The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (popularly known as the Christchurch Basilica) was a Catholic cathedral located in the
city centre
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
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 / ...
, New Zealand. It was the
mother church
Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metro ...
of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch
The Latin Rite Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington. Its cathedral and see city are located in Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It was forme ...
and seat of the Bishop of Christchurch.
Designed by architect
Francis Petre
Francis William Petre (27 August 1847 – 10 December 1918), sometimes known as Frank Petre, was a New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zea ...
, it was generally held to be the finest
renaissance-style building in New Zealand.
[archINFORM website](_blank)
(retrieved 20 July 2012) On 7 April 1983, the building was registered as a Category I heritage item by the
New Zealand Historic Places Trust
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...
, with the registration number 47. It was regarded as an outstanding example of church architecture in Australasia and was regarded as Petre's best design.
The cathedral was closed after the 4 September
2010 Canterbury earthquake
The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity scale. Som ...
. The February
2011 Christchurch earthquake
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...
collapsed the two bell towers at the front of the building and destabilised the dome.
The dome was removed, and the rear of the cathedral was demolished.
The decision to demolish the cathedral was made public on 4 August 2019. Demolition work was completed in 2021. On 7 December 2019, Martin announced that a new $85 million
Catholic cathedral was to be completed by 2025 and would accommodate up to 1,000 people. It would be built adjacent to
Victoria Square.
["New $85m Catholic cathedral planned for centre of post-quake Christchurch", ''NZ Herald'', 7 December 2019](_blank)
(Retrieved 7 December 2019)
History
![Christchurch_Catholic_Cathedral_NZ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Christchurch_Catholic_Cathedral_NZ.png)
A by wooden chapel was built on Barbadoes Street, south east of the city centre, in October 1860 for newly arrived
Marist missionary priests. This chapel was replaced by a larger wooden church designed by
Benjamin Mountfort
Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (13 March 1825 – 15 March 1898) was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's unique ...
in 1864, which was expanded over the years. This building was designated the
pro-cathedral
A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostolic ...
of the newly established
Diocese of Christchurch in 1887 by Bishop
John Grimes S.M., the first Catholic bishop of Christchurch. This designation indicated that the bishop was planning a new cathedral from the beginning of his tenure. The old building was considered inadequate for the growing population still confined to one city church.
In May 1897 Grimes went to Rome for his ''
ad limina'' visit. He had several audiences with
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
who gave two gifts for the project. One was a valuable cameo and the other a richly enamelled portrait of the pope, both of which were later sold in a fund-raising bazaar. During his 18 months overseas Grimes travelled in England, Ireland, France, Belgium, and on the return journey, via the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
, in the United States and Canada. Wherever he could command an invitation he preached and begged for his Cathedral, nine times on one Sunday in New York. He arrived back in Christchurch on 10 January 1899 with more than £3,000 for his Cathedral fund (including £800 collected in Ireland).
At that time,
Wellington's Sacred Heart Basilica was under construction, with Petre as architect in a branch office there. It is likely that it was in Wellington that Grimes invited Petre to submit a plan for the Christchurch Cathedral. Petre proposed the form of the cathedral. He wrote later that the Roman basilica style was chosen because " ... the proportion of height to length and breadth in the Gothic building is nearly three times that of the Basilica. In fact if a Gothic church were drawn with the width of nave shown in my drawings it would be higher than any Gothic church in the world." Gothic was also considered the greater earthquake risk, and overall, the more expensive. Grimes had the old church removed to Ferry Road, and construction of a new cathedral began in 1901.
Massive efforts began to raise money for the building. Grimes engaged in constant tours of his diocese to raise the cash. Problems with finding suitable stone for the construction of such a large structure caused financial difficulties during the construction, and a special
Act was pushed through Parliament by then
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
Richard Seddon
Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the List of prime ministers of New Zealand, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand, premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. ...
in order to aid with the financing of the building. The constant need to find money and to build cheaply led to strained relations between the bishop and the architect. The Catholic community with under 5,000 wage and salary earners in a total Catholic community of 20,570, was fewer in number and overall less advantaged than the Anglican community (whose cathedral took 50 years to build and opened in 1904 at a probable cost of more than £60,000 with a residual debt of £4,000). It "speaks volumes for the value average Catholic placed on their faith" that such small numbers enabled the completion of their cathedral at a total cost of £52,000 with a final debt (10 years after it opened) of less than £5,000. Grimes said at the opening on 12 February 1905, a mere four years after construction began: "No one can claim that our stately Cathedral is the work of the wealthy. It is the fruit of the hard earnings of the poor and the lowly, generous to a sacrifice of their well-won pounds, their shillings and their pence."
