The final plan, presented in a pastoral letter on the First Sunday of Advent, leaves intact most of an original proposal to form five new, larger, better-resourced city parishes from the current 12. But there are a couple of changes to two of the proposed parishes.

A new parish of Christchurch North, based at St Joseph’s, Papanui, will be an amalgamation of the Bryndwr, Burnside and Papanui parishes. Previously, this was proposed to be a merger of Mairehau, Burnside and Papanui parishes. Mairehau is now going to be amalgamated with St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral parish to form a new Christchurch Central parish, to be “located at a yet to be finalised site in central Christchurch”. It was originally proposed that Bryndwr be part of the central parish merger.

In the pastoral letter, Bishop Martin explained that in the original proposal, the three “north” parishes would have had the three largest schools in the diocese, creating “logistical issues, especially around sacramental programmes and pastoral care for our schools”.

Geographical considerations concerning Mairehau’s catchment, the projected size of the new “north” parish, and existing cooperation between Burnside and Bryndwr parishes were among other reasons cited for the changes.

Other proposals for parishes in Christchurch South, Christchurch East, Christchurch West and Selwyn were unchanged from the original plan that had been released in June.

New churches will be built at Papanui and Hoon Hay, and an expanded church will be at Sockburn. In time, it is hoped a new church will be at Rolleston in Selwyn.

The new parishes will commence on Pentecost Sunday, 2020. Parish priests have been appointed, with the new administrator of the pro-cathedral parish to be Fr Simon Eccleton. The current administrator, Fr Chris Friel, has been appointed parish priest of Timaru and Waimate parishes. (A full list of Christchurch diocese clergy moves will be in the January 26 issue of NZ Catholic).

“Communities will continue to worship from their current sites as parishes decide and begin on either a building or renovation programme,” Bishop Martin wrote in the pastoral letter.

“The next step in the process will be to produce accurate costings for all new facilities, facility upgrades, land acquisitions and land sales,” the bishop noted.

“Through the parish priest and the parish councils, the parish will be fully involved in determining what buildings will be needed for the new parish.”

He acknowledged that fundraising would be required, as it was before this plan, and “especially in areas that haven’t had a parish campaign so far”.

Bishop Martin explained: “We have been very conservative with our projections to ensure this can work.”

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The diocesan construction project is part of the $500 million “North of the Square” project, a joint venture between Christchurch diocese, property developer Carter Group and Crown rebuild company Ōtākaro.

“After we realised that it wasn’t going to be financially feasible to restore the Cathedral at Barbadoes Street, there was then a discussion about what we might do next,” Bishop Martin said in a video posted to the diocesan website.

“One of the options that I said to our [diocesan] property people is:  why don’t we have a look and see if we could come a little closer to town than we are at the moment? And so, [the property] people looked at that and this site became available. Our property people worked with Philip Carter and a number of the other owners to look at the possibility of establishing this as the site for the new cathedral,” he explained.

Bishop Martin said they need to raise at least $30 million initially.

“We have some insurance money that had been set aside for the cathedral and so we’ll use that. Also, we’ll look again at our other assets and, if we have surplus assets, we’ll need to realise those as well,” he said.

The bishop said he is looking at the possibility of selling the land where the current cathedral sits on Barbadoes Street.

The proposed cathedral parish precinct will be built adjacent to Victoria Square, on the site bordered by Armagh Street, Colombo Street, Cambridge Terrace and Manchester Street.

It will include the new cathedral, which will be able to accommodate 1000 people, a new St Mary’s primary school, as well as offices for the diocese, residential accommodation for priests and the bishop and a multi-storey car parking building.

The cathedral’s project cost is estimated at $85 million, the school at $11 million and the bishop’s and priests’ residence as well as the car park building at $30 million.

 The precinct is expected to be completed by 2025.

“My hope is that in five years’ time, the precinct will be built. That is my hope, but it will depend on our ability to fundraise,” the bishop said. “The priority is getting on with the design, so we get a clear idea of exactly what we are proposing.”

Bishop Martin said the move is really meant to put Catholic life in the heart of the city.

“For us, it is really being in the heart of the city, being present . . . , firstly, for our own religious purposes, for Mass and other things,” he explained.

“Secondly, we need to be able to play our part in the life of the city and to be a place of welcome for people to come and pray or just rest in this place and [be] a sign for us that Christianity in Christchurch is a really important part of life in society and we want to play our part.”

