Colin Campbell appointed interim seminary rector

Thursday, April 20th, 2023

Retired Catholic Bishop of Dunedin Colin Campbell has been appointed as the Interim Rector of Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland.

Campbell is taking over from Father Mathew Vadakkevettuvazhiyil, who has left the seminary.

Bishop Emeritus Campbell accepted the interim role until a permanent appointment is made, expected at the end of 2023.

The appointment has been made by the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference Vice President, Bishop of Auckland Stephen Lowe, who says Bishop Emeritus Campbell’s past experience as Rector of Holy Cross Seminary from 2001 – 2004 makes him an ideal candidate for the role.

Bishop Emeritus Colin Campbell served as the Bishop of Dunedin from 2004 to 2018, after which he retired.

In 2011 Campbell published a popular piece in The Tablet criticising the new translation of the prayers, responses and music used at Mass.

“Let us be clear about this. Christ died for all – not some,” wrote Campbell.

Campbell said that language saying Christ came down from heaven for “us men and our salvation” is an embarrassment to our Catholic Church and its claim to inclusiveness.

“To persist with only saying ‘men’ in the creed is offensive and disparaging to our womenfolk who make up the majority of our faith family.”

Holy Cross Seminary is the national seminary for diocesan priests’ education and formation for the New Zealand Catholic Church.

Lowe also expressed the bishops’ gratitude for Vadakkevettuvazhiyil for his contributions to the seminary.

Vadakkevettuvazhiyil’s appointment as Holy Cross Seminary Rector was confirmed in 2021 by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

NZ Catholic reports that before his seminary appointment Vadakkevettuvazhiyil was widely known as a parish priest in the Auckland Diocese, was Deputy Chair of the diocese’s Justice and Peace Commission, and a member of the Council of Priests and College of Consultors.

Before coming to New Zealand Vadakkevettuvazhiyil, a Salesian of Don Bosco, was a missionary, teacher and administrator at Salesian education institutes in Tanzania and Kenya and an assistant parish priest and administrator in Kenya.

On March 11, buildings at Holy Cross Seminary were re-opened.

Reflecting on the stress of running a Seminary and living in temporary accommodation, Vadakkevettuvazhiyil expressed gratitude the Seminary had proper space to function.

“People were . . . most of the time, living here, studying here, learning to pray in the midst of disruption, learning to eat in the midst of disruption for a long time, having meals out of the garage,” he said.

With no kitchen or dining room to cook or eat food at the seminary, Vadakkevettuvazhiyil described the year as being a year of living on takeaways.