Proceeds from the sale of the site at 20 Ponsonby Rd will go to refurbishing the St Columba Centre and adjacent Holy Cross Seminary in nearby Vermont St, Ponsonby.

The upgrade will see Te Kupenga-Catholic Theological College move its Auckland campus from 20 Ponsonby Rd to the St Columba Centre, giving staff and students a modern space better integrated with the seminary.

Barring issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the move to Vermont St is expected to happen around Easter, which is in mid-April this year.

The Ponsonby Rd site had been owned 50-50 by the NZCBC and the Society of Mary. The Society has agreed to purchase the NZCBC share and plans to host some of its ministry agencies at the site, including Logos, a Marist youth development project.

Te Kupenga was formed in January, 2020 by merging the former Good Shepherd College with the former Catholic Institute, creating three subsidiaries, including Catholic Theological College. It had always been planned to eventually move Catholic Theological College to another site.

NZCBC secretary and Bishop of Auckland Stephen Lowe said the bishops were pleased the Ponsonby Rd site will continue to house entities devoted to the mission of the Church.

“The buildings in which we perform our ministry may change, but our passion for the mission of the Church and the Gospel of Christ is enduring,” said Bishop Lowe.

“The bishops are grateful and very appreciative of the work and patience of staff of Te Kupenga and Holy Cross Seminary for helping bring these changes into effect, and we acknowledge the significant disruption to staff and students caused by construction works and moving premises.”

Catholic Theological College Level 7 head and lecturer Fr Merv Duffy said: “It will be hard leaving 20 Ponsonby Road – we’ve taught from here for 21 years – but the Vermont Street site has more parking, which will benefit our students.”

Photo: The property at 20 Ponsonby Rd.

The post Sale of bishops’ Ponsonby site will help Catholic Theological College move appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

Dr Areti Metuamate

Te Kupenga chief executive Dr Areti Metuamate told NZ Catholic they are looking for a “proper campus in Auckland” for the Catholic Theological College, the new Catholic tertiary education provider formed from the merging of the Good Shepherd College and The Catholic Institute. 

The Provincial Council of the Society of Mary earlier agreed to relinquish ownership and governance of Good Shepherd College to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference. 

“[That campus on] Ponsonby Road is half-owned by the Marist priests and half-owned by the bishops. So, ultimately, we’ll have to sell that campus,” he said. 

Dr Metuamate said they are looking at two options for a new campus. 

One option, he said, is having the campus at Holy Cross Seminary in Ponsonby.  

“We are considering doing something in conjunction with the seminary because the seminary is having some major refurbishment,” he said. 

Dr Metuamate said a second option is “a building in the city that we are looking at as a possibility”. 

“Because the bishops are very committed to having an Auckland campus for Te Kupenga -Catholic Theological College, what we are going to do now is to look at all the things that we need and then start working out what’s viable for us. I will also be talking to staff and students about what they want to see in the new campus going forward.” 

Dr Metuamate also revealed that a new website and branding will be revealed next month. 

“With our branding, what we want to do is to really show that we are modern, but also show that we stand on a really strong Catholic education tradition. We’ve got new ideas, new people, new ways of doing things,” he said. 

Dr Metuamate said the Catholic Theological College, at the moment, has 60 students who do Good Shepherd College courses and 387 in total taking on-line courses. 

“We hope to increase that next semester because we’ve been doing some work on getting people to know about our courses,” he said. 

Financially, the college was not as affected by the pandemic as the secular universities. 

“Because we don’t have a large number of international students, we don’t have the same impact that mainstream universities have [had],” he said. “Of course, we don’t know how much the bishops have been impacted [by the pandemic]. It could be the case that if the bishops are heavily impacted, then that could affect our funding.” 

He said some planning has been done around this possibility. 

Dr Metuamate said he is proud of how fast the lecturers of the college adapted to the new way of teaching during the lockdown, particularly at levels four and three. 

“One of the fun things that happened is that all of lecturers had to work out how to teach online, and actually, I’ve been really pleased with how fast everyone’s been able to do that. Even Sr Elizabeth Snedden taught her Latin class on-line,” he said.  

“If there is another lockdown tomorrow, we would be able to teach all of our students online and not have much disruption. That was an impact that we responded well to,” he added. 

He said they also gave pastoral support to students who weren’t able to go back to their families during the lockdown. 

Graduation, which would have occurred around this time (June), had been postponed, but Dr Metuamate gave an assurance there would be some form of celebration down the line. 