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Newly-professed Carmelite nun, Sr Catherine of Christ, lacked the words to
articulate what it felt like on the day she made her final solemn vows.

“There’s actually no word,” she said. “It was the happiest day of my life, by
a long shot. And I suspect on this side of eternity it will remain. I was just so
deeply happy.”

“After the profession, when I sat down again, I just was so happy. So happy and at peace, and I just felt loved and blessed by God. And I didn’t expect that. I didn’t know what I expected. Because your feelings are kind of all over the place. I suppose I know a little bit now what it is like for a bride.”

The occasion made Sr Catherine feel nervous, but all God’s love and blessings and the joy of giving herself to God totally eclipsed that, she explained.

But even though it was a joyous occasion, Sr Catherine felt a deep ache inside.

“What was difficult for me at the Mass was that my family are not Catholic, and have found my vocation very difficult.

For that reason, there was an element of pain, actually. I didn’t know how they were feeling. I didn’t know how it was going to go for them.

“I realised I couldn’t look at them during the Mass, because I thought I would break down in tears. I knew they were suffering.”

However, after the profession, she felt at peace and at the sign of peace, she
was able to turn toward them and smile, she said.

Despite that, the 34-year-old looked composed and poised at the ceremony
at the packed-out Carmelite Monastery Chapel in Hoon Hay in Christchurch.

Bishop Paul Martin, SM, was the main celebrant at the Mass, accompanied by 15 priests and Bishop Basil Meeking. One of the priests was Sr Catherine’s former spiritual director from Washington, DC, Fr Clarence Trinkle.

In his homily, Bishop Martin spoke of one being called to a Carmelite life as being called to join a prayer “powerhouse, a calling into the “the desert of calm”.

“Yes, a calling to the desert, but remember that, for the exodus pilgrims, the
desert was the place of hope-filled transition.

A place where the traveller was drawn from superficiality to depth, from
fantasy to reality and from resistance to intimacy,” Bishop Martin said.

“And this is why the daily calling of God for most of us is most often a gentle, persistent alluring, an enticement, a deep traction. And the desert, where adventurers discover freedom from the attachments and preoccupations that prevent our response to the love of God, the desert is a welcome home for those who realise that all the successes, relationships, and possessions of the world can never satisfy the longing of the human heart.”

Bishop Martin said all who seek to mature in the faith will realise that the only way to really live a happy life is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

“This divine relationship must be the first priority for every one of us for every moment. Whether in home, family, workplace and social life or in a monastery.”

St Padre Pio

Sr Catherine knew that God had called her to the desert of calm, but her childhood and early teen years never would have predicted such an outcome.

She grew up a Presbyterian in Kurow, a small town halfway between Timaru and Dunedin. Her father was a Presbyterian minister. But she wasn’t raised with “an active prayer life”; in fact, she stopped attending church services altogether when she was 10 years old.

“It was boring,” she recalled, “we never said a prayer at home, not once.
Although we did say grace when my grandparents came.”

It was her best friend in high school, Caroline Bishop (née Lucas), whose influence propelled the young Catherine to reawaken her faith and love of God.

Caroline gave her a book about St Padre Pio to read.

“The first Catholic teaching I understood was the communion of the saints,
because Caroline’s mother had explained it to me in a long car ride back from their holiday house. So, at the end of this book, I said ‘Padre Pio, pray for me’.”

“It was at St Hilda’s High School (Anglican) I became interested in the faith, in the Christian faith and then the Catholic faith.”

After attending a discipleship training school in Sydney, doing a mission in
India and attending Otago University for a year and a half, Sr Catherine travelled to the United States to join the consecrated women of Regnum Christi, where she worked in youth ministry.

Spending eight years there was her foundation to entering the Carmelites
later on. When she felt that something was missing in her life, it was Fr Trinkle who suggested to her that she might have a contemplative vocation, which she had never considered at the time. But with that seed planted, Sr Catherine continued her discernment and decided to give the Carmelite community a go. She caught a plane back to New Zealand to discern entering the contemplative and enclosed order in Christchurch.

Monastery

Life at the Carmelites wasn’t always a walk in the park, she said. The
three years between her first and final vows were quite testing. That period
was purifying, yet confirming of her calling to be a Carmelite, she told NZ
Catholic.

“Everything about this life recharges me and gives me life, and it’s enriching,” she said.

