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The Catholic Diocese of Christchurch will be applying to disinter three bishops who are buried in the earthquake-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
Bishop Grimes, Bishop Edward Joyce, Bishop John Cunneen, are buried under the floor of a side chapel of the cathedral.
Grimes, the first bishop of Christchurch, was the driving force behind the building of the cathedral.
The diocese has also applied to disinter Father Laurentine Ginaty and Bishop Matthew Brodie from a chapel at the St John of God hospital.
The future of the Chapel is uncertain.
A notice of an application to disinter the four bishops and the priest has been published in a local newspaper.
The notice also calls for any living descendants of the men to come forward.
The disinterment application is part of early preparations for the demolition of the cathedral.
Catholic diocese property head Tony Sewell the notice is just the start of the process.
“This is just to do with the burials so that we know when we invoke section 38 we have all things covered.
We are making sure we are following all the steps required.”
The notice says that the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch knows of no surviving next of kin for Father Ginaty, Bishop Grimes, Bishop Brodie nor Bishop Joyce.
“But it must use its best endeavours to ensure that any such person is consulted,” Sewell said.
The disinterment application requires that a public notice looking for relatives of the deceased bishops he said.
“Any living family members would be consulted on where the bishops would be reburied.
Grimes has been gone a long time. There may be some family members that we need to talk to, and that is how we find them,” he said.
“It is important we track down any family members we need to consult with and get approvals from.”
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