He expects that his could happen when the borders between New Zealand and Australia are opened so that people from the Sydney College of Divinity, for which Good Shepherd College taught a Bachelor of Theology degree.  

The post Theological college considers new Akld home appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

Dr Tony Lanigan told graduates, college staff and guests at the St Columba Centre on June 7 that this was the last such ceremony for GSC because the New Zealand bishops plan to merge the college and The Catholic Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand into a “single provider body”.

“But the bishops remain fully committed to forming seminarians in New Zealand . . . and, as I understand it, they are also committed to developing a higher educational profile and opportunity for the workforce in our Catholic schools,” he said.

Dr Lanigan, a civil engineer, looked back on the achievements of the college since its trust deed was signed in 2000.

“Since the original graduation in 2003, there have been, through the Sydney College of Divinity, . . . 112 Bachelor of Theology degrees awarded, and, since 2009, there have been 86 Graduate Diplomas in Theology,” he said.

He also noted that GSC has stacked up well in terms of research done, given the number of staff and students, according to national measures.

Near the end of his address, he cited a quote from Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman in The Idea of a University: “If a practical end must be assigned to a university course, I say it is that of training good members of society. It is the education which gives a man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgements, a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them and a force in urging them. It teaches him to see things as they are, to go right to the point, to disentangle a skein of thought to detect what is sophistical and to discard what is irrelevant.”

“I reckon in all respects we aligned with that pretty well,” Dr Lanigan said of GSC. “What’s more, we employed women as well as men, so I think that is pretty positive.”

Earlier on, he noted that, in 2001, there were 22 diocesan seminarians, 3 Marist seminarians and 6 lay students studying at the college.

“Today, that composition has changed to 15 seminarians and 44 non-clerics.”

He thanked academic and support staff, past and present, who have contributed to the success of Good Shepherd College.

He particularly thanked the Society of Mary, which has provided the base of teaching staff over the years, as well as “partners” the Sydney College of Divinity and the Catholic Institute of Sydney.

“You have all contributed to making Good Shepherd College a reliable and a reputable place for students wanting to undertake tertiary theological study in a distinctly Catholic environment. And I thank you.

“I pray the Holy Spirit will guide the establishment and operation of the new enterprise.”

Also in his address, he reflected upon the Catholic upbringing he received and the impact of Vatican II.

Dr Lanigan then spoke about ongoing change in the Church, especially in recent times.

“You know perceptions of many things have changed,and particularly of the Church, and I just witnessed the clerical abuse worldwide . . .

“People are questioning — what is the meaning of Church? I have heard close friends of mine, who have had the same upbringing, I’ve heard them say — I am in danger of not losing my faith, but losing my religion.

And that disturbs me, but maybe it is good that they are asking the question?

“I just know that there is disquiet at how the institutional Church appears to operate.”

After speaking about the crisis of Israel’s faith connected with the destruction of the first Temple and the Babylonian exile, Dr Lanigan referenced Scripture scholar Raymond Brown’s thinking that the Church, as Israel did, can learn a lot about God in such times of turmoil.

Dr Lanigan also observed that, with media and social media, people “have the opportunity to read more widely about a diversity of views from within and from without the Church. And I think that the Church is better for it”.

“People can access worldwide trends easily, and particularly within the Church and wonder why things move so slowly in New Zealand.”

He referenced overseas developments like increasingly parish-based formation for those preparing for priesthood (in Ireland), as well as things happening in other churches such as part-time clergy, women as clergy and married clergy.

“So where is the Church on that? People ask these questions validly and I think answers are deserved.”

“The wondering and the questioning go on,” he said. “It is a sign of being healthy.”

Dr Lanigan also spoke of the power of witness, especially by those carrying out the corporal works of mercy. He referred to what he had seen during his involvement with housing charity Habitat for Humanity and in disaster relief overseas.

Another theme he developed in his address was the sense of awe and wonder at the presence of God, experienced through creation.

“I want you, as graduates, to not lose that sense of wonder and awe in the joy that is the God around us,” he told the graduates.

The post Good Shepherd College has final graduation appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

Lincoln University topped the “research intensity” category derived from Tertiary Education Commission surveys,
which take place every six years.

A report on the 2018 survey (titled “Improving Research Quality: The interim results of the PBRF Quality Evaluation”) stated the Lincoln result was “alongside the University of Otago and Good Shepherd College — Te Hepara Pai”.

