diocese, Bishop Gielen studied at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in the United States and at the Gregorian University in Rome.

“I have good news,” Bishop Gielen said in his thanksgiving speech.

“Whether you are seven or seventy, Jesus loves you. Jesus will never leave you alone. Jesus has amazing things in life for you, whatever your age is, if you trust him and ask him into your life, like my family did. It’s amazing what he can do when we say, ‘yes’. Thank you for your ‘yes’ and let us travel together in our waka (Maori canoe) wherever God leads us.”

The apostolic nuncio to New Zealand, Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, was unable to attend the ordination Mass as he had returned from Italy and placed himself in self-isolation for 14 days in line with guidance from New Zealand authorities to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The archbishop was not ill.

But his message for the ordination was read by Msgr Edward Karaan, deputy head of mission and first secretary at the apostolic nunciature in Wellington. Msgr Karaan asked those present to pray for priestly and religious vocations.

“Bishop Michael Gielen is known for his zeal for vocations promotion,” the message stated.

“In fact, in its December 2015 issue, the NZ Catholic had this featured Catholic news: ‘Holy rollers on a long ride for priesthood’. It reported that Fr Michael Gielen and seven seminarians of the Holy Cross Seminary had cycled for 33 days from Cape Reinga at the northern end of the North Island to Bluff on the southern coast of the South Island to promote vocations for the priesthood.”

The message encouraged people not to be afraid to promote priestly and religious vocations.

The post Deacon Dad proud of his bishop son appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

“Henderson is the best of the west,” Bishop Patrick Dunn exclaimed at a packed Holy Cross Church in Henderson on December 22. The occasion was a Mass for the dedication of the church, which had been rebuilt and expanded to accommodate more people in a fast-growing parish.

More than 1000 people gathered outside the church before the Mass and, after the bishop had cut a ribbon across the main entrance and parish priest Fr Sebastian Fernandes, OFM Cap, had unveiled a memorial plaque (at the bishop’s invitation), the congregation streamed into the building as a powhiri was performed, filling it to overflowing, with many people standing during the celebration.

Fr Fernandes later joked, in a speech at the end of the Mass, that just before the beginning of the celebration, someone had told him “Father, we have to build a bigger church”. The priest said that he responded “[the] bishop is here, you write a petition”.

The $5.4 million project, which had its origins in discussions as far back as 2005, involved a rebuilt and expanded church building, plus a parish centre and children’s library/meeting area.

The refurbished church has an improved layout, enabling the congregation to encircle the altar. The Studio of John the Baptist reworked the altar, lectern, tabernacle and crucifix, and created a new baptismal font, as well as restoring the mosaic art stations of the cross originally created by Milan Mrkusich. The rebuilt church can seat 700 people, up from the previous capacity of 500.

In his homily at the Mass of Dedication, Bishop Dunn congratulated the parish on its achievement and praised the beauty of the building.

But as the Church’s prayers for the dedication of a new church say, the bishop added, “the real Church is made of living stones – you and me”.

“This building – this is our home, but we are the Church.”

“So, I thank you for your boldness and your courage in building this beautiful, renovated church, filled with life.”

“ . . . [L]et’s pray that this church will be a place where God’s Word is proclaimed, the sacraments are celebrated and we, the living stones, are nourished so that the living church of God will go from strength to strength – in the west, the best.”

Diversity

The Mass reflected the diversity of the parish, with many different communities having roles. 

The Tongan community and the youth of the parish processed the lectionary in for the readings. Prayers of the faithful were read in many languages, including Te Reo Maori, Tagalog, Tongan, Croatian, Samoan, Dutch, Fijian and Indian and Sri Lankan languages. The gifts were presented by the Samoan community. This saw a cooked pig briefly brought into the church on a stretcher, before it was taken away for later consumption. A Filipino choir sang during the Mass. Children from Holy Cross School presented flowers to Bishop Dunn and to priests.

At the end of the Mass, several people addressed the congregation, starting with rebuilding committee representative Peter Turnwald, who thanked Bishop Dunn for his encouragement “to include the new parish centre in the project – not to let the opportunity to be lost. So we proceeded with the whole project”.

