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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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The shootings took place at or near the Al Noor Mosque, where 41 people were killed, and at the Linwood Mosque, where 7 were killed. One more person subsequently died at Christchurch Hospital. Muslims had gathered at the mosques for Friday prayers. Some of those killed were children, it has been reported.

The terror attack started at around 1:40 p.m. local time March 15, sparking a massive mobilisation by police. Mike Bush, New Zealand police commissioner, announced at 9 p.m. that a man in his late 20s had been charged with murder and would appear in the Christchurch District Court the next day. The suspect’s name is Brenton Tarrant, 28. He was born in Australia and was living in Dunedin. He will next appear in court on April 5.

Some three-and-a-half hours after the attacks began, the New Zealand bishops released a message, addressed to the nation’s Muslim community, via social media.

“We hold you in prayer as we hear the terrible news of violence against Muslims at mosques in Christchurch,” the bishops wrote.

“We are profoundly aware of the positive relationships we have with Islamic people in this land, and we are particularly horrified that this has happened at a place and time of prayer.

“We are deeply saddened that people have been killed and injured, and our hearts go out to them, their families and wider community. We wish you to be aware of our solidarity with you in the face of such violence.”

The bishops signed off their message “Peace, Salaam.”

A message sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, on behalf of Pope Francis, said the pope was “deeply saddened to learn of the injury and loss of life cause by the senseless acts of violence” at the mosques.

“He assures all New Zealanders, and in particular the Muslim community, of his heartfelt solidarity in the wake of these attacks.” He also offered prayers and blessings to those injured, those grieving, those who died and emergency personnel.

Christchurch Bishop Paul Martin released his own message on social media.

“We are horrified at the violence that has been inflicted on people of our city this afternoon,” Bishop Martin wrote.

“Words cannot convey our distress. Our prayers are with those who are suffering. I invite you now, wherever you are, alone or with family, workmates or friends, to pray together in the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: Lord make me an instrument of your peace … ”

Bishop Martin celebrated a Mass of prayer for peace, “remembering those who have died in the mosques tragedy and praying for those who are suffering,” at St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral on March 16. Masses and prayer services were being planned in other centres including Auckland, Hamilton and Palmerston North.

This is the second major tragedy involving significant loss of life in Christchurch in the last decade. On Feb. 22, 2011, an earthquake struck the city, killing 185 people. The Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament suffered severe damage, as did the nearby Anglican Cathedral.

Anglican Bishop Peter Carrell of Christchurch issued a statement on behalf of all church leaders in the city in early evening of March 15.

“Church leaders are absolutely devastated at the unprecedented situation in Christchurch this afternoon, and our hearts and prayers go to all involved. No religious organization or group deserves to be the target of someone’s hate — regardless of beliefs. We stand for an Aotearoa New Zealand, which will never condone such violence. So, across the churches of Christchurch and Canterbury, we are praying for our Muslim brothers and sisters, for those injured and those who have lost loved ones, for the police, ambulance and other emergency services, and for all in the city of Christchurch who are feeling distress and fear due to this event. We are upholding you all in our prayers. We pray, too, for the shooter and their supporters, because for any person to do this, they must have such hatred in their hearts, such misalignment of the value of human life, that they too, need our prayer. We thank many others from around our nation and the world who are praying for peace in Christchurch.”

Five Catholic high schools and about a dozen elementary schools in Christchurch city were among many schools that went into lockdown in mid-afternoon as news of the terror attacks spread. Children and staff were unable to leave the schools until 5:30 p.m., when enough police personnel had been deployed to ensure a safe passage home.

When the lifting of the lockdown, one Catholic high school, the all-girls Villa Maria College, stated on Facebook announced that rolls would be taken in the school gym and that students would be “debriefed with pastoral care on hand.” After this, students were released.

The attack is the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand’s history. The gunman reportedly live-streamed video of the attack using a helmet-camera. New Zealand police asked people not to share this on social media. The shooter also posted a 73-page manifesto.

Facebook and Twitter reportedly removed the gunman’s pages.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on March 15: “It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack.” She said the thoughts and prayers of the nation were with “those who have been impacted today.”

“Christchurch was their home,” Ardern said. “For many, this may not have been the place they were born, in fact for many, New Zealand was their choice. The place they actively came to and committed to. The place they were raising their families. Where they were parts of communities that they loved and who loved them in return. It was a place that many came to for its safety. A place where they were free to practice their culture and their religion.”

The prime minister added: “For those of you who are watching at home tonight and questioning how this could have happened here. We, New Zealand, we were not a target because we are a safe harbour for those who hate. We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we are an enclave for extremism. We were chosen for the very fact that we are none of those things.”

The next day, the Prime Minister said that the attacker had used five guns, with two of them semi-automatic, that had all been obtained legally. Changes to New Zealand’s gun laws have been promised.

Mosques across the country closed on Friday at the urgings of police. Vigils sprang up throughout New Zealand as people gathered to mourn and grieve.

A meme on Facebook shared by many showed a sobbing kiwi.

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On January 20 at St Gregory’s church in Bishopdale, Christchurch, Bishop Paul Martin, SM, presented Janette McKee with a Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice Medal. This medal was bestowed on Mrs McKee for her outstanding works in St Joseph’s Parish, Papanui, for more than 60 years. 

She coordinates a team to take Holy Communion to the sick to some 80 people each week.

Janette has been part of the Catholic Women’s League for more than 40 years. She is involved in the church ministries of reader and extraordinary minister of holy Communion and she also co-ordinates a team and participates in altar linen laundering.

She has been involved in the St Vincent de Paul Papanui Conference for many years with her husband Russell. And she has completed the Walk by Faith Diploma.

Congratulations and thanks go to her for her self-giving work at St Joseph’s parish, Papanui.

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This followed a month of preparations: decorating, fitting out and stocking the new shop, which was largely carried out by Vinnies staff and volunteers.

The article stated that “the result is amazing, and the shop will rival the best of this type of shop anywhere in Christchurch”.

“We would love for customers, volunteers and donors of goods to visit us at 31 Shands Road. They are always keen to receive good quality clothing, bric-a-brac and furniture.

Please call Tania 022 3847503.

“Help us to help others.”

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Sr Enid Lagan, RSM, knits to help children in need.

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Paul King on the Nazareth House site.

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From left: Sandra Armstrong and Elizabeth Walsh present a Commit manual to Christchurch coordinators Therese and Simon Roughan.

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