Edward Michael Joyce (26 June 1904 – 28 January 1964) was the fourth Roman Catholic bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand. He was appointed by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

on 18 April 1950 and died in office on 28 January 1964. He was the first priest of the Christchurch diocese to be made a bishop."Death of Bishop Joyce", ''The Press'', 29 January 1964, p. 14

Early life

Joyce was born in Lyttelton, New Zealand in 1904 and spent part of his childhood in

Loburn Loburn is a rural community in North Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand. It is located ten kilometres northwest of Rangiora and nearly 50 kilometres north of Christchurch. Loburn is a small community, with no shops. Local industr ...

, where he attended

Rangiora High School , motto_translation = Enlightenment with Friendship , location = , coordinates = , type = State , religious_affiliation = , religion = , denomination = , patron ...

. He trained for the priesthood at Holy Cross College, Mosgiel.

Priesthood

Joyce was ordained priest on 31 October 1930 in the

Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (popularly known as the Christchurch Basilica) was a Catholic cathedral located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch and s ...

by his uncle

James Byrne James or Jim Byrne may refer to: Politics * James A. Byrne (1906–1980), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania * James Allen Byrne (1911–1975), Liberal Party member of the Canadian House of Commons * James J. Byrne (1863–1930), American sing ...

, the 1st Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba."Sudden Death of Bishop Joyce", ''Zealandia'', 30 January 1964, p. 1. He then spent three years in Auckland and was the

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

at Sacred Heart College, then located in Ponsonby. Joyce returned to Christchurch in 1934 to be assistant priest at

Addington Addington may refer to: Places In Australia: * Addington, Victoria In Canada: * Addington, Ontario * Addington County, Ontario (now Lennox and Addington County, Ontario) * Addington Highlands, Ontario * Addington Parish, New Brunswick * Adding ...

and then at Riccarton. In 1937 he was loaned to the Diocese of Toowoomba where he assisted his uncle James Byrne until he died on 11 February 1938. In 1941 Joyce was appointed chaplain to the New Zealand Military Forces and served with New Zealand troops in Tonga and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. In Fiji he was attached to the headquarters of the Fiji Infantry Brigade Group and was associated with many activities for the promotion of the welfare of the troops in his area. After his demobilisation in 1945, Joyce was posted to the reserve of officers with the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

He was stationed at the Cathedral in Christchurch and engaged in rehabilitation work for returned soldiers. He represented Bishop Lyons for three years on the Labour Department immigration committee. At the same time he was involved with general Catholic activities being spiritual adviser to the

Catholic Women's League The Catholic Women's League (CWL) is a Roman Catholic lay organisation founded in 1906 by Margaret Fletcher. Originally intended to bring together Catholic women in England, the organization has grown, and may be found in numerous Commonwealth ...

and the Catholic Men's Luncheon Club. Joyce was very involved during the Ballantyne's fire tragedy of 1947 and represented Bishop Lyons at the mass funeral for the victims. Joyce became parish priest at

Sockburn Sockburn is a village and former civil parish to the south of Darlington in County Durham, England. It is situated at the apex of a meander of the River Tees, known locally as the Sockburn Peninsula. Today, all that remains of the village is an ...

in 1947.

Episcopacy

Joyce was appointed Bishop of Christchurch on 18 April 1950 and was consecrated in the Cathedral on 16 July 1950 by Archbishop McKeefry and Bishops Liston and Kavanagh. Joyce's appointment was unusual among New Zealand bishops at that time in that he had no training in Rome or elsewhere overseas.E.R. Simmons, ''A Brief History of the Catholic Church in New Zealand'', Catholic Publications Centre, Auckland, 1978, pp. 108, 109 During the 14 years of Joyce's episcopate the Christchurch diocese experienced considerable growth. The Catholic population increased from 31,769 to 48,500, the number of parishes increased from 32 to 47, the number of

secular priests In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...

rose from 47 to 80, primary schools went from 35 to 53 and the number of pupils attending Catholic schools rose from 6524 to 11,038. Bishop Joyce opened two new secondary schools, Cottesmore College (staffed by the Religious of the Sacred Heart) and

St Thomas of Canterbury College St Thomas of Canterbury College is a college for year 7 to 13 boys and offers a Catholic education to its students. It is located in Christchurch, New Zealand. The college is integrated into the state education system under an integration agreem ...

(staffed by the Christian Brothers). Among the other religious orders introduced by Joyce were the Brothers of St John of God and the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion. Joyce founded the Mary Potter Hospice for the Dying (operated by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary), Rochester Hall (a hostel for Catholic university students) and he encouraged the setting up of an outpatients psychiatric clinic at Calvary Hospital. He attended the first two sessions of the Second Vatican Council.

Death

Joyce's final years were blighted by illness. which greatly reduced his effectiveness. He died on 28 January 1964, aged 59. His requiem Mass was celebrated before a congregation of more than a thousand by Archbishop McKeefry who also preached the

panagyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc, ...

. Bishops Thomas William Muldoon, (Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney), Kavanagh of Dunedin, Reginald Delargey (Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland), and

Owen Snedden Owen Noel Snedden, (15 December 1917 – 17 April 1981) was Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Wellington, New Zealand (from 1962 to 1981). He was the first Auckland-born priest to be consecrated a Roman Catholic bishop. Early life Snedden was ...

(Auxiliary Bishop of Wellington) were also present. He was interred in the

at the foot of the altar of

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...

."Many Church Dignitaries At Bishop Joyce's Funeral", ''The Press'', 1 February 1964, p. 16

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Edward Michael Holy Cross College, New Zealand alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in New Zealand Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Christchurch 1904 births 1964 deaths New Zealand military chaplains World War II chaplains People from Lyttelton, New Zealand People educated at Rangiora High School