“It wasn’t about doubting that I had a vocation, it was working through the
struggles of community life, things come to the surface, and you’ve got to start facing your issues, it’s more working through that and just asking yourself ‘can I live this life?’ Because sometimes you would like to run away from that — the weaknesses which everyone else sees, but you hadn’t — and it is painful. Those had been my crises more than vocational ones.”

Two saints who were very present for Sr Catherine, from her initial conversion to accepting her vocation, right up to days before her final profession, were Saint Padre Pio and Saint Therese of Lisieux. While on an-eight-day silent retreat before her final profession, Sr Catherine experienced “heavenly signs”, which helped confirm everything.

“The night I began my retreat, on the 22nd [of September] somebody gave
us an alms of 900 Masses [to be said] at [Padre Pio’s] shrine [in Italy]. We’ve never received that as a gift before.”

“That, for me, was a sign from heaven,” she said.

The first day of the retreat fell on September 23, which is Saint Padre Pio’s
feast day, and the day Sr Catherine made her final vows happened on the feast day of Saint Therese of Lisieux. It was all coming together.

“That [Tuesday, October 1] was one of the only days Bishop Paul could do. She [Saint Therese of Lisieux] is a Carmelite, I love her. She’s helped me many times in the past with little things, so I felt [she was] very present when I was saying her novena.”

“These were some of the little signs from heaven, on the day of my final vows, that made it seem so blessed by God.”

The post The happiest day of Kiwi Carmelite’s life appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

Deacon Peter Trung Nguyen of Palmerston North diocese and Deacon Anthony Tang Phan of Christchurch diocese
were ordained at Sacred Heart church in Ponsonby on September 21, the feast of St Matthew, apostle and evangelist.

Both new deacons originally came from Vietnam, and Bishop Martin thanked them “from the heart — I thank you on behalf of all us gathered here today, and the many
people in your dioceses who love you and who aren’t able to be here”.

“You have embraced a great adventure of faith in a remarkable and inspiring way by taking literally the call to leave home, country and family and move” in response to the Lord’s call.

But Bishop Martin told the deacons that “today’s sacramental action is not primarily about you, since this celebration, and in every sacramental action, it is Jesus Christ who is central. Today is about Jesus Christ, choosing
again to use weak, frail, vulnerable and sinful people as his instruments of divine mercy and love. And in the light of this mercy and love, we are able to see ourselves as we are, at times even feeling doomed. People of unclean lips, but no
longer defined by our deficiencies. Instead, from our lowly position, our eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, and we stand, called and chosen, responding ‘here I am
Lord, send me’.”

Bishop Martin said that on this day the deacons have seen and heard and experienced support and love — a “tangible
acclamation of your vocations”.

“But not every day will be like this,” the bishop warned.

“Some days you might well wonder, what were you thinking, why did you take this step? In the years ahead, there will be times when you hear reports of your brothers in holy orders and feel embarrassment and shame. In the same way, you will see parishioners as they set aside the practice of our faith. And in these painful moments, remember that, while there is good and grace in every person, there is also pravity and sin. I’m speaking about myself as well within this.

“But this makes our decision simple. We are not the followers of human role models, fashions or ideologies,” Bishop Martin noted.

“We are followers of Jesus Christ. He is our model and he is our God. By your life and character you will give witness to
this [imperative] of faith, that God must be loved above all else, and that it is he that you serve above all.”

The post Double deacon ordination appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

The liturgy for the opening of the chapel began with the symbolic handing
over of the building, its keys and plans to the bishop.

“I am not here simply to open another building, but to receive this chapel on behalf of God and for the use of God. From today this chapel is not our chapel — it is God’s house,” Bishop Martin said.

Bishop Martin called on the college to keep the chapel open and welcoming.

“Every time you drive or walk past this chapel, perhaps at the beginning or end of each day, take a brief moment to remember that Jesus is with you in the midst of your own joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties, perhaps renew that lovely old Catholic custom of making the Sign of the Cross as a simple prayer whenever you pass a Catholic church,” he said.

St Bede’s rector Justin Boyle said the college paid homage to its history in building the chapel.

“We’re a school of over 100 years old. And as you come up the drive there, many people have said to me, ‘it looks like it’s been here for 100 years already’. That’s exactly the effect we’re want to create,” he said.

The original chapel was demolished in 2012 after it was damaged by the
earthquake the year before. The school temporarily used an old science building for prayers and Masses while awaiting the new chapel.

Mr Boyle said many of the features of the old chapel had been kept and reinstalled in the new building.