Construction
The cathedral was built by Jamieson and Sons who built many other major ecclesiastical and municipal buildings in New Zealand.
Petre had previous experience in using concrete, designing dock walls and sewers as a
draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to:
* An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century
* An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...
. This knowledge allowed Petre to require innovative methods during construction such as pouring heart walls with concrete and then facing with stone. Mass-produced components were widely used, including curved arches made in a purpose built moulding machine. Fifty men were employed on the site, and in excess of 120,000 cubic ft (3400 m³) of stone, 4,000 cubic ft (110 m³) of concrete, and 90 tons of steel were used in the construction. After its completion the cathedral, constructed of concrete sheathed in
Oamaru limestone
Oamaru stone, sometimes called whitestone, is a hard, compact limestone, quarried at Weston, near Oamaru in Otago, New Zealand.
Oamaru stone was used on many of the grand public buildings in the towns and cities of the southern South Island, es ...
,
was widely acclaimed, later causing George Bernard Shaw to describe Petre as a "New Zealand
Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...
".
Architecture
Forsaking
19th-century Gothic, Petre designed the new church in a
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, Italian
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
style, with one major exception. Ignoring Renaissance convention, Petre obtained a greater visual impact by siting the Italianate green copper-roofed
dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
not above the cross section of the church (as in
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
in Rome), but directly above the sanctuary. In Petre's opinion, this design element, coupled with the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
, added extra grandeur and theatre to the high altar set in the
tribune
Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...
. The nave and
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
roofs were supported by colonnades of
Ionic columns and the entrance façade of the cathedral was flanked by twin towers in the manner of many of Europe's great renaissance churches.
[P R Hamilton, ''Francis Petre: 1847–1918. An Investigation into New Zealand Architectural Biography'', MA Thesis, University of Auckland, 1986; D B Wynn-Williams, ''The Basilicas of F. W. Petre'', MA thesis, University of Canterbury 1982.]
![Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, interior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Cathedral_of_the_Blessed_Sacrament%2C_interior.jpg)
While often likened, at least in its outward form, to
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
in London, it is conceivable that the greatest influence behind this structure was
Benoit Haffreingue. During Petre's formative years, Haffreingue had been the driving force of the reconstruction of the
Cathedral of Notre Dame
Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...
in
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...
, a French church that has a very similar plan to that of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, including the controversial siting of the dome over the altar rather than the centre of the cathedral.
Haffreingue was also the principal of a private Jesuit boarding school for boys (now known as "Le collège Haffreingue-Chanclaire") in Boulogne-sur-Mer. Petre was a student at this school in 1860–186, during Heffreingue's tenure.
The building was also said by some to be based on the 19th-century
Church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Paris
The Church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul (''Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul'') is a church in the 10th arrondissement of Paris dedicated to Saint Vincent de Paul. It gives its name to the Quartier Saint-Vincent-de-Paul around it. It was built between 1 ...
, to which it bore some striking similarities.
The similarities to another great French church,
Saint-Sulpice, Paris
, image = Paris Saint-Sulpice Fassade 4-5 A.jpg
, image_size =
, pushpin map = Paris
, pushpin label position =
, coordinates =
, location = Place Saint-Sulpice 6th arrond ...
(17th century), have also been remarked upon.
![Cathedral of Blessed Sacrament Christchurch NZ (8582493332)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Cathedral_of_Blessed_Sacrament_Christchurch_NZ_%288582493332%29.jpg)
One commentator
[E J McCoy, "The Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Christchurch" in the chapter, "Petre Churches", ''Historic Buildings of New Zealand: South Island'', Metheun for the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, 1983, pp. 155 and 157.] said that the exterior of the cathedral was probably the most complete and consistent of all Petre's churches. "The majesty of the dome was best seen from the rear, and from most parts of the city it registered powerfully above the Christchurch flatness in a manner reminiscent of
Brunelleschi's dome in Florence".