Fr Mervyn Duffy, SM, acting principal of Good Shepherd College, said that he was delighted to have their small academic institution ranked alongside such heavyweights.

Five faculty members had published steadily and been rated as “research active”, leading to this “impressive” result.

Fr Duffy explained that “research intensity” compares research outputs to the number of students at degree level
and above.

The small number of students studying at Good Shepherd College in proportion to the size of the faculty had contributed to the outcome, Fr Duffy said.

He praised the faculty who were making a contribution to scholarship, mentioning that several of them had authored
books as part of their research: The Eros of the Human Spirit by Sr Elizabeth Snedden, RSCJ, on the writings of the Jesuit theologian Bernard Lonergan; Canon Law in
Action by Msgr Brendan Daly; Alianza de Amor en sus Fuentes (Covenant of Love — Sources) by Dr Rocío Figueroa Alvear; Verguet’s Sketchbook by Mervyn Duffy and Alois
Greiler.

The tertiary organisations covered in the survey included the eight universities, fourteen or so polytechs and a dozen
Private Training Establishments.

The results of the TEC surveys are used to help allocate some funding.

The report stated: “The average result across all participating TEOs in 2018 was 0.64 . . . Again, all eight universities scored above 1.00, alongside two PTEs — Carey Baptist College and Good Shepherd College — Te
Hepara Pai.

“Lincoln University continues to be the top performer, alongside the University of Otago and Good Shepherd College — Te Hepara Pai.”

The post GSC research stacks up well appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

“Don’t be tempted to ignore Jesus, because if we keep Jesus at the centre of it all, then we have his assurance that he will guide us,” he said.

The bishop spoke on the day’s Gospel reading where Peter declared Jesus is the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13-19).

Paraphrasing an author of a book he read years ago, Bishop Dooley said, “Life is not difficult. Life is rather complex . . . We can see things as difficult, but in reality it’s the complexity that gets to us sometimes.”

He cited four different occasions being observed on the day, in addition to the opening Mass. They included the feast of the Chair of Peter, the Vatican summit on the protection of minors in the Church, the first year anniversary of the announcement of his appointment as
bishop and the eighth anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake.

“People often ask me, ‘are you enjoying the new job?’ and I say, ‘no’,” he said, which elicited chuckles. “It’s a very interesting role. So, I’m not too concerned that I’m not enjoying it.”

Going back to the events he mentioned, he said “all these events seem to be all over the place and complex, but they are brought together today in the liturgy, especially
in the Gospel”.

He said Peter often gets things “very wrong but here, he gets it right”.

“He [Peter] offers this Christ-centered answer. The key is Jesus before him,” said Bishop Dooley. ”For us, especially gathered today for this opening Mass, the prime question,
linking in at the question of Jesus to Peter is — where is Christ for us? Where is Jesus? That’s a key question.”

He said at the Vatican summit, the bishops acknowledged that Jesus is with the survivors of abuse.

“We see the sense of opening our eyes to see in this situation, where is Jesus? And thinking of the Vatican summit, the crux of the problem is where Jesus has been ignored. I reckon
we can extend that to our lives in general: when we ignore Jesus then we get on the wrong track,” he said.

The post Students told to keep Jesus central appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

The society also confirmed that it supports the bishops’ plan to merge GSC with The Catholic Institute (TCI).

Sir Brian said the bishops “want a measured pace of change which ensures least disruption to the programmes, students and staff in both current providers”.

He said the establishment board’s working assumption is that the single provider will take
shape within the year and be in place next year.

“The bishops remain fully committed to forming seminarians in New Zealand, with face-to-face delivery of the theology degree and Ratio Studiorum requirements as a vital element of their formation,” Sir Brian wrote. “They [bishops] are also committed to a qualified workforce in New Zealand’s Catholic schools, to assure the quality of both Catholic special character and religious education.”

GSC acting principal Fr Merv Duffy, SM, gave an assurance that the needs of the new students will be met even with the merger.

“NZQA has been very clear that all students embarking on an award must have a pathway to completion. So, the interests of the students will be carefully looked after,” he told
NZ Catholic.

Fr Duffy noted there is a good intake of new students this semester, with 20 out of 59 studying at GSC for the first time.

“Our own students are the best advertisement for the college and they have told others about the experience of studying here. We have done little (perhaps too little) to publicise the college,” Fr Duffy said, adding that, “diocesan offices have been good at directing enquirers to study at Good Shepherd College”.

He also said that more than half of the students (30 of 59) are studying by distance rather than on-campus.