“These features include 12 stained glass windows and the backdrop of the old altar, the reredos, which is a replica of the one in Durham Cathedral in England where St Bede’s crypt is,” he said.

The organ as well as pews from other demolished Catholic churches in Christchurch were also installed to sensitively integrate these historic core features into the new facility, he said.

The Society of Mary donated $1 million to the chapel appeal which was matched by the college’s board through a combination of money from its insurance payout and its own funds. Around 400 donors also contributed.

Mr Boyle said the chapel is the most important building of the college.

“The return of the chapel is a clear statement of who we are and what we stand for, a Catholic, Marist College, and we welcome its return,” he said. “The chapel is the soul of our school, connecting with our newly-refurbished performing arts centre and in keeping with the historic buildings that dot our grounds. These two wonderful new buildings reflect our holistic approach to education, supporting boys to develop into well-rounded men,” he added.

The post St Bede’s new chapel marks the end of 7-year rebuild appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

Bishop Paul Martin, SM, gave a guest address at the annual meeting of St Michael’s parish, Remuera, Auckland, on August 12, at which he expressed this view and linked it to the call to mission and evangelisation.

“I really think we have lost the life in our Church between Monday and Saturday,” Bishop Martin said.

“Sunday Mass, as the Vatican Council says, is the source and summit of our faith lives. But, actually, it is not going to be enough to sustain people in their faith lives for rest of the time. And we have to find ways to provide support and opportunities for people, Mondays to Saturday, so that our parishes are alive places. That is a real challenge for us. If our places are only really used on Sunday, then somehow that’s not going to be enough
to sustain the generations that are coming through and hanging in there.”

In the proposed parish change plan for Christchurch city — going from 12 current parishes to five larger parishes — which would necessitate new or adapted churches, it is envisaged that pastoral centres will be built for each of the new parishes.

“We want to build a pastoral centre at each of them, which is designed for the Monday to Saturday part of life, with rooms, so it is not a hall for morning tea, but actually it has got rooms to be able to have groups meeting and a whole variety of things,” Bishop Martin said.

“I really want our parishes to be places that are alive from Monday to Saturday, where there is stuff going on.Where there are all sorts of groups gathering for the different things . . . Around faith formation and what are we doing for young mums, what are we doing for dads, what are we doing for youth?”

“I think we need to find conduits and ways of connecting people,” the bishop continued.

“That’s why I’d like for a parish to have a men’s group for guys in their 40s, where you say to them — look we have a group that meets once a month, come and join us, we have a bit of a chat and we’ll have a beer together. Or a young Mum’s group or a golden oldies group, or whatever it is, so that actually you have got a way of bringing people to the community and then, hopefully, leading them to a deeper sense of prayer and faith in the Eucharist and the importance of coming and joining us on Sunday.”

Bishop Martin spoke about leadership teams in parishes and the roles of parish priests and assistant priests as well as lay leadership. In this context, he also discussed his hopes for pastoral planning and reviewing, faith formation, resourcing and more.

He acknowledged the initiatives that have been undertaken already —Alpha courses, Fr James Mallon’s “divine renovation” of parishes, and people benefitting from Ablaze conferences and speakers.

“There’s some really good parishes who have done really good work in the past and they are still trying to do that now,” he said.

But overall, he senses a certain inertia.

“[W]e are still, I think, as a Catholic community, relatively content to gather for Mass on Sunday, and then do the odd thing otherwise. But I don’t think we have an urgency to actually go out and talk about Jesus Christ and what that means to us to people who haven’t heard it.”

“We are very hooked on Mass on Sunday,” he said.

“Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Mass on Sunday, I love Mass every day, I’m not saying people don’t go to Mass on Sunday. But sometimes we say to people who aren’t us — come to Mass. And that is sort of like going from zero to a hundred. And then they come to Mass and it is actually a bit boring. . . . . What is the experience of people if they come to us? So that is a different question.”

Schools

Bishop Martin acknowledged that Catholic schools are “really good place(s) of connection for people, but our problem is finding ways of connecting, not with the kids, but with their parents and the parish”.

“The gap is not with the children who are fundamentally having a positive experience of faith in the school — it is their parents who have lost the link with the wider faith community in terms of actively being present.

“I don’t think that’s particular to Christchurch.”

He floated a couple of ideas for reconnecting with such people and parents.

