Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Archdiocese of Wellington is the
Latin Church
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
metropolitan archdiocese
A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces.
...
of New Zealand. Catholics number about 83,214 (2006 census). Parishes number 22 and the archdiocese extends over central New Zealand between Levin and Masterton in the north to Kaikoura to Westport in the south.
The suffragan sees are:
*
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 ...
*
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 / ...
*
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
*
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's fou ...
*
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
History
Pioneers
The Catholic faith of the new immigrants to Wellington was initially sustained through the efforts of John Fitzgerald who arrived on 31 January 1840. He led the Sunday prayers and organised
Christian Doctrine
Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exeg ...
classes. The first resident priest was the Capuchin Father Jeremiah O’Riley who arrived as chaplain to Hon Henry William Petre, a director of the
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...
and one of the founders of Wellington. O’Riley arrived in January 1843 and within a year the first, small Catholic church was built and dedicated to the Nativity. Meanwhile, the Auckland-based French
Marists
The Society of Mary ( la, Societas Mariae) abbreviated SM, commonly known as the Marist Fathers, is a men's Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right. It was founded by Jean-Claude Colin and a group of seminarians in ...
ministered extensively throughout the country and Fr J.B. Compte SM established a permanent mission at Otaki in 1844."History of the Archdiocese of Wellington", Archdiocese of Wellington, 2006(?), pp. 1 and 2.
Marists
In June 1848, Pope Pius IX divided New Zealand into two dioceses,
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 ...
and Wellington which consisted of the lower half 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 ...
and the whole 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 ...
. Bishop Philippe Viard, who arrived in Wellington on the barque "Clara" on 1 May 1850, was the first bishop. With him were five Marist priests, ten lay brothers, two lay male teachers, three Māori and four young women, the "Sisters of Mary" who commenced teaching at what became St Mary's College and Sacred Heart Cathedral School.
Establishment
Viard bought and was given land in Thorndon on which his residence, St Mary's Convent and St Mary's Cathedral were built. Garin and Clause went to
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
to establish the church there. Fr Lampila and two others established a mission in
Hawkes Bay
Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...
. Forest and Huntley worked in the
Hutt Valley
The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt, a director of the New Zeala ...
. Petitjean and Seon travelled extensively throughout 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 ...
. By 1852 a parish had been established in
Whanganui
Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...
and the Māori mission on the
Whanganui River
The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...
had a resident priest. For ten years, however, Viard received no reinforcements and illness took a toll on his personnel. In March 1860 the Sisters of Mercy arrived from Auckland to take over the works of the four Sisters of Mary.
Expansion
In 1859 three more Marist priests arrived and pastors could be provided to
New Plymouth
New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...
,
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 / ...
and
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
. The discovery of gold in 1857 and after meant a rapid expansion of the Church on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
, and
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
became a separate diocese in 1869. Irish priests arrived and followed their compatriots to the
diggings
The Diggings was a colloquial term for the gold rush locations in Australia and the United States beginning in the 1850s. Gold miners - the diggers - would describe their journey "to the diggings" and say they were "at (or on) the diggings." Be ...
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 / ...
and
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
.
Archdiocese
Viard died on 2 June 1872 and was succeeded by
Francis Redwood
Francis William Mary Redwood SM (6 April 1839 – 3 January 1935), was the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wellington, Metropolitan of New Zealand.
Life
Redwood was born on 8 April 1839 on the Tixall estate, Staffordshire, England, a k ...
, who remained ordinary of the diocese for 61 years. The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese on 10 May 1887 and
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 / ...
coadjutor bishop
A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...
in 1913 and remained so for 22 years. Redwood died in 1935 and was succeeded by O’Shea whose archepiscopate lasted for 12 years.
Peter McKeefry
Peter Thomas Bertram ''Cardinal'' McKeefry (3 July 1899 – 18 November 1973) was the third Archbishop of Wellington (1954–73) and Metropolitan of New Zealand and its first Cardinal.
Early life and education
McKeefry was born in Greymouth, ...
was appointed coadjutor archbishop in 1947 and succeeded on the death of O’Shea in 1954. McKeefry was appointed a cardinal in 1969 and was assisted by Owen Snedden who was auxiliary bishop from 1962.
Cardinals
During McKeefry's episcopate the Catholic population of Wellington more than doubled and 39 new parishes were established. New
orders
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
arrived such as the Cistercians in Hawkes Bay. McKeefry, who became New Zealand's first cardinal in 1969, was succeeded in 1973 by
Reginald Delargey
Reginald John Delargey (10 December 1914 – 29 January 1979) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, and later Cardinal, Archbishop of Wellington and Metropolitan of New Zealand. His title was Cardinal-Priest of ''Immacolata al Tiburtino''. ...
who in turn was succeeded, on his death in 1979, by Thomas Williams, who became a cardinal in 1983. In 1980 the archdiocese was split with the creation of the Palmerston North diocese. Williams retired in March 2005 and John Dew was appointed as his replacement. He was made a cardinal in 2015.
