Thomas Stafford Williams (born 20 March 1930) is a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

in the

Catholic Church 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 ...

, and before his retirement in 2005 was the fifth

Archbishop of Wellington The Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington is the Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese 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 i ...

Early life and education

Williams was born 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 ...

, New Zealand and educated at Holy Cross Primary School, Seatoun; SS Peter and Paul School,

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

;

St. Patrick's College, Wellington St Patrick's College is a Roman Catholic boys' secondary school in New Zealand. History Founded by Archbishop Francis Redwood Society of Mary (Marists), SM, St Patrick's opened on 1 June 1885 with nine day pupil, day-boys and twelve boarders. ...

; and

St Kevin's College, Oamaru ('To Do and To Teach') , established = 6 February 1927; years ago , type = Integrated co-educational secondary , affiliations = Roman Catholic, Christian Brothers, Dominican Sisters , founder ...

. He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree at

Victoria University, Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, and worked for some years as an accountant. During his studies, he was deeply involved in the Catholic Youth Movement (YCW) and for a period worked full-time for the movement. In 1954 he commenced studies for the priesthood at the National Seminary, Holy Cross College, Mosgiel,

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 ...

. In 1956 he was sent to the

Pontifical Urban University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian,; it, Pontificia Università Urbaniana. is a pontifical university under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People ...

in Rome, where he obtained a

licentiate in theology The Licentiate in Theology or (in Britain) Licence in Theology (LTh or, in Australia, ThL) is a non-degree qualification in theology awarded in Canada and previously awarded in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. A qualification simila ...

and was ordained a priest on 20 December 1959. Later he received a

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s degree from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

Priesthood

Returning to Wellington, he served as assistant pastor and as Director of Studies at the Catholic Enquiry Centre. He left that post when he volunteered to serve as a missionary in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

(today the

Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

), where he was parish priest for 5 years. He returned to New Zealand in 1963 and became parish priest at St. Patrick's in

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 ...

for two years. This was followed by four years as Director of the Catholic Enquiry Centre in Wellington. In 1971 he moved to

Leulumoega Leulumoega Tuai is a village situated on the northwest coast Upolu island in Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two mai ...

, Samoa and returned to New Zealand in 1976 to the Holy Family Parish in

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...

East. He celebrated the 60th year of his ordinantion in December 2019.

Church leader

He became Archbishop of Wellington on 20 December 1979 – his 20th anniversary of priestly ordination – following the death of

Reginald Cardinal 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''. ...

. His principal

consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

was Owen Snedden, long-term Auxiliary Bishop of Wellington. Williams was created Cardinal-Priest of the titular church of Jesus the Divine Teacher at Pineta Sacchetti by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on 2 February 1983. He was additionally appointed

Military Ordinary A military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church, of the Latin or an Eastern church, responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation. Until 1986, they were called "military v ...

in 1995. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by royal warrant on 6 F ...

, New Zealand's highest civilian honour, in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Moral campaigns

He campaigned strongly against the passage of the law allowing

civil unions in New Zealand Civil union has been legal in New Zealand since 26 April 2005. The Civil Union Act 2004 to establish the institution of civil union for same-sex and opposite-sex couples was passed by the Parliament on 9 December 2004. The Act has been described ...

saying it would turn New Zealand into a ''"moral wasteland"''. He also campaigned against the expansion of casinos.

Conclave and retirement

Williams was one of the

cardinal electors A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

. He resigned as Archbishop of Wellington on 21 March 2005 having reached the age of 75 years and was succeeded by the then

Coadjutor Archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

, John Dew.

Selected works

*''In his own words: a tribute to Cardinal Thomas Williams''.

References

External links

*
Thomas Stafford Cardinal Williams profile at Catholic Hierarchy websiteNZ Catholic Bishops Conference bio of Thomas Stafford Cardinal Williams

Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Thomas 1930 births Living people People educated at St. Patrick's College, Wellington People educated at St Kevin's College, Oamaru Holy Cross College, New Zealand alumni Members of the Order of New Zealand Chaplains of the Order of St John New Zealand cardinals Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Roman Catholic archbishops of Wellington Pontifical Urban University alumni Alumni of University College Dublin New Zealand Roman Catholic archbishops