“I wonder if we said to every parent that came to sign up for a preference card for our school that was not an active member of our parish, we are really delighted you want to come to our school, it’s great, but as part of that, in order that you really understand what it is you are coming to, we want you to join the Alpha course.

What you do after it, that is up to you. Imagine if we did that and that was run in our parish, not in the school, but actually run in the parish?”

Another idea is visiting the homes of people whose children are at Catholic schools, but who don’t attend the parish. He acknowledged this would require formation and resourcing.

Bishop Martin spoke about the need for a “critical mass” being present in the new larger parishes.

“If you are a young family who are bringing your kids to Mass, and there aren’t many other young families there — that’s hard. That’s one of the reasons why I want to bring together bigger groups of people, so actually you will find people within that.”

Another goal for the bishop is helping people in parishes have an ongoing conversion of heart and growth in love of Jesus Christ.

“We have to keep asking ourselves in the faith community, how do we help grow our own love of Jesus Christ to help our young people and our parents to really do that? That’s hard. But it’s really important, because that’s not our way, we haven’t tended to talk like that very much as Catholic people. We have tended to focus more on sacramental life in the Church, which, as I say, is really important, it’s a wonderful grace and gift to us. But we also have to work on — how does that touch our hearts and the hearts of our young people and also our own hearts?”

Bishop Martin concluded by saying “I want to be the bishop of a diocese that is doing all that it can to reach out to people. That supports the people who are there, people-gathering, and being signs of God’s presence in the world. And I want us to constantly be trying to respond, to reflect on what we are doing, to look for the signs of the time, to be flexible [in] the changing world we are living in, while also being faithful to our call and tradition as Catholics”.

“Do we think about how we are at Mass?”

As a seminarian, Bishop Martin lived at St Michael’s parish and, as a deacon, he worked there. During this time, he said he had had many conversations with Msgr Brian Arahill about liturgy.

At the parish annual meeting, Bishop Martin also spoke about liturgy in parishes today.

“If a stranger came to our parish, what would that experience be like for them?” he asked. “Would anyone talk to them?”

“Are we joyful and do we look like we are glad to be here? Or are we thinking ‘coffee time in 10 minutes’?

“I have to say that one of the most uplifting experiences of my life as a priest in terms of the Church here in New Zealand is going to the cathedral here in Auckland. Every time I have ever been there for Mass, it is the most
wonderfully uplifting experience of a full church, good singing, good preaching, good music . . .it gives people a real sense of being together. I think it is a great blessing.

“But it is something to talk about among ourselves — do we think about how we are at Mass? You don’t have to be raising . . . hands and waving them around.

I’m not saying to anyone we have to go that way. But it does have to have a sense that we want to be here, that we will sing.”

[]

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June 24 is the feast of St John the Baptist and is the patronal feast day for Christchurch diocese. On that morning, 320 students from 16 Catholic schools in the diocese converged on St Mary’s pro-cathedral for Jubilate 2019, a Catholic primary schools music festival. It was the fourth year for the festival.

In his opening remarks, Bishop Paul Martin, SM, set the scene. “It’s a special feature of our diocese to hold this annual Jubilate. We are the only Catholic diocese in New Zealand to bring our schools together in this way each year. It’s a wonderful opportunity for you to sing some of the musical treasures of our Church. In Jubilate, we are creating a sacred sound track for you, a playlist that will be with you throughout your lives. You will not get tired of it or grow out of it.”

“The Church teaches that music is of value beyond our imaginations and that its value is higher than any other art,” Bishop Martin said.

“So our Church music is of real importance and its beauty matters. Sacred music is among the best ways we can glimpse heaven and, when we sing to God, our voices unite with those of the saints, the whole company of heaven.”

This year, Jubilate reflected the words of St John found in Scripture. Singers recalled that St John points directly to Jesus, baptises him, encourages people to prepare a way for Jesus in their hearts, and calls them to behold Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away people’s sins. They also sang to Mary and of Catholic belief in Jesus present in the Eucharist.

The hour-long programme drew from the tradition of the Church and more recent compositions. Along with singing in English, students sang in Latin to highlight the universality of the Church and in Te Reo Māori, reflecting the place of Aotearoa in the Asia Pacific region. The Special Choir of St Mary’s Manchester Street offered two settings of Ave Verum Corpus: a 12th century Gregorian Chant setting before Mozart’s famous setting. A three-part choir from St James School, Aranui, sang a modern sacred song, Saviour I heard Thy Voice Gently Say.