“On another occasion we went in worried about the cost. And he looked at it and he said, well, really, the debt is really only the price of an average house in Auckland. It has probably gone up now bishop, to two or three average houses . . . He was always encouraging in that sense,” Mr Turnwald said.

NZ Catholic understands the parish had a debt to the diocese of $1.6 million for the project.

Mr Turnwald thanked and acknowledged many people who had contributed to the project – the diocesan property team, parishioners, the Capuchin community, Holy Cross School, fundraisers, ethnic communities, and rebuilding committee members.

He especially thanked rebuilding committee chairman Michael McKeown and architect (and parishioner) Susan Lee and the Studio of John the Baptist’s Michael Pervan.

“It is up to the parish, the parish council, the priests, to use this facility to enhance what we have,” Mr Turnwald said.

“It is the best in Auckland – apart from St Patrick’s Cathedral, of course”, he said, smiling at the bishop. “We are second.”

Parish pastoral council chair Stephen Machado said the “way this entire community has rallied towards the common goal of this new Holy Cross Church was a very humbling experience, and I pray to Our Lord that he blesses us in this unity and the bond always”.

Fr Fernandes thanked everyone who had been involved in the project, in any way, at any time.

“Every drop of water makes the ocean. So, also, it is true that your smallest as well as biggest contribution has been significantly important in having this beautiful church made into a reality to adore the Lord whom we adore and trust.”

Bishop Dunn also spoke briefly after the Mass.

“I just want to add that there is never an ideal time to build a church or a school,” the bishop said.

“There’s always a lot of reasons why, oh no, we can’t do it now. You know, it is too difficult, it will be too expensive, we haven’t got the people. It takes a great sense of boldness to say, oh, we will do it.

“Rebuilding committee members – you really said, no we will do it. And all I can say is congratulations. When I walked into the church on Wednesday afternoon, I was just blown away. It is just wonderful and a church you can be very proud of.”

After the Mass, all were invited to go to the parish hall for light refreshments.

The post Best in the west as rebuilt Holy Cross dedicated appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

NZCBC president Bishop Patrick Dunn said he is delighted with the appointment.

“Dr Metuamate has emerged as the best candidate from a rigorous selection process. He is a personable and capable man, with the vision, energy and relationship skills needed to get the new organisation up and running,” said Bishop Dunn.

“Areti’s appointment will help drive visibility and growth for Te Kupenga among Māori, Pasifika, younger people and other important communities within our increasingly diverse Church and society.”

The bishop said Dr Metuamate “will bring a contemporary style and quality of leadership to a new organisation that seeks to engage the Catholic and wider communities in ways that are authentic and resonant for our time”.

Te Kupenga was formed on January 1 in a merger of Good Shepherd College with The Catholic Institute. It has three operating units — Catholic Theological College (for tertiary courses and qualifications), National Centre for Religious Studies, and the Nathaniel Centre for Catholic Bioethics.

Dr Metuamate said he is honoured to have been appointed and is excited to be back home after a decade in Australia. He is currently based in Adelaide and will return to Wellington next month.

“It feels like the right time to return home to bring the learning and experience I have gained after 10 years working in Australian universities and organisations. The opportunity to play a leadership role in shaping Te Kupenga and ensuring it connects and appeals to more of our people is also a key motivation for me,” he added.

He revealed that he and his wife are expecting a son, to be born in March.

“Being based amongst whanau is important for us,” said Dr Metuamate who is of Ngati Kauwhata, Ngati Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngati Haua and Cook Islands descent.

Dr Metuamate held advisory and leadership roles in both the public and tertiary education sectors, most recently as dean of St Mark’s College in Adelaide, South Australia.

He was raised in Feilding where he attended Hato Pāora College. He graduated from Victoria University of Wellington and the Australian National University, where his PhD was in Pacific leadership.

His wife, Dr Jessa Rogers-Metuamate, is a distinguished indigenous academic, educator and artist from Australia’s Wiradjuri peoples, whose international research has included working with students of St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College in Napier.

The bishops chose “Te Kupenga – Catholic Leadership Institute” as the name for the new organisation after careful thought and consultation with staff and students, noted an NZCBC media release late last year.

Te Kupenga means “the net” or “the fishing net” and harks to the first four disciples of Jesus — Andrew, Peter, James and John. They were called from their boats and nets to become fishers for Jesus’ kingdom with the same care, dedication and skill they brought to their fishing.