Seminarian numbers are down with only three new diocesan seminarians studying at the college and no current seminarians from the Society of Mary studying there.

Fr Duffy said the college is fully staffed this semester. They have a visiting lecturer from Peru, Mayte Ramos, who is teaching Church History.

The post Good Shepherd College changes loom appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

ROME (CNS) – A New-Zealand-based theologian was one of several female survivors of sexual abuse by priests to call on Church leaders preparing for a February summit at the Vatican to listen to the voices of victims and to end a “culture of cover-up” that has dragged on for decades.

Dr Rocio Figueroa Alvear, who lectures at Good Shepherd College in Ponsonby, spoke of her experience during a Rome seminar titled “Overcoming Silence: Women’s Voices in the Abuse Crisis”.

She and other survivors urged victims of abuse to “go to the police”, adding that they believed internal investigations by the Church have consistently failed to address the problem since the first cases were reported by journalists in the 1980s.

Pope Francis has convened a summit on sex abuse in the Vatican from February 21-24. All 10 members of the Union of International Superiors General leadership – representing 500,000 women religious worldwide – will be attending the summit, which will bring together heads of bishops’ conferences from across the globe to discuss the Church’s response to the abuse crisis. Survivors will not be at the meeting, but will be part of the preparatory work and be present at a penitential liturgy, said Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, a member of the organising committee for the meeting.

Those who shared their stories at the November 27 event in Rome said the February summit in the Vatican would be ineffective unless “victim-centred listening” was at the heart of the bishops’ discussions.

Dr Figueroa, who once worked for the Pontifical Council for the Laity as head of the women’s section, recounted her experience of joining the lay movement, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, as a 15-year-old in Peru. The movement was founded in Peru in 1971 and was granted papal approval by St John Paul II in 1997.

Figueroa, who is also an external researcher at the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Otago, described how the former vicar-general of the movement, German Doig, began touching her during spiritual direction classes. She said she “felt guilty and knew it was wrong”, but added she was very naive and “had no words to describe” the abuse.

In the late 1980s, Figueroa was among a group of women tasked with setting up a female branch of the movement, known as the Marian Community of Reconciliation.

 Complaint

When she complained about the way women were treated, Figueroa was sent to Rome, a move she described as “the beginning of my liberation”, There she met a priest to whom she was able to speak, for the first time, about her ordeal and who helped her “to lift the veil of silence”.

While working in the Vatican, she was asked to help prepare the process of beatification for Doig, who had died in 2001. During investigations, she discovered other members of the movement who had also been abused by him. Realising that he was “not a saint, but a serial perpetrator”, she confronted the founder of the movement, Luis Fernando Figari, who told her, “You are a liar, you seduced him”, adding, “We need a saint”.

Dr Figueroa told the Crux website that she had spoken to a cardinal she was close to, and told him everything she had discovered.

Instead of pledging to take action, Dr Figueroa said the cardinal gave her two options: either leave the community or stay and be a “silent soldier”. This, she said, is because “those cardinals were the ones promoting new movements”.

Eventually fed up, she helped victims write to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, to the Secretary of State, and to a host of other Vatican departments, yet, Dr Figueroa said, they did not receive any replies.

She was obliged to give up her job and later left the movement, but in 2015, she published a book with other former member of Sodalitium, journalist Pedro Salinas, detailing allegations of abuse by Doig, Figari and other leaders of the organisation.

Only then did the Vatican act, the Crux article stated.

In 2017, a Vatican-ordered investigation found that Figari “sexually assaulted at least one child, manipulated, sexually abused or harmed several other young people and physically or psychologically abused dozens of others”. He denied the charges, but was ordered by the Vatican to avoid all contact with the movement and to “live a life of prayer” in Rome. Figari launched an appeal, which was rejected. He launched a second appeal, which is currently awaiting judgement. Figari faces an order of preventive detention back in Peru due to a civil case.

US Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, is the Vatican’s delegate now overseeing the group’s reforms.

Next frontier

Dr Figueroa told Crux that while much discussion in the Church has so far focused on the abuse and cover-up by priests and bishops, lay movements are next on the list.

Asked whether lay movements are the “next frontier”, Figueroa said “absolutely”, saying that there is a lack of accountability and responsibility. She called for changes to canon law regarding lay movements.

Dr Figueroa said she’s spent the past four years researching the spiritual impact of clerical abuse.

Clerical abuse, she said, “is not the same” as other types of abuse, because perpetrators are believed to represent God, leaving “enormous” consequences for victims.

