Bishop Jones’ burial to take place on Friday

Tuesday, February 16th, 2016

Requiem Mass for The Bishop of Christchurch, Barry Jones, who died on Saturday, will be held at 1pm on Friday.

Burial will take place after the Mass at Bromley Cemetery.

He will be taken to the Carmelite Monastery on Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday afternoon the Bishop will rest at Te Rangimarie Centre.

He will then lie in state at St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral from Wednesday 7.30pm.

A Vigil Mass will take place at the Pro-Cathedral at 7pm on Thursday.

Bishop Jones died in Christchurch in the early hours of Saturday morning.

He had been readmitted to Christchurch Hospital on Friday after suffering a heart attack.

His health had been declining over the last few months following several strokes.

Father Rick Loughnan has been elected Administrator of the Diocese entrusted with the authority to run the diocese until a new bishop is appointed.

Loughnan said Jones had displayed “graciousness, patience, and gratitude to those who helped care for him” during his last few months of life.

“He has provided sterling leadership of the Diocese particularly in the exceptional circumstances following the earthquakes.”

A new bishop will be appointed by the Pope after consultation between the Vatican and members of the church in New Zealand.

Cardinal John Dew, president of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, said Jones was a man of “great and unwavering faith.”

“He was a humble and stoic man and this was particularly so in the face of his recent illness.”

Jones was born in Rangiora on August 29, 1941, and went to school at St Joseph’s Convent Primary and St Bede’s College.

He studied for priesthood at Christchurch’s Holy Name Seminary and Mosgiel’s Holy Cross College, before being ordained as a priest in Rangiora on July 4, 1966.

He served at various parishes and ministries in Timaru, Christchurch, Akaroa, Burnham and the West Coast.

Jones was ordained Coadjutor Bishop of Christchurch in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch on 4 October, 2006.

He was installed as Bishop for the Christchurch Diocese on 4 May, 2007.

He was:

NZCBC representative on Prison Chaplaincy Service of Aotearoa New Zealand Board
NZCBC representative on the Interchurch Council for Hospital Chaplaincy
Bishop member of Te Runanga o te Hāhi Katorika ki Aotearoa
A member of the Catholic Bishops Committee for Ecumenism and Anglican-Catholic Bilateral Dialogue
A member of the NZCBC Commission for the Church in Society

Dew said Jones was a “proud Canterbury man . . . especially fond of his home town of Rangiora.”

“The suffering and distress of those living in Christchurch during and after the earthquakes was always close to mind for him and he would often express to those of us outside of Canterbury the kind of challenges and daily stresses that the people of Christchurch were experiencing.

“He would often be mindful and express the needs of those that were most vulnerable, such was his empathy and pastoral nature.”

Jones had a “dry sense of humour”, which would be greatly missed, along with his wisdom and pastoral insights, Dew said.

“He was a man of few words, but unafraid to speak his mind and always with wisdom. He had an incredible sense of social justice, a grasp of tikanga Maori and was fluent in te reo.”

Haere atu e te Rangatira o te Hahi, i roto i te korowai o te Atua.

Moe mai e Pa, moe mai.

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