Bishop Dunn said the name resonates strongly with Pope Francis’ call to the Church to revive its missionary spirit and purpose.

“Te Kupenga will put out into the deep and cast our net wide,” said Bishop Dunn.

The bishops intend the name to also reflect a contemporary reference to networking, online learning, and linking with others collegially.

They expect the new institute to play a vital role in training, educating and forming Catholic seminarians and lay leaders.

The post CEO for new leadership institute appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

During Advent, a friend of mine was interviewed by a radio station wanting to know what Christmas meant for Catholics. My friend began by saying that, first and foremost for us, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus.

She was not quite prepared for the response from the reporter who then asked “Who is Jesus?”

The reporter later explained that many of their listeners might not know who Jesus was, but it seemed that she was not too sure either.

It’s a great question for us all to ponder during the Christmas season.

Jesus himself once famously quizzed his own friends on who people thought he was, before focusing the question a bit more awkwardly: What about you? Who do you say I am?

Every Christmas, in Scripture readings, prayers and traditional carols, we are reminded of the great Christmas mystery, namely that God himself took
flesh and was born among us at Bethlehem.

Not just some great religious teacher whose influence on human history has been incalculable, which most secular Kiwis will admit.

We believe something far more outrageous about the baby whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. Every Sunday we remind ourselves just who he is:

The Only Begotten Son of God

Born of the Father before all ages,

God from God, Light from Light,

True God from true God,

Begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father,

Through him all things were made.

Christmas has little to do with lavish spending or family gatherings or backyard BBQs.

These often kindly gestures have their place, but Christmas is actually about the stunning truth that, as one poet put it:

The Maker of the stars and sea

Become a child on earth for me.
—

— Bishop Patrick Dunn

The post Who is Jesus? appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

A new tabernacle, created by the Studio of John the Baptist, was blessed by Bishop Patrick Dunn during Mass.

Afterwards, people gathered at the hall for refreshments and conversation
and to view memorabilia illustrating the previous 100 years.

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Joining them at the Mass were Wellington Cardinal John Dew, Cardinal Thomas Williams (Archbishop Emeritus of Wellington Archdiocese), Hamilton Bishop Stephen Lowe, Bishop Denis Browne (Bishop Emeritus of Hamilton), Dunedin Bishop Michael Dooley, Bishop Colin Campbell (Bishop Emeritus of Dunedin) and Bishop Basil Meeking (Bishop Emeritus of Christchurch).

The priests who were also marking their anniversaries
of ordination included Fr Albert Williams, OFM (65 years), Frs Denis Whelan, CSsR, Stuart Sellar, Michael Browne, Grahame Connolly, SM, and Bill Hansell, SM (60 years), Frs Luke Rawlings, OP, Anthony Malone, OFM, and John Bland, IC (50 years), Fr Bernard Teo, CSsR (40 years) and Frs Benedict Francis, Mosese Tui, SDB, and Peter Tipene (25 years).

Towards the end of the Mass, the priests presented Bishop Dunn with a new crozier, which featured a silver olive branch motif.

It was presented to him by soon-to-be ordained Deacon Martin Wu and retired priest Fr Martin Bugler, with Auckland diocese vicar for administration Msgr Paul Farmer.

The post Bishop and priests’ jubilees celebrated in Akld appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

A long time parishioner of St Mark’s parish in Pakuranga, where Msgr Green had been the foundation parish priest in the 1970s, told NZ Catholic of one difficult Christmas in that decade.

It was the first Christmas in which she was a solo mother, raising several children, she said. Then-Father Green showed up at her house with several containers of festive food. He told her she had won the parish
raffle.

“But I never bought a ticket,” she told NZ Catholic.

As Bishop Patrick Dunn said in the homily at a requiem Mass at St Mark’s on July 19, “he had a lovely heart, a great heart, a kind heart and a heart for God and a heart for the Gospel”.

That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t “sometimes being a bit
grumpy or crabby, losing his cool occasionally”, the bishop noted.

But he would want to extend his apologies for those times, Bishop Dunn said.

Msgr Green died on July 15 at St Joseph’s Home in Ponsonby, just a week away from the 63rd anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. He was 92 years old.