She also spoke of understanding Jesus himself as a victim of sexual abuse, noting how at the time it was common practice for prisoners to be humiliated and paraded around naked. Though Jesus is always depicted on the cross wearing a loincloth, history suggests he was likely exposed.

“He was surrounded by people mocking him naked,” she said, adding that “if they understand that Jesus was a victim of sexual abuse, they would treat victims differently”, referring to the hierarchy.

The post NZ-based theologian is an abuse survivor appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

It started in January this year in Wellington and will be offered in Auckland in January, 2019.

“This is really intended for people in leadership roles or [who] hope to be in leadership roles within schools, parishes or Catholic organisations who want to explore what it means to lead a Catholic organisation,” he said.

Mr Scanlan said there are a lot of studies and existing programmes on leadership geared towards non-faith organisations.

However, he said if one is running a faith-based organisation, one’s leadership style and ethical conduct should be consistent with that faith.

“What we’re wanting to do is to encourage a greater respect for theologically based qualifications within Catholic enterprises, schools, Catholic agencies [and] diocesan organisations,” he said.

“We are in an environment now where people are expected to be proficient in the field that they’re working within.”

Mr Scanlan said they expect that people acquiring the qualification would be given an advantage when it comes to appointments and promotions.

“This [TCI] is an agency that the bishops have set up deliberately to encourage qualifications in staff and leaders in those organisations,” he explained.

Mr Scanlan said the New Zealand Catholic Education Office has expressed interest in this qualification.

The TCI website states that NZCEO has signalled its willingness to offer scholarships
for teachers in Catholic schools.

Because it is an overseas qualification, it is not eligible for an interest free student
loan from StudyLink.

The modules are a week long and are scheduled over school holidays.

The first unit is “Catholic Ethos and Care of the Person” which introduces “participants to theological foundations of their roles as leaders in a Catholic organisation”, according to TCI’s website.

The second is “Ethics in a Faith-based Context”, followed by “Catholic Social Thought in Practice”. The last unit is “Leading the Mission in Catholic Organisations”.

“It’s quite practical. It’s intended to give people things they can work on and take back to the organisations they are working in,” Mr Scanlan said.

He said the first group in Wellington is “doing really, really well”.

“They have a good learning ethic within the group,” he said.

People who are interested can visit TCI’s website at www.tci.ac.nz.

In another development, Mr Scanlan said the bishops and the Society of Mary are expected to make a decision on the possible merger of TCI and Good Shepherd College by the end of the year.

“That is still going on behind the scenes with the establishment board. And we’re making good progress,” he said.

He said the decision needs to be sustainable “and that means we can find the right staff and that we can afford it and that it’s [the merged body] relevant and valued”.

“If we did come together, at least it concentrates the staffing question,” he added.

The bishops earlier expressed concern about the challenges in staffing Good Shepherd College.

The post New course on leadership and Catholic culture offered appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

With her husband, the late Associate Professor Hugh Laracy, Mrs Laracy co-authored many publications about Pacific history, including seminal works about the Catholic mission to Oceania.

At the St Columba Centre, she told those graduating with Bachelor of Theology degrees and with Graduate Diplomas in Theology, that her late husband “would have pointed out that you are now missionaries of the Church of New Zealand”.

But he would also have drawn their attention to the history of missionary work in our part of the world, with all the deprivations, hardships and challenges that entailed.

“When I think of those early missionaries, I cannot but marvel at their dedication, their conviction that they would bring the Word of God to far lands, and what’s more that they would be effective and would succeed,” Mrs Laracy said.

The early missionaries to Oceania were “religious” and “brave”, she added.

“These days, you who are going on to ordination are not called to be missionaries such as staffed the Solomons,” Mrs Laracy said. “Pope Francis is interested in missionaries of their own society, of their own culture.”

“In my opinion, for a priest, and for other workers in our culture and society, it is just as difficult as it was in the old missionary days.

“Fr Gerald Arbuckle, a Marist, talks about present society in his book “Violence: Society and the Church”. He writes that the expression of one’s faith through one’s culture, means that faith must become an integral part of the cultural community, that Christ must become an
integral and fully functional part of the local culture.

“And for you, the graduates, when you look around Auckland, that is a very big ask.”

Mrs Laracy, who served for 17 years on the Good  Shepherd College Senate, said that in crossing Queen Street in Auckland, “one can’t help but notice the great range of people who have a different cultural and ethnic background from when I and some of the others here were growing up”.