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
during his 1934 visit was unimpressed with Gilbert Scott's Anglican cathedral but generous in his praise of Petre's Catholic one. "In fact it was Shaw who was one of the first to open local eyes to the quality of this building."
In 1970 under
Bishop Ashby, "years of grime deposited from the
hen
Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman.
Hen or Hens may also refer to:
Places Norway
*Hen, Buskerud, a village in Ringer ...
nearby railway station and gasworks were cleaned off and restoration work was carried out."
"The great joy of the cathedral, however, is the interior. Petre's handling of natural light is as sure as ever, the nave and sanctuary are suffused with daylight. The fine
Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
and Ionic columns down each side of the nave are a development of the design of
St Patrick's Basilica, Oamaru
The St Patrick's Basilica or Oamaru Basilica, as it is popularly known because of its style of architecture,In Roman Catholic ecclesiastical terms, St Patrick's Basilica is not a Minor basilica. See:List of minor basilicas in the world./ref> is ...
, here doubled in height, for obviously single columns in this great nave would have required enormous girth. The sanctuary dome is undoubtedly the climax of the interior; it is here that the full power of the design is unleashed. This was Petre's finest achievement in forty years of practice. Fascinating vistas are gained through the arches which transmit the enormous weight of the dome to the four massive piers. These are decorated with subtle flutings, a fresh variation on an ancient theme. In this sanctuary the liturgy can be seen as drama, and it receives a fitting setting for its movement and colour".
Earthquake
The
2010 Canterbury earthquake
The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity scale. Som ...
, a Richter magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2010, resulted in the closure of the cathedral to the public indefinitely, to allow for seismic strengthening and restoration. Masses were not celebrated at the cathedral from the September earthquake, but took place at other nearby locations such as the chapel of the adjacent
Music Centre
A music centre (or center), also known as a music complex, is a type of integrated audio system for home use, used to play from a variety of media. The term is usually used for lower end or sub- high fidelity equipment. In American English, th ...
. However, although his
Requiem Mass
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
was celebrated at
St Mary's Pro-Cathedral
St Mary's Church ( ga, Leas-Ardeaglais Naomh Muire), known also as St Mary's Pro-Cathedral or simply the Pro-Cathedral, the Chapel in Marlborough Street or the Pro, is a pro-cathedral and is the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop ...
,
Bishop Cunneen was buried in the cathedral.
![ChristchurchBasilicaPostEarthquake gobeirne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/ChristchurchBasilicaPostEarthquake_gobeirne.jpg)
A Richter magnitude 6.3
earthquake on 22 February 2011 caused considerable damage to the cathedral. The cathedral administrator,
Monsignor Charles Drennan, said that engineers had indicated that it was unlikely the building could be saved. The two bell towers at the front of the building collapsed, bringing much of the front façade down with them, with large blocks of masonry destroying vehicles in front of the building. There was also major cracking evident around the cathedral's main dome. Stained glass windows, which had survived the
4 September earthquake and some 4,000 aftershocks, were also "in ruins". Monsignor Drennan said that workers repairing damage to the building caused by the earlier earthquake, escaped, as did a custodian who was in the cathedral at the time. Drennan told
Kim Hill in a
National Radio
RNZ National ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Ā-Motu), formerly Radio New Zealand National, and known until 2007 as the National Programme or National Radio, is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand English-language radio network operat ...
interview on 5 March that the screams of the children at the nearby school when the earthquake struck at nine minutes to one "will stay with him for a long time". He and other priests were having lunch when the violent shaking started and they dived under the table from where one of them watched the towers falling from the cathedral.
The building has been described as "quite humbled". On the collapsed front, "all that was left at the top was a cross piercing the sky – two angels abreast keeping vigil". Msgr Drennan and three other priests were forced to evacuate the cathedral rectory by authorities. This was not because of any damage to that building, but because authorities wanted to clear the central city area of people for security reasons. Adjoining parts of
Catholic Cathedral College were threatened by the severely damaged cathedral and the college had to shift to
St Thomas of Canterbury College under a "site-sharing" arrangement.
