The

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language onc ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch is a suffragan

diocese 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 associ ...

of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese 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 ...

. Its cathedral and see city are located in

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 Rive ...

, the largest city in 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 ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. It was formed on 5 May 1887 from a portion of the territory of the

Diocese of Wellington The Diocese of Wellington is one of the thirteen dioceses and hui amorangi of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The diocese covers the area between the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand up to the area of Mount ...

, which was elevated to archdiocese later that same month. St Mary's Catholic Church, Christchurch, New Zealand

Bishops of Christchurch

Lyons was translated to become Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Australia in 1950. Martin was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Wellington, New Zealand in 2021.

Current bishop

Michael Gielen Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aid ...

Bishops other than ordinaries

Coadjutor bishops

* Denis William Hanrahan (1984–1985) * Barry Jones (2006–2007)

Auxiliary bishops

John Cunneen John Cunneen (May 18, 1848 near Ennis, County Clare, Ireland – February 21, 1907 Buffalo, Erie County, New York, USA) was an American lawyer and politician. Life He came to the United States when 14 years old to live with relatives ...

(1992–1995), appointed Bishop here

Affiliated bishops

Charles Drennan Charles Edward Drennan (born 23 August 1960 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand Bishop. He was the second Bishop of Palmerston North, New Zealand, from 2012 to 2019. On 4 October 2019 he resigned his position. Two allegations o ...

, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Palmerston North in 2011; succeeded 2012; resigned 2019 * Stephen Lowe, appointed Bishop of Hamilton in New Zealand in 2014

Cathedral and churches

Cathedrals

* Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (demolished) *

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 t ...

(to be completed by 2025)

Pro-cathedral

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 ...

Churchs

St Mary's Catholic Church, Hokitika St Mary's Catholic Church in Hokitika, New Zealand, is a Roman Catholic church. It is a landmark on the country's West Coast. Background Irish Catholics, mostly miners attracted to the West Coast by its natural resources, made up a large prop ...

. Following a structural assessment triggered by 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 ...

, the church was closed to the public in June 2012. *

Chapel of the Snows The Chapel of the Snows is a non-denominational Christian church located at the United States' McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica and is one of eight churches on Antarctica. Overview The chapel is the second southernmost religious buil ...

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the ...

Ross Island Ross Island is an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica, off the coast of Victoria Land in McMurdo Sound. Ross Island lies within the boundaries of Ross Dependency, an area of Antarctica claimed by N ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. For 57 years, the diocese was responsible for sending priests to the non-denominational Christian. This practice was stopped in 2015. It is the second southernmost religious building in the world.

Secondary schools

Catholic Cathedral College Catholic Cathedral College is an integrated Catholic co-educational secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1987 but its origins go back to more than a 119 years earlier. The college is an amalgamation of two schools: Sa ...

, Christchurch * John Paul II High School,

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

* Marian College, Christchurch *

Roncalli College Roncalli College is a Catholic college in Timaru, New Zealand. It was named after Pope John XXIII, whose birth name was Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli. It is a co-educational college with approximately 500 students from Year 9 to Year 13, and it is ...

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

* St Bede's College,

Papanui Papanui is a major suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated five kilometers to the northwest of the city centre. Papanui is a middle socio-economic area with a population of 3,645 consisting predominantly of Pākehā (NZ Eur ...

, Christchurch *

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 ...

Upper Riccarton Upper Riccarton is a suburb of Christchurch. It is due west of Riccarton. Upper Riccarton is made up of residential, retail and education areas. It includes a major intersection known as "Church Corner" (the intersection of Riccarton, Main Sout ...

, Christchurch * Villa Maria College, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch

References

External links

Catholic Diocese of Christchurch
*

Religion in Christchurch 1887 establishments in New Zealand {{Oceania-RC-diocese-stub