Before a rousing rendition of Sebastian Temple’s Prayer of St Francis, diocesan general manager Andy Doherty said that “This Jubilate is definitely the best we’ve had so far. Hearing you sing with such joy and enthusiasm and in such numbers is a highlight of my year. It’s really good to see so many of our schools represented by you today and to see the value your schools are placing on Jubilate. We simply cannot have this sacred music programme without the support of your principals and teachers and it is appreciated.”

He concluded that, “All of you know Ken Joblin our sacred music advisor. He and his guide dog Nelson visited you all in the weeks leading up to today and we are proud of his work.”

St James School principal Jo Barlow said that Jubilate 2019 was “an amazing experience! Our kids were so pleased with their achievement and all credit to the choir leaders who certainly have the choirs excelling”.

David O’Neill, principal of St Mary’s School (Manchester Street), spoke to the children before they left the pro-cathedral and encouraged them to keep singing.

“All of you sound absolutely amazing. I urge you, special choirs from all over the diocese, please stay in your choirs. The gift of singing which God has given you, please use it to glorify his name. At St Mary’s, when our special choir sings, it lifts the rest of the school. Sometimes, it’s a lot
of hard work, but when we hear all these voices together, it’s amazing, it’s worth it, it’s fantastic!”

Before the final blessing, Bishop Martin observed that “When we sing, we are not just singing songs, we are actually expressing our faith. One of the great things about music is that, when we sing songs, we remember the words. Those words that you have sung will stay in your head much longer than other things. May these hymns, these sacred songs, touch your heart and be part of who you are in the future. The only sad thing about Jubilate is that so many other people do not get to hear you sing and pray for us. But one day, we will have a cathedral which can fit lots of people to hear you.”

In response to the bishop’s words, the children sang Sing of the Lord’s goodness, based on Catholic jazz composer Dave Brubeck’s Take Five, the words of which sum up Jubilate, “Come then all you nations, sing of your Lord’s goodness, melodies of praise and thanks to God.

Ring out the Lord’s glory, praise him with your music, worship him and bless his name.”

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“Do not take my rock away from me”, was the message from a Catholic woman to Christchurch Bishop Paul Martin, SM, at a meeting in the hall at Sacred Heart, Addington.

Linda White spoke through tears during question time at the July 10 meeting, attended by Bishop Martin and diocesan staff and about 400 people from the southern suburbs of Christchurch city.

The meeting was one of several being held by Bishop Martin in Christchurch city, Selwyn and Waimakariri/Hurunui during July to engage with parishes about his proposal laid out in a pastoral letter “Our Faith, Our Future” issued at Pentecost.

The proposal would see a reduction in the number of parishes in Christchurch city, from the existing twelve to five new parishes, with teams of two to four priests living and ministering together in these newly-formed parishes (North, East, South, West and Central).

Changes are also proposed or possible for Selwyn and Waimakariri. (NZ Catholic, June 16).

“The number and age of our clergy does not allow us to maintain the current structures,” the letter explained.

At Addington, Bishop Martin reiterated another significant reason for the
proposed changes — the need to have a missionary, outward-looking attitude, instead of one focused upon inward maintenance.

In his letter, he explained that too much parish energy and resources goes into maintaining parish plant that was built for, and appropriate to, an earlier era.

The proposal could mean the closure of the much-loved Sacred Heart (Addington) and St Peter’s (Beckenham) churches, both in Sancta Maria parish in southern Christchurch.

A new church would be at the Our Lady of the Assumption site in Hoon Hay,
with a new Christchurch South parish amalgamating the Addington/Beckenham and Hoon Hay/Halswell parishes.

Concerns

Concerns were raised at the Addington meeting about the unknown fate or
possible loss of the surplus churches and fears that their history and connection with generations of families and parishioners would be gone for good.

Ms White has close ties with Addington’s Sacred Heart. She said it’s her
“home since birth”, and while she now lives 20km away, she attends Mass there every Sunday.

“My great grandparents were buried there. All my grandparents, my parents, all my aunts and uncles were Addington people . . . I was christened at Sacred Heart, as were my children, I was married there and received all my sacraments there.”

She said she understood that change was needed, but Sacred Heart is a very
special place to many people.

“I’d like to see if they wanted to try one of these mega churches, say at Papanui, where they do need to build. But keep some of these big ones here and let us have a reprieve for a while. Let them try the new system without demolishing everything, because I think if this turns to be a mistake it can’t be undone. And that’s awful.