Reaction
![Removing the dome](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Removing_the_dome._%287%29_%288585056338%29.jpg)
On 2 March,
Bishop Jones decided that the dome of the cathedral would be removed after an inspection revealed another large earthquake could topple it completely. An engineer's report showed that the cathedral's dome was forcing weight-bearing structures outwards and that another earthquake like the
magnitude 6.3 on 22 February would topple the dome. The bishop said that the removal of the dome would begin as soon as possible, but other work had to be completed and equipment assembled before work could begin. The removal of the dome would be done by cranes at a distance from the site because of the risk of collapse. The bishop also said that no decisions would be made about the future of the building until a detailed engineering report was generated after the dome has been removed. Until the February earthquake,
Masses were being held at the Catholic Cathedral College assembly hall near the cathedral, but the bishop said he did not know where future services would be held. He said: "We don't know anything, all we're concerned about now is protecting human life."
On 5 March, the Minister of Earthquake Recovery,
Gerry Brownlee
Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 4 February 1956) is a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1996, was Leader of the House, Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and Minister of ...
, told a media briefing that if he had his way, most of Christchurch's heritage buildings would be demolished but that he would like to see resources go into rebuilding the
ChristChurch Cathedral
ChristChurch Cathedral, also called Christ Church Cathedral and (rarely) Cathedral Church of Christ, is a deconsecrated Anglican cathedral in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 and 1904 in the centre of the city, ...
, the Catholic Basilica, the
Canterbury Provincial Chambers and the
Christchurch Arts Centre
The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora is a hub for arts, culture, education, creativity and entrepreneurship in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the Gothic Revival former Canterbury College (now the University of Canterbury), Christchur ...
– "but that's it – There will be a few others perhaps, but those would be the most iconic buildings that Christchurch residents would want to see rebuilt. They won't be put back the way they were. They will need to have a great deal of strengthening put into them and it will be quite a long consideration as to how those things might be done."
After the
June 2011 Christchurch earthquake
The June 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a shallow magnitude 6.0 earthquake that occurred on 13 June 2011 at 14:20 NZST (02:20 UTC). It was centred at a Hypocenter, depth of , about 5 km (3 mi) south-east of Christchurch, which had p ...
, the dome of the cathedral was removed. The outer copper dome was cut into segments and was finally removed on 26 July and the internal decorative dome was removed intact in August. The damaged rear of the cathedral was demolished to a low level in October. Meanwhile, in August, Catholic Cathedral College was able to reoccupy its buildings.
Statue and consecration of Christchurch to Mary
A statue of the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
that was in the north tower of the cathedral turned 180 degrees during the February earthquake so that instead of facing into the cathedral it was facing out. It became a quake survival symbol after the about face as it looked out of a tower window over the battered city. On 29 May 2011 the statue was carried around the damaged cathedral, once again the centrepiece for a religious ceremony. After circumnavigating the cathedral grounds, the 200-strong congregation witnessed the Bishop of Christchurch consecrating the city of Christchurch to Mary. The statue had been damaged while being removed from the tower, but was repaired by Carmelite nuns in time for the procession, which was organised by the
Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer
The Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, Filii Sanctissimi Redemptoris; FSSR), commonly known as the Transalpine Redemptorists or The Sons, are a religious institute of the Catholic Church canonically erected in the Roman Ca ...
.
Options
![Catholic Basilica Christchurch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Catholic_Basilica_Christchurch.jpg)
Full restoration of the cathedral was expected to cost more than $100 million and construction of a new cathedral $40 million.
Meanwhile, the decision to demolish
the Anglican cathedral had caused great controversy. One commentator asked why there is "relative silence over the future of the Basilica for the Catholics who are allowed to get on with their decision-making processes in relative peace, while the Anglicans have to fight it out in the streets and letters to the editor pages of ''
The Press
''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...
''? I suspect there remains in Christchurch the notion of old that the Catholics are still regarded as peripheral, parked over on the edge of town in an area back in the day that was next to the gas works that turned the cathedral a nicotine yellow. Now the distance from the heart of the city seems to have at last paid off as the Basilica's counterpart in the Square can't get out of the ring".
By 7 May 2012, the Catholic diocese had spent about $3 million deconstructing the damaged parts of the cathedral, on cleaning and saving and numbering stones, windows and unique elements, and on transporting material, at night, to a storage facility in west Christchurch. The facility and shrink-wrapping allowed the individually numbered objects to be kept in the "best condition possible" with a view to their use in any rebuild or as a guide for the design of new elements. The cathedral's fate was considered in the context of a total of 20 damaged churches in the Christchurch Catholic Diocese. The diocese also had to deal with insurance issues and decisions on other assets, which included schools, retirement villages, church halls and presbyteries, as well as churches.
