Antony Sumich (born 30 September 1964 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

) is a former international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

player for

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

instructor and rugby

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, and is now a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

of the

Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri; FSSP) is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians which is in communion with the Holy See. The society was founded in 19 ...

Background and sport

Sumich was educated at

St Peter's College, Auckland St Peter's College ( mi, Te Kura Teitei o Hāto Petera) is a Catholic church, Catholic secondary school single-sex education, for boys in the Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice tradition, and dedicated to St Peter. it is located in the Auckland CBD ...

and he completed his training as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

in Auckland in the 1980s. In 1989 he relocated to Europe, intending to live in Croatia, but because of the war there, he went to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and worked there for eight winters as a ski instructor, and elsewhere in Europe while coaching rugby. After the war, he became the coach of the Croatian national rugby team .Michael Otto, "Kiwi ordained for Latin Mass fraternity", ''NZ Catholic'', 14–20 Dec 2008, p. 3. He also played Cricket for Croatia, being a member of the Croatian National Cricket team in 2001.

Developing his faith

When the war had finished and Sumich returned to Croatia he found a "flourishing faith". "They had broken free from communism and the church was free". "Everyone had rosaries in their pockets." Sumich found himself "practising as a Catholic for the first time in my life, as distinct from just going to Sunday Mass. He wanted to know more about the Faith, because I'd just forgotten everything". His mother sent him a ''

Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ( la, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It aims to summarize, in book for ...

'', which he "sat down on a beach and read" over one summer. "It all made sense". He started going to frequent Confession and "finding a sense of shame which probably hadn't existed before". At age 34, Sumich set aside a year, praying intensely, including the 15 prayers of St Bridget of Sweden and the

Rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

. At this time, he was the coach of the Croatian rugby team. "We would be playing at the Hong Kong Sevens and my rosary

eads Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

would be in my pocket and I would finger it". Sumich liked to challenge his players. "I would say to them, 'strong moral life, strong character on the rugby field; weak moral life, and you are the first one to chuck the towel in when the going gets tough' ". Returning to New Zealand, Sumich found local liturgies very different from what he had become used to in Croatia. But, in Auckland, he was introduced to the "awe-inspiring"

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...

celebrated by

Denzil Meuli Pierre Denzil Meuli (22 September 1926 – 22 March 2019) was a writer, former newspaper editor, Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Auckland and a leading traditionalist Catholic in New Zealand. In 1969 Meuli was appointed editor of the new ...

at Titirangi. Sumich "felt God's call and sought an order using this rite". He was accepted by the

and went to their formation house, the International Seminary of St. Peter in

Wigratzbad Wigratzbad is a hamlet in the Lindau district of Bavaria, Germany. The village is north of the town of Opfenbach, and south of Hergatz. It is situated on the ancient frontier of Bavaria and Swabia, a short distance from Germany's borders with Au ...

- Opfenbach,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, but he did most of his studies in Denton,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary is the second seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, a Society of Apostolic Life in the Catholic Church. The seminary was canonically established in 1988 by Pope John Paul II in accordance with his lett ...

where he was ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in March 2008.

Priesthood

Sumich was ordained a priest on 29 November 2008, at St Michael's Church, Remuera, Auckland, by

Basil Meeking John Basil Meeking (19 November 1929 – 11 June 2020) was the 7th bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand from 1987 to 1995. Career Having been ordained as a priest in 1953, he was appointed as Bishop of Christchurch by Pope John Paul II on 30 Mar ...

, Bishop Emeritus of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, using the 1962 Roman Missal and Rite of Ordination. He offered his first Mass on the First Sunday of

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

(30 November 2008); he was the first New Zealander to be ordained for the

Priestly Fraternity of St Peter The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri; FSSP) is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians which is in communion with the Holy See. The society was founded in 19 ...

. After his priestly ordination he was stationed in Orlu,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

where he had also served following his ordination as a deacon. In 2011, Sumich was the Rector of St. Gregory's Academy, an American Catholic boarding school located in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania. Sumich served as associate pastor for the Latin Mass community at St. Anthony's Parish in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta, Canada. in 2016, he returned to New Zealand to serve the Latin Mass community in West Auckland (Titirangi and Te Atatū).Michael Otto, "Traditionalist order sees chance to come to NZ" ''NZ Catholic'', 12 May 2016
(retrieved 29 January 2018)

Notes

External links

The Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in Nigeria (accessed 29 June 2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumich, Antony 1964 births Living people Catholic Church in New Zealand Croatian rugby union players New Zealand cricket coaches New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States New Zealand expatriates in Canada New Zealand expatriates in Nigeria New Zealand people of Croatian descent 21st-century New Zealand Roman Catholic priests New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand traditionalist Catholics Sportspeople from Auckland People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter Traditionalist Catholic priests