Present
In 2019, Dew, addressing the state of the church's buildings and the future of their congregations, stated that soaring insurance costs and a dwindling number of priests meant that the resources of the archdiocese would have to be more efficiently used. He said that fewer resources would be poured into retaining buildings and more attention and energy focused on serving the poor, as required by
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. ...
and the
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
. He said that earthquake resilience issues meant that the archdiocese was liable for unsustainable insurance costs and the strengthening of buildings with unacceptable New Building Standard ratings. Already four churches and Sacred Heart Cathedral had been closed because of this. He also stated that some parishes would need to amalgamate to cope with the lack of clergy. He said that the reduced number of priests, which was accelerating each year, meant that in most parishes there was a single priest – often elderly – expected to minister in more than one church. Availability and ability of priests were highly significant factors governing decisions for the future that could not be delayed. Between 2013 and 2017 the archdiocese carried out a parish amalgamation process, which led to the reduction in parishes from 47 to 22, and many of the new parishes had too many churches, presbyteries, and other buildings.
Ordinaries
Philippe Viard was
vicar apostolic
A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...
of the Diocese of Wellington from 1848 until 1860 when he became the Bishop of Wellington. Francis Redwood was bishop of that diocese until 1887 when he became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Wellington (created in that year) and Metropolitan of New Zealand. All incumbents since then carry those latter two titles.
Peter McKeefry
Peter Thomas Bertram ''Cardinal'' McKeefry (3 July 1899 – 18 November 1973) was the third Archbishop of Wellington (1954–73) and Metropolitan of New Zealand and its first Cardinal.
Early life and education
McKeefry was born in Greymouth, ...
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 ...
Patrick Edward O'Connor
Monsignor Patrick Edward O'Connor (8 March 1932 − 3 December 2014) was a Roman Catholic priest who served as the Ecclesiastical Superior of the Roman Catholic Mission Sui Iuris of Tokelau from 1992 to 2011.
Life
O'Connor was born in Master ...
, appointed superior of Tokelau, Pacific (Oceania) in 1992; not consecrated bishop
*
Owen Dolan
Owen John Dolan (born 30 September 1928) is the Coadjutor Bishop Bishop Emeritus, Emeritus of Roman Catholic Diocese of Palmerston North, Palmerston North. He was appointed coadjutor bishop by Pope John Paul II on 2 November 1995 and was consecrat ...
(priest, 1954-1980), appointed coadjutor bishop of Palmerston North in 1995
Chanel College, Masterton
Chanel College, Masterton is a Catholic secondary school situated in Masterton, New Zealand. The school is named after St Peter Chanel, who was a French Marist priest killed on the Pacific island of Futuna in 1841. The school was established ...
Documented cases of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests and brothers in the Wellington area include:
* Marist Brother Claudius Pettit (birth name Malcolm Thomas Petit) was convicted of sexual abuse of a boy at a Wellington school in the 1990s.
* In 2018 the Society of Mary said that
Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area.
Geography
The Upper Hutt city centre lies approximately 26 km north-e ...
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 ...
. After he was
laicized
In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy.
The t ...
and left New Zealand to live in England, he was extradited back to New Zealand and was convicted in 2004 of 21 sex offences committed between 1978 and 1987. The abuse continued with the knowledge of priests Michael Curtain and Fred Bliss. The
Sisters of St Joseph of Nazareth
The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Nazareth, also called simply the Sisters of St Joseph or Josephites ("Black Josephites"), are a religious congregation who have their main centre in Whanganui, New Zealand. The congregation was a member of the Fed ...
assisted in locating him abroad. In the late 1980s, he took up residence in England, where he was arrested in 2002.https://natlib.govt.nz/items?i%5Bsubject%5D=Sexual+misconduct+by+clergy&text=Priest Woodcock received a 21 year prison sentence.
* Patrick Bignell, who taught in the Hutt Valley, was convicted of "crimes against boys".Chris Morris, "'He was a monster': Survivor shines light on dark past", ''ODT'', 12 December 2018 (Retrieved 3 May 2020)
See also
*
Catholic Church in New Zealand
The Catholic Church in New Zealand ( mi, Te Hāhi Katorika ki Aotearoa) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope in Rome, assisted by the Roman Curia, and with the New Zealand bishops.
Catholicism was intro ...
*
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and of Saint Mary His Mother, better known as Sacred Heart Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral on Hill Street, Wellington, New Zealand. It is the parish church of the Thorndon, New Zealand#Chur ...
*
St Gerard's Church and Monastery
St Gerard's Church and Monastery collectively form one of Wellington's most distinctive and iconic landmarks. Located on Mount Victoria in Wellington, both buildings are classified as "Category I" ("places of 'special or outstanding historical or ...
Suzanne Aubert
Suzanne Aubert (19 June 1835 – 1 October 1926), better known to many by her cleric name Sister Mary Joseph or Mother Aubert, was a Catholic sister who started a home for orphans and the under-privileged in Jerusalem, New Zealand on the Whangan ...
Holy Name Seminary
Holy Name Seminary was a Roman Catholic seminary staffed by the Society of Jesus established in New Zealand for the training of priests. It was first opened in 1947 in Christchurch and closed at the end of 1978.
Establishment
With Holy Cross Co ...
*
Holy Cross College (New Zealand)
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 Auckland in 1997.
Establishment
In the late nineteenth cent ...
*
Southern Star Abbey
The Abbey of our Lady of the Southern Star, also known as Southern Star Abbey, is a Trappist abbey located in a remote, rural area of the North Island, New Zealand in the Diocese of Palmerston North. The monastery supports itself by operating a ...
*
List of Roman Catholic dioceses in New Zealand
The Catholic Church in New Zealand is composed of one ecclesiastical province with 5 suffragan dioceses ().
Episcopal Conference of New Zealand
The New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference is the national body of the bishops of New Zealand.
Eccl ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington
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 ...
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 ...