In May 2015, it was announced that further deconstruction of the front and sanctuary areas of the building would be undertaken with a view to investigating the retention of the nave area (which appeared to be relatively undamaged) and its incorporation into a new building. This redevelopment, if it proceeded, would cost about $45 million and take four years to complete.
In October 2016, the result of this investigation was announced. The cathedral could be saved and gradually rebuilt, but at a cost $100 million. The final decision on the future of the building was to be made by the new Bishop of Christchurch,
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
The son o ...
, appointed in 2018.
Replacement
![Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament 933](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Cathedral_of_the_Blessed_Sacrament_933.jpg)
On 4 August 2019, Martin announced that the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament would be demolished.
[Cathedral demolition: "Accept the decision and move on", ''Cath News'', 7 August 2019](_blank)
(Retrieved 7 August 2019) The then current cost of a complete reconstruction of the cathedral was $149 million. The option of just saving the nave and rebuilding on a modest scale was estimated to cost in excess of $91 million. The bishop said that these costs were not bearable by the diocese. He said that the diocese had spent millions of dollars investigating the site and the building and had examined more than 20 different possibilities, but ultimately "a functional and financial solution" could not be found and the 113-year-old earthquake-damaged basilica would therefore be demolished.
On Saturday 7 December 2019, Martin announced that a new $85 million
Catholic cathedral to be completed by 2025 and accommodating up to 1,000 people would be built adjacent to
Victoria Square. The project would also include a hotel precinct of up to four hotels, a relocated St Mary's Primary School, multi-storey car park building, hub for community activities, church offices and residential accommodation for clergy. Payment for the development would include $45m from the church's quake insurance claim for a cathedral. The bishop said that the "sizeable" funding shortfall would be met through fundraising and the sale of excess property and assets, including potentially selling the old Barbadoes St site. The search for potential architects and designs would begin in 2020.
Demolition of the cathedral began on 1 September 2020 and was expected to take a year to complete.
Choir and orchestra
The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament Music (CBS Music) are the primary music providers for Masses at
St Mary's Pro-Cathedral
St Mary's Church ( ga, Leas-Ardeaglais Naomh Muire), known also as St Mary's Pro-Cathedral or simply the Pro-Cathedral, the Chapel in Marlborough Street or the Pro, is a pro-cathedral and is the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop ...
. Before the earthquake, they were based at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The CBS is an affiliate of the
RSCM New Zealand Canterbury Branch.
The first formation of a choir, under the leadership of Don Whelan, was at Christ The King,
Burnside. Whelan started working with Dutch immigrants, who come from a choral culture, understood the art of singing in parts well. Whelan soon became a well-trained organist, organising
cantor
A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds.
In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...
s and the choir. Before
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
1969, an organist was needed for the services at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Whelan took this opportunity, and the CBS Choir was formed.
During their first international tour to Europe in 1990–1991, the CBS was given status as cultural ambassadors by the
New Zealand Government
, background_color = #012169
, image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg
, image_size=250px
, date_established =
, country = New Zealand
, leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
, appointed = Governor-General
, main_organ =
, ...
. During their third European tour, the choir were invited to lead the singing during the
Papal
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
Midnight Mass
In many Western Christian traditions Midnight Mass is the first liturgy of Christmastide that is celebrated on the night of Christmas Eve, traditionally beginning at midnight when Christmas Eve gives way to Christmas Day. This popular Christmas c ...
in celebration of the inauguration the
Holy Year of Jubilee Due to the
2010 Canterbury earthquake
The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity scale. Som ...
, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was badly damaged, leading it to be closed for the foreseeable future. Masses moved next door to the
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
. During the
2011 Christchurch earthquake
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...
, the cathedral partially collapsed, as well as the chapel and music center being badly damaged and demolished afterwards. The CBS built a new state of the art facility at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in which to house their music library, offices and a practice hall.
Despite the Canterbury earthquakes, the choir and orchestra were still able to go ahead with their annual New Zealand tours, as well as going on their first Asian tour in 2012 and their fifth Australian and European tours in 2013 and 2015, respectively.