“So working in our society is a huge challenge. The priest or the practitioner requires the ability to listen, but not just to hear, but to listen, meaning looking at the eyes of the person who is trying to express their problem, trying on your part to exercise good judgement and patience, compassion and respect, dialogue and collaboration and the ability not to give up.”

“There are big issues to contend with,” she noted. “There’s gender, equality, the environment, economics, questions of retirement, even . . questions about cows
and pine trees.”

But she recommended two things to help those embarking on such a challenging path — having good friends and reading good books.

“I noticed while reading Nicholas Reid’s latest book on Cardinal Delargey, that the cardinal had plenty of friends, and he really, really valued them and their assistance,” Mrs Laracy said.

“So if cardinals need good friends, we need good friends too. Some friends will be more special to you than others, in terms of the advice they are equipped to give you, the guidance and judgement. But we need to maintain our friendships and we need to feed them.”

“And reading good books is essential . . . Not just the ubiquitous Kindle, but books that can live with you. They are there to have, to hold, to return to, to contemplate over.”

Mrs Laracy also cited a plea by the late Msgr Vincent Hunt “for art”.

“The works of builders, sculptors, musicians and poets have played an irreplaceable part in the life of the Church. We see there the faith and genius that has been imprinted deeply within the Christian consciousness. We gain light and strength from what these people have
produced. Fr Hunt exhorts those preparing for priesthood to have a serious engagement with Christian art and its role in the Church.

“My advice for life is to be as broad as possible in what you consume. Don’t limit yourselves either to Christian art. Read widely, including about the things you know nothing of and have no interest in. Learn, it is the best way to obtain that broadmindedness that you  in particular will need to pick your way through the challenges of being comfortable missionaries amongst your own culture.”

The post Graduates urged to be modern missionaries appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.

“We need to work out how we are going to staff the college

Fr Merv Duffy SM

or provide that sort of tertiary teaching staff,” he said.

“Good Shepherd College relies a lot on Fr Merv Duffy (SM). The number of young priests interested in that sort of academic life is very few, not many. We don’t have the priests or religious to staff Good Shepherd College looking out ten to 20 years,” Bishop Dunn said.

Good Shepherd College has a special focus on academic formation for seminarians, but also offers opportunities for others wanting to study Catholic theology and has distance learning options.

Fr Duffy, acting principal of the college, said there had been far fewer priests and religious in training in the last few decades and even fewer have been sent for higher studies.

“A committed core group of academics has kept seminary formation in New Zealand viable. The median age of the priests and religious lecturing at Good Shepherd College is now 67. The next few years will see vacancies open up which will be difficult to fill,” he said.

“The concern of the New Zealand Catholic bishops is that it will be more difficult, and more expensive, to staff Catholic tertiary education in the foreseeable future,” he added.

He said at present, priests and religious sent to “higher ecclesiastical studies” and who work for the Church in New Zealand are paid at the stipend rate, “which is not generous”.

Fr Duffy said the lecturers need to be “both highly qualified and specialised”. Lay students who attain this level of specialisation often do so at considerable expense to themselves.

“They are usually people closely associated with the Church, often having worked in some capacity for a diocese or congregation. If, once qualified, they gain a lecturing position then they have a right to be paid appropriately — at a university lecturer rate rather than the religious stipend,” he said.

Fr Duffy also pointed out that at this level of specialisation, “this highly trained person is well-qualified for only one job in New Zealand, and if someone else is doing the job competently then they are not required”.

Fr Duffy explained that becoming a lecturer at tertiary level in a Catholic institution follows “a long and expensive study pathway, with most of it spent outside New Zealand”.

“To get a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and then a doctorate you need to spend at least nine years in full-time study after secondary school,” he said.

He noted that to deliver the courses required for training a seminarian, the college needs at least the following specialities: Systematic theology, Moral theology, Pastoral theology, Spirituality, Catholic Philosophy, Sacred Scripture, Liturgy, Canon law, and Church History.

He said the normal qualification for lecturing in a degree programme is a doctorate, “though people often start lecturing with a master’s degree and work towards their doctorate”.

“Many individuals who start on this pathway change track. They get bored by the studies, fail the exams, fall in love, get made a bishop, or some other disaster as far as their academic career is concerned. Some get all the way through their studies and then discover that they are not good at, or do not enjoy, the task of lecturing,” Fr Duffy noted.

The post Shortage of academics a worry appeared first on NZ Catholic Newspaper.