Bishop Dunn spoke of Msgr Green’s early family life in Auckland, the loss of his mother when he was 12, his being a foundation pupil at St Peter’s College and of his following his father as a plumber.

Ordained in 1956, then-Fr Green’s first appointment was as a curate in Epsom.

Bishop Dunn said that Bishop Liston told him “Ray, you are older than the others (newly ordained priests) and the parish priest is a very good and holy man. I
think you’ll cope”.

“Which was a coded way of saying the parish priest could be a bit difficult. I think he had a happy time there,” Bishop Dunn said.

Other appointments were at Whakatane, Tuakau (where Fr Green was chaplain to the Marist Brothers’ juniorate), Ponsonby (where he taught at St Paul’s College), Thames and Panmure.

In 1971, Bishop Reginald Delargey asked Fr Green to found the parish in Pakuranga.

Bishop Dunn said that Msgr Green would later tell him that the years he spent in Pakuranga (1971-1983) were the happiest of his life.

“He said, fancy that, here I was in a parish — no buildings, but living stones, you know, the faithful people of God. At the age of 44, this was a great challenge and he was thrilled at the opportunity,” the bishop said.

A new church was built, followed a few years later by a new school.

“When he left the parish in 1983, it was debt-free. It was a remarkable achievement. But he spoke constantly about how wonderful the people were at St Mark’s,” Bishop Dunn said. Their faith inspired him, the bishop
added.

“There’s a saying that a priest leaves his heart in his first parish and his books in his second. I don’t know what he did with his books, but he left his heart here
at St Mark’s.”

Fr Green moved to Owairaka and in that parish of Christ the King there would later be the challenge of building another new church and new school, because of the new motorway for the Waterview Connection tunnel.

Altogether, he was parish priest at Owairaka for 26 years. A vigil Mass was celebrated there on July 18. Bishop Dunn said Msgr Green would tell him how wonderful the parish at Owairaka was too.

“He was into buildings, physical buildings, but mostly he was into building up God’s holy people. That was where his heart lay,” Bishop Dunn said.

He was “a great pastor, a great preacher really — short and sweet was the way he used to talk”.

He was made an Honorary Prelate of His Holiness in 2007, with the title “Monsignor”.

At the Pakuranga Mass, Bishop Dunn thanked all those who had cared for Msgr Green in his retirement and in his final months.

The post Msgr Ray Green had a great pastor’s heart appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

I remember two very significant visits to Notre Dame in Paris.

The first was in December, 1986. I was visiting Paris and had heard that Cardinal Lustiger celebrated Mass when he was in Paris every Sunday evening at Notre Dame and I was keen to see and hear him. When I arrived at the cathedral in the late afternoon, it was already full and a music concert was drawing to a close. To my pleasant surprise, few people left at the end of the concert, but many more arrived for the weekly Mass with the cardinal, so it was standing room only. Cardinal Lustiger preached with enthusiasm, but what touched me most was at the end of the Mass, when the recessional procession walked some way down the main aisle and then everyone stopped and turned to the statue of Notre Dame to sing the Salve Regina.

I was deeply moved by the face of French Catholicism which I encountered on that day and am pleased that we retain something of this practice at our cathedral in Auckland when we often pause to stand and face the shrine of Mary to sing a hymn in her honour, as I had experienced it on that Sunday evening in Paris so many years ago.

The second very memorable visit to Notre Dame Cathedral occurred in January, 2002. I was part of the group from New Zealand that had travelled to Paris to collect the remains of Bishop Pompallier from the suburban cemetery in Paris where he had lain somewhat unknown and then forgotten for 130 years.

One of our key contact people for this visit was Monsignor Jean-Yves Riocreux, who was then the Rector of Notre Dame and is now the Bishop of the Basse-Terre Diocese in the French Caribbean. With his support, we brought the remains of Bishop Pompallier, now in a new carved casket, from the cemetery to Notre Dame Cathedral for our final night in Paris. That evening, I and other priests from New Zealand joined Cardinal Lustiger and priests from the cathedral for the weekday Mass that evening with regular parishioners and Kiwis in Paris, whom Monsignor Riocreux had also invited for the occasion.