“Wiping everything when we’ve lost so much in Christchurch — this would
just about pull me over the edge,” she said, shaken and in tears.

She suggested lay ministers could be trained to celebrate the Liturgy of the
Word, if priests weren’t available.

“Leave Sacred Heart alone, for now.”

Sustainability

While grief and the fear of future changes could be felt in the room, confidence in the bishop’s proposal and his courage was made known at the meeting.

Sacred Heart Massgoer, and member of the finance and property committee, Tony Lockington believes the bishop’s rationale for putting his proposal forward is very “sound”.

“It’s around sustainability, and for the Church to be vibrant and present in
Christchurch, Canterbury, in the future.”

Mr Lockington is aware of the issues around attendance, declining numbers
of priests and small parishes that don’t have enough attendees to engage in the missionary work envisioned.

“We’re needing to do something different to be able to re-invigorate and sustain. But, by virtue of that, that will bring growth and opportunities, and
I guess, a new start, and I think that’s really exciting.”

He says he understands perfectly the loss some people would feel for a
church or parish. Other questions around feasibility, affordability and transparency were also raised at the meeting, and whether there was enough money to cover the costs for building new sites.

Plan

Kathleen Gallagher of Addington/ Beckenham parish presented what she
called “the good plan”.

It entailed a “no land sold” motto, along other ideas, including building only what is required immediately.

“The idea of hubs is a good idea for our priests to live together in community, but we have six very vibrant, large parish communities, all with populations bigger than 800, and those are the places that need to be hubs.

“There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.”

She believes the hubs should be Sacred Heart church in Addington, St Teresa’s in Riccarton and Christ the King in Burnside.

“Sacred Heart, Addington, and St Teresa’s survived the earthquakes brilliantly; these other churches (new and existing proposed to be hubs) have required a lot of earthquake work and are very expensive to build because of that,” she argued.

Mrs Gallagher said the plan that’s being proposed is very costly.

“We basically need two or three plans to be considering, not just one, and that’s where the problem is.”

Ms White said: “I don’t know where the money is coming from. They are going to rely on us to pay and we’re not going to pay if we’re not happy.”

Ms White would be “very happy” to fund evangelical programmes to bring more youth into the Church, and help bring back some of the Catholics who no longer attend Mass.

“It would be wonderful to bring back some of 85 per cent of Catholics who
don’t attend church regularly.”

The proposal feedback process closes on August 30.

Bishop Martin will review the feedback submitted and will announce results of the process on December 1.

The post Tears at Christchurch parish plan meeting appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

After eight years of planning, work by architects, meetings, building consents and fundraising, on May 19 Catholic parishioners walked in procession through the streets of Lincoln, near Christchurch, from St Stephen’s Anglican church to their newly-completed St Patrick’s church. It was a short walk on the day, but this was the culmination of a long road travelled since the 2011 earthquakes, which saw the demise of Lincoln’s previous 54-year-old Catholic church.

The colourful, multicultural procession, with a mix of bagpipes and India drums, was a suitable beginning to the Rite of Dedication of the new St Patrick’s church. Before entering the church, the drums stopped, excited whispering
ceased, and the air was filled with the sound of the hymn Amazing Grace. This was to the distinctive sound of bagpipes.

A decision had been made to limit the numbers attending the dedication to members of local parishes in the care of Lincoln parish priest Fr Job Thyikalamuriyil, plus leaders of St Stephen’s and St Mary’s Anglican churches — who had shared their facilities with and sheltered the Catholic parishioners for eight years, proved to be a good decision as there was standing room only in the new church.

Fr Thyikalamuriyil, whose former parish was in Kerala, India, had researched the history of the church and the Rite of Dedication proceedings. He produced an 11-page document to inform and lead his parishioners for this special day.

As a choir sang Come to the Water, the church altar, walls and the people were sprinkled with blessed water to “cleanse” the building. Christchurch Bishop Paul Martin, SM, prayed: “May God, the Father of mercies, dwell in this house of prayer. May the grace of the Holy Spirit cleanse us, for we are the temple of his presence.”

The first church in Lincoln parish was built at the New Headford Mission on Shand’s Track in 1871. The land was donated by Patrick Henley. A large presbytery, which doubled as the school, was also built. A second, larger church
was built in 1880. Fr Chevier, SM, was the first parish priest, at one time serving the parishes between Kaikoura and the Rangitata — initially on foot, as it was believed that owning a horse was contrary to the vow of poverty taken. In later years, and with the ageing priests in the order, horseback travel was allowed.