In October 2019, members and associates of the CBS celebrated 50 years under the leadership of Don Whelan, with a luncheon at the
Rydges Hotel in Central Christchurch.
In March 2020, the
Catholic bishops of New Zealand ordered the temporary suspension of Masses and churches to be temporarily closed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in NZ. Shortly afterwards, the rest of the CBS program was halted due to the national lockdown. The ''Wednesdays at One'' music programme, concerts, annual music events, and the appearances at Masses were suspended for the first time in its history. On 14 June, the CBS was able to begin their program, celebrating the cathedral's feast of
Corpus Christi. The ''Wednesdays at One'' music programme resumed in July 2020.
Concert program
''Wednesdays at One'' is a weekly concert series hosted by the CBS. This entails local and national musicians of all ages to perform the works of many composers on many different instruments. Annual concerts of Bach's ''
St John Passion
The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (german: Johannes-Passion, link=no), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the older of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as direc ...
'' and Handel's ''
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
'' are performed on
Good Friday
Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...
and in mid-December, respectively.
In June, during the Diocese's Feast Day (Cathedral Feast of Corpus Christi) celebrations, a concert is given, where usually a Mass is performed. In 2019,
John Ritchie's ''Missa Corpus Christi'' was performed, as well as
MacMillan's ''Hymn to the Blessed Sacrament'' and
Mendelssohn's ''
Verleih uns Frieden''.
On the first Sunday of each month (excluding January), orchestral Masses are performed with the choir. Every other Sunday, the choir sings contemporary, polyphonic, and
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...
compositions. Orchestral Masses with the choir are also performed at the Christmas Vigil and Midnight Mass.
Personnel
Below is a list of key personnel.
Director of Music:
* Don Whelan (1969–present)
Assistant Director of Music:
* Simon Mace (2018–2019)
* Nicholas Sutcliffe (2019–present)
Cantor:
* Wally Enright (?–present)
Concertmaster:
* Carlo Ballara (?–?)
* Natalia M. Lomeiko (?–present)
Burials
*
John Grimes, First Catholic Bishop of Christchurch.
*
Edward Joyce, Fourth Catholic Bishop of Christchurch.
*
John Jerome Cunneen, Eighth Catholic Bishop of Christchurch.
See also
*
Christchurch Catholic Cathedral
The Christchurch Catholic Cathedral is the planned replacement to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament which was damaged in the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes and later demolished. This makes the cathedral the future mother church of th ...
, the proposed replacement for the cathedral
*
St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Christchurch
The St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, or St Mary's Church, is a Catholic church located on Manchester Street in Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand.
It serves as the seat of the bishop of the Latin Church Diocese of Christchurch (''Dioecesis ...
, the temporary replacement for the cathedral
*
List of basilicas in New Zealand
*
List of buildings by Francis Petre
Francis Petre (27 August 1847 – 10 December 1918) was a New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zealand. He followed the Roman Church's initiative to build ...
References
Bibliography
* , based on the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Volume Two (1870–1900), 1993) retrieved 7 May 2008.
*
* John Simpson, "A Building of Splendour that inspired greatness and survived all animosities", ''The Press'', 8 February 1980, p. 11.
* John Simpson, "Difficulties after building begins", ''The Press'', 9 February 1980, p. 12.
* E J McCoy, "The Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Christchurch" in the chapter, "Petre Churches", ''Historic Buildings of New Zealand: South Island'', Metheun for the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, 1983, pp. 153–155 and 158–159.
External links
"The Cathedrals of Christchurch", Christchurch City Libraries website(retrieved 2 March 2011).
Catholic Diocese of Christchurchretrieved 7 May 2008.
The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Diocese of Christchurch official website
CBS Choir and Orchestra Articles – New Zealand National Library
{{Christchurch earthquakes
Roman Catholic cathedrals in New Zealand
Churches in Christchurch
Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Canterbury, New Zealand
Francis Petre church buildings
Basilica churches in New Zealand
Church buildings with domes
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1905
2011 Christchurch earthquake
Christchurch Central City
Listed churches in New Zealand
1900s architecture in New Zealand
1860 establishments in New Zealand
20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in New Zealand
Buildings and structures demolished as a result of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake
Buildings and structures demolished in 2021
Stone churches in New Zealand