I remember that I preached briefly in French, Māori and English, and thanked the Church in France for sending Bishop Pompallier and the first generation of Catholic missionaries to Aotearoa-New Zealand from 1848 onwards. Hymns were sung in French, but also, we suspect for the first time in that great cathedral, in Te Reo Māori.

Some of our group kept watch with Bishop Pompallier in one of the side chapels during his last night in France before we left early the next morning for the long journey home to Aotearoa-New Zealand.

My memory of Notre Dame was of its gigantic size, its great antiquity and its breath-taking beauty. I am greatly relieved that the structure has not been damaged and that the damage caused by the fire will be repaired.

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This was among the tributes paid to Fr Meuli by Fr Antony Sumich, FSSP, preaching at a requiem Mass at the Church of the Holy Family in Te Atatu on March 27. Fr Meuli died at St Joseph’s Home in Ponsonby on March 22.

The requiem Mass was celebrated in Latin, in the extraordinary form, with the celebrant being Fr Michael-Mary, FSSR. Fr Sumich was the deacon and Fr Jeremy Palman was the sub-deacon. Bishop Patrick Dunn and Bishop Denis Browne were present.

Fr Sumich’s homily touched on many aspects of Fr Meuli’s life, which, he said, could not be put “into a box”.

Born in 1926, Fr Meuli’s secondary education in Auckland was at Sacred Heart College and St Peter’s College (at which he was a foundation student in 1939) and later at St Kevin’s College, Oamaru. He served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force from 1943 to 1945, obtaining his pilot’s licence, but without seeing active service.

Entering Holy Cross College in Mosgiel in 1951, he
would go on to study in Rome, where he was ordained
in 1956. He obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in
1956, a Licentiate in Philosophy in 1959 and a Doctorate
in Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University in 1959. After being ordained, he did chaplaincy work in Germany, including being a chaplain to the Occupation Army of the Rhine.

In 1959, he returned to New Zealand and worked in parishes including Three Kings, Panmure, Waiheke, Howick,
Kihikihi, Avondale, Glen Eden, Northcote and Grey Lynn. From 1969 to 1971, he was editor of Zealandia.

While at Glen Eden, he studied law at the University
of Auckland, gaining a bachelor’s degree in 1977 and he was subsequently admitted as a barrister and solicitor
of the High Court of New Zealand.

Mention was also made of his love of classic cars — in Glen Eden he had two Monaros and a Jaguar.

Further overseas studies followed. He graduated from the Lateran University of Canon and Civil Law in 1980 as Doctor in Utroque Jure, Summa Cum Laude. His thesis was titled “The status and the defences of the unborn child in common law”. Further studies followed, and he was licensed to appear before the Sacred Roman Rota and the Signatura Apostolica. In the early 1980s, Fr Meuli worked with the regional tribunal in Bologna, Italy.

Returning to New Zealand, he was parish priest of Three Kings in Auckland, but, Fr Sumich said, he had his mind set on celebrating the traditional Latin Mass of his ordination.

“He was given the opportunity to do so at Mt St Mary’s in Titirangi and the rest is history.”

The fact that Fr Meuli touched many souls was shown by the numbers at his funeral, Fr Sumich said.

Throughout his ministry at Mt St Mary’s, Fr Meuli “heard endless confessions, thousands upon thousands . . . he wanted everyone to receive God’s grace”.
“For long years in that rather run down shed up
there, with extreme cold [in winter] and great humidity
in the summer, he stayed the course.”

Fr Sumich said Fr Meuli was always a man of great learning, and this showed through occasionally in the bemused looks on the faces of some in his congregations during his preaching. But he wanted to “make his own reparation for what happened after Humanae Vitae”.

“You could go to Mt St Mary’s at 6am or 6pm, 10am or 3pm, or two in the morning and there he was, praying.”

Fr Sumich said Fr Meuli had played a key part in his own vocation and in the vocations of many others.

“He wanted to die in the confessional or at the altar, but God had other plans. Dementia set in and he was unable to celebrate Mass.

“His whole focus was on Christ crucified.”

Fr Sumich said Fr Meuli died “a good and holy death. That is what really matters. That is what he was aiming for all along”.

Just before the casket was taken from the Te Atatu church, it was draped in a Māori cloak. His body was interred at the Panmure Catholic Cemetery.

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