Father Chevier’s horses were prized and well sought after.
The week after the dedication, the church was opened to the public, with more than 500 people visiting.

The post Joy at opening of St Patrick’s church, Lincoln appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

The proposal which Bishop Martin announced through a video message shown at Pentecost Sunday Masses on June 9 is facing a lot of opposition from affected parishioners. Others expressed their support for the bishop.

In a subsequent video blog, Bishop Martin stressed the proposed changes are aimed at making parishes more vibrant in their faith.

“This is not a plan because we are all dying. It’s a plan because we recognise we can do even better,” he said.

In his pastoral letter “Our Faith, Our Future” which is on the diocese’s website, Bishop Martin said being a new bishop allowed him to “ask questions about why we do the things the way we do”.

“What is clear is that if we wish to grow and develop into the future, we cannot continue with the current structures and models that we have been using. We must reduce the number of parishes that we operate in the diocese, particularly in Christchurch,” he said.

The five new, larger, better-resourced, parishes, proposed after much backgound work, would include:

• A new parish in north Christchurch based at the St Joseph’s, Papanui site on Main North Road. This new parish would be a merger of the existing Mairehau, Burnside and Papanui parishes.

• A new parish in west Christchurch based at the Our Lady of Victories,
Sockburn site on Main South Road. This new parish would be a merger of the existing Riccarton, Sockburn and Hornby parishes. Hornby-Darfield parish will be split. The church at Hornby will be retained. Darfield will be re-grouped with Rolleston.

• A new parish in east Christchurch based at the St Anne’s, Woolston site on Ferry Road. This new parish would be a merger of the existing Ferrymead and Christchurch East parishes.

• A new parish in south Christchurch based at the Our Lady of the Assumption, Hoon Hay site on Hoon Hay Road. This new parish would be a merger of the existing Addington-Beckenham and Hoon Hay-Halswell parishes.

• A new Cathedral parish based at either Barbadoes Street or a new site. This new parish would be a merger of the existing Bryndwr and St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral parishes as well as Te Rangimarie Māori Community.

Bishop Martin is looking at a new Selwyn parish based at Rolleston.

“The Selwyn region would become a new parish amalgamating the existing Akaroa, Lincoln, Leeston and Darfield parishes. The churches will be retained in each place and a new church and school built at Rolleston,” he said.

“I am also considering options for North Canterbury. One option is to keep the current parishes of Waimakariri and Hurunui. Another option is to merge both of these parishes into one new North Canterbury Parish,” the bishop stated.

It is proposed that , eventually, teams of two to four priests will be living and ministering in the new parishes. Ultimately, any buildings not used in the new structure will be closed, but new buildings are envisaged too.

Bishop Martin said one consequence of the restructure would be that some
Catholic primary schools would no longer be attached to their parish church. He gave an assurance that these schools will have a chapel established on their sites (with the Blessed Sacrament reserved).

“There will still be provision by the parish for the students to regularly attend weekday Masses (at the chapel on site) and celebrate school Masses with the parish community,” he added.

Bishop Martin said that, at present in the diocese, there are 21 incardinated priests under the age of 75, seven priests from overseas and two religious orders staffing two parishes. He projected that, in ten years, there will be only 12 incardinated priests under the age of 75, plus any new ordinations.

“The number and age of our clergy does not allow us to maintain current structures,” he said. “This situation requires immediate response to ensure that the pattern of growth, which has been our experience in the past, endures into the future.”

Bishop Martin said he intends to have the new parishes in place by Pentecost, 2020 (May 31). Parish priests and assistant priests will initially look after existing communities at their current sites.

“Over the next two to three years I will be asking the communities in each parish to work together with the aim of worshipping on one site, on, or before, Pentecost, 2023,” he said.

Bishop Martin asked for feedback on the proposed plan, particularly on how it would affect parishioners in these areas as well as suggestions on how to move “forward to achieve a more vibrant and active Church”.

“I know that, for many of you, this proposed restructuring will mean a loss
of much of what you have built up and been a part of in your existing parishes. I hope you will also be excited that we are stepping into a new era of bridging the distance that many of your children and grandchildren, family and friends feel between themselves and the Church.”

The feedback process opens on June 22 and concludes on August 30, 2019. The results of the feedback will be revealed on December 1.

The post Meetings on for proposed changes for Chch parishes appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.