Wellington Mayor, Justin Lester, recently presented St Mary of the Angels parish Priest, Fr Barry Scannell with an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Award.
The city council’s Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Awards acknowledge members of the community who have made outstanding contributions to the Capital and its people.
The picture above shows mayor, Justin Lester, Mr Keith Quinn, who received award on behalf of Scannell, and councillor Nicola Young.
Lester set the scene for presenting the awards.
“The Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Awards are about recognising the people who selflessly give so much to our communities”, he said.
Wellington city councillor, Nicola Young introduced Scannell to the other recipients and invited guests.
She described him as a “tireless worker” who is “deeply involved in many areas of Wellington life”.
Councillor Young lauded Scannell for making the decision to close the church in the interests of public safety, saying the decision was vindicated by scientific tests showing the church was only 20% of the building code.
Labelling both the fundraising campaign and Scannell’s lead role as “ambitious”, Young praised the St Mary’s parish priest for continuing to lead his congregation throughout the challenging process.
Called out of Wellington for a funeral, Scannell had asked Keith Quinn to represent him.
“In accepting this award I have to say I think this is a classic example of a Wellington friendship which goes across diverse and different interests and beliefs – which can lead to firm friendships,” Quinn said in reply to Councillor Young.
“I am not a churchgoer at all (and Barry obviously is!) but our friendship is real – I have always noted his total commitment to his faith and his church – and in particular the hard work he put in to the recent re-build of the Wellington icon which is St Mary’s of the Angels”.
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