Michael Andrew Gielen (born 2 June 1971) is a New Zealand

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

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. He has served as the eleventh Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand since May 2022. Gielen was previously auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Auckland.

Early life and education

Gielen was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and raised in

Tokoroa Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the M ...

, the son of Henk and Maureen Gielen and the oldest of six siblings. He received his secondary education at Forest View High School, Tokoroa. After studying at

Holy Cross Seminary Holy Cross College or Holy Cross Seminary is the national Roman Catholic seminary of New Zealand for the training of priests. It was first opened in 1900 in Mosgiel and was relocated to Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland, Auckland in 1997. Estab ...

(then located in

Mosgiel Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...

), he was ordained as a priest in 1997 in Tokoroa by Bishop Max Mariu, SM, Auxiliary Bishop of Hamilton, New Zealand, the first Maori Catholic bishop. Gielen was the only priest ever ordained by Bishop Mariu. He worked in parish ministry in the Hamilton diocese serving in parishes in the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

, North Waikato and Raglan.Rowena Orejana, "Jesus does great things when you say 'yes'", ''NZ Catholic'', 22 March-4 April 2020, p. 9. He studied at the

Franciscan University of Steubenville Franciscan University of Steubenville is a private Franciscan university in Steubenville, Ohio. The university had 3,040 students as of fall 2019, including 2,317 students on campus, in 40 undergraduate and 8 graduate degree programs. The studen ...

and at the

Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in Rome. From 2014 until 2019, he served as director of formation at Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland.Michael Otto, "Deacon Dad proud of his bishop son: Deacon Henk Gielen was the deacon at the episcopal ordination of his son, Bishop Michael Gielen, as auxiliary bishop of Auckland", ''NZ Catholic'', 12 March 2020.
(Retrieved 13 March 2020)"Hamilton priest Father Michael Gielen appointed new Auckland Auxiliary Bishop", New Zealand Catholic Bishops Website
(Retrieved 14 January 2020)

Episcopacy

On 6 January 2020, Gielen was appointed auxiliary bishop of

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 ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

as the

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

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. He was ordained bishop at the Vodafone Event Centre, Manukau, Auckland on Saturday 7 March 2020 in the presence of 3,000 people. The principal consecrator was Bishop Patrick James Dunn and the principal co-consecrators were Bishop Stephen Lowe and Bishop Peter Cullinane The deacon at the ordination Mass was Deacon Henk Gielen of

Papamoa , image = View_to_Mayor.jpg , caption1 = Looking towards Mayor Island down Domain Rd from the Papamoa Hills , city1 = Tauranga , ward = , council = Tauranga City Council , established = , coord ...

, Michael Gielen's father. Other bishops participating included Cardinal John Dew, Bishop Michael Dooley, Bishop Colin Campbell, Bishop Basil Meeking, Bishop Owen Dolan, Bishop Denis Browne and Bishop Richard Umbers. The papal bull of appointment was read, on behalf of the

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, Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, by Monsignor Edward Karaan, Deputy Head of Mission and

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at the Apostolic Nunciature in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. On 21 May 2022,

appointed Gielen as the 11th Bishop 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 / ...

. He is set to be installed as bishop in July.

Personal life

Gielen is a keen cyclist. In 2015, he and seven

seminarian A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

s of Holy Cross Seminary cycled for 33 days from

Cape Reinga , type =Cape , photo = Cape Reinga, Northland, New Zealand, October 2007.jpg , photo_width = 270px , photo_alt = , photo_caption = , map = New Zealand , map_width = 270px ...

at the northern end of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New So ...

on the southern coast of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

to promote vocations for the priesthood. He also enjoys participating in rugby union, cricket and golf.

References

External links

OCEANIA/NEW ZEALAND – "Appointment of the auxiliary Bishop of Auckland", ''Agenzia Fides'', 7 January 2020
(Retrieved 14 January 2020). {{DEFAULTSORT:Gielen, Michael Living people 1971 births Religious leaders from Auckland 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in New Zealand Holy Cross College, New Zealand alumni Franciscan University of Steubenville alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Auckland People educated at Forest View High School, Tokoroa

Early life and education

Episcopacy

Personal life

See also

References

External links