After Fr Loughnan welcomed members of the diocese to the unveiling service at Bromley Cemetery, a mihi was given by John McManus of the Te Rangimarie Community. Continue reading

Faith leaders, civic leaders and the Catholic community joined with his family for the Requiem Mass led by Cardinal John Dew yesterday.

Cardinal Dew began by acknowledging Bishop Barry's siblings, their families and the priests, religious and lay faithful who were mourning the loss of their beloved brother, uncle, bishop and friend.

He assured them that he and his brother bishops along with many throughout New Zealand held them in prayer.

The Diocesan staff and Bishop Barry's family had worked very hard in the last week to arrange the week of memorials which would pay a fitting tribute reflecting the spirit in which he lived and ministered to others — in a humble, prayerful and loving way.

Fr Rick Loughnan, Administrator of the Christchurch Diocese said, "We were heartened to have Anglican Bishop Victoria Matthews attend and pay her respects.

"She was a supportive friend to Bishop Barry in particular in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes.

"We were also honoured to have the Rt. Hon. Gerry Brownlee, Hon. David Carter, Hon Clayton Cosgrove and Her Worship the Mayor of Christchurch Lianne Dalziel.

"The presence of our civic leaders was a sign of his presence and leadership in the wider community," said Fr Loughnan.

Bishop Basil Meeking, emeritus bishop of Christchurch, gave the homily, describing the many things that Bishop Barry had been involved in during his priestly ministry which spanned close to 50 years.

He highlighted his grasp of tikanga Maori and Te Reo and his time as Chaplain to Maori in the Christchurch Diocese.

"The Samoan community was invited to pay their respects to the Bishop at Te Rangimarie," Fr Loughnan said.

Bishop Barry was very supportive of the Carmelite sisters in Christchurch and his body was taken to the Carmelite monastery at the start of the week.

During those days the Carmelite nuns prayed the morning and evening prayer of the Church and stayed in vigil by his side overnight.

Click here to see more photographs on the Christchurch Diocese Facebook page.

Source

• www.chch.catholic.org.nz
• Image: Supplied

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 Hahi 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.

Source

• New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference
• stuff.co.nz
• www.catholic.org.nz
• Image: www.chch.catholic.org.nz

This follows the news on Monday that Bishop Barry is currently very low and his family has gathered to be with him.

Late last year, Jones suffered a series of strokes.

Please continue keep him in your prayers.

Source:

• www.chch.catholic.org.nz

Jones was rushed to Christchurch Hospital on November 9 after he had a stroke at his Christchurch home.

A Catholic diocese spokesman said although Jones was improving slowly, he tired easily and his prognosis was unclear.

"The bishop has agreed that it is in his best interests to have a complete rest and break from his work until at least the end of February, when he would have been returning from his holidays," the spokesman said. Continue reading

He spent one night in hospital for assessment and has been resting at home last week will do the same this week. Bishop Jones intends after this week to return to work.

Please keep him in your prayers.

Source

• chch.catholic.org.nz

In the letter, Bishop Barry Jones stated that the plan for the diocese is a "single plan" including the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

The letter sets out the goals in terms of time frame and building standards to be achieved.

The strategy is to focus on getting parishioners back into churches where they are closed as soon as possible.

It is hoped to advance the planning for new churches where churches have been demolished.

Approval has been given for a number of projects to proceed.

These projects include temporary repairs for St Anne's church, Woolston, and St Peter's church, Beckenham.

Work on St Anne's has begun with St Peter's to follow on shortly.

The work required for St Matthew's, Bryndwr, has been put out to tender and is soon to start.

Plans to reopen three closed heritage churches are well underway.

The letter expresses a hope that work will start on St John the Evangelist church, Leeston, in early spring.

When the necessary consents have been received, work will commence on St Mary's church, Hokitika.

With knowledge gained from these two heritage buildings, strengthening plans are in place for St Joseph's church, Temuka, which is hoped to be reopened in twelve months time.

All the necessary consents have been received for the work to extend St Bernadette's church at Hornby and to complete the necessary repairs.

The letter states that building five new churches is being investigated.

Initial plans for St Mary's church, New Brighton, have been presented and St Patrick's, Lincoln, and St Mary's, Pleasant Point, are hoping to do the same in the near future.

St Joseph's, Papanui, is seeking expressions of interest from qualified organisations to draw up comprehensive documentation for the diocese.

In Mairehau the team from St Francis of Assisi has shared its initial thoughts and concepts.

Sources

• Diocese of Christchurch
• Full text of Pastoral Letter
• Image: Diocese of Christchurch

The fund exists to help those people affected by the earthquakes. To do this, the Diocese is seeking to help parishes and those within parishes to respond to the needs of their own community and also to the wider community.

Applications are now open to parishes, organisations and interested individuals wishing to make a difference in the lives of those affected by the earthquakes. Continue reading

Bishop Barry Jones has issued "The House of God", to inform and guide Christchurch diocese in the task of building churches.

Aimed at parishes wanting to build or repair and strengthen a church since the earthquakes, the document emphasises that churches in the diocese will be beautiful, traditional and places of worship and prayer.

Bishop Jones echoed Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Conciliam (124) in calling the church building "the House of God".

He said such buildings should be able to be recognised as Catholic churches.

"It is a sacred place set aside for the sublime prayer of the liturgy and for personal private prayer. It is not a multipurpose building."

"The church building itself should reflect the transcendence of God, the beauty of his holiness and the divine truth he has entrusted to his Church."

Describing the altar as the "point of convergence of all that happens in a church", Bishop Jones wrote that "it is not correct historically to claim that in early Christian churches the altar was at the centre, nor should it be".

"Rather it should be at head of the assembly and the church building ought not be in the shape of a theatre or a stadium," he wrote.

"Generally modernist styles have not served the liturgy well. In building a new church parishes should seek architects capable of using traditional styles . . . but not simply replicating a particular church," the document continues.

Examples of suitable styles include Gothic (Darfield) and Classical Revival (Cathedral).

At several points in the document, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal is cited.

The document also states the essential division in a church is between sanctuary and nave.

"This reflects the differentiation of the ministry which derives from Holy Orders and the ministries which derive from Baptism and Confirmation."

The document also states pews are to have kneelers and confessionals should be visible, but should afford privacy to penitents who desire it.

Source

• Christchurch diocese
• Image: 3 News

The mass was celebrated by Bishop Barry Jones, the Bishop of Christchurch, and was part of a diocesan wide celebration known as Faithfest

There were five separate events:

• The Mass
• Cultural Festival with the 8 cultural communities singing and dancing
• Ecumenical Choral Festival
• Diocesan Expo

Pope Benedict XVI announced a Year of Faith beginning in October 2012 and coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, to invite "conversion to the Lord, the one Saviour of the world".

Look at Faithfest Photos /Peter Fleming

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Stuff.co.nz
• The Catholic Diocese of Christchurch
• Image: johnoconnor.blogspot.co.nz
  

Bishop Jones expressed "disappointment" that his once-trusted priest had been jailed, having pleaded to the court for him to receive home detention.

He was also saddened to lose the services of "a very able and gifted" priest.

"His offending has caused great scandal - he had a very high reputation amongst people and people were very shocked to hear this had happened."

"But he's exercised an excellent ministry for over 30 years, and now we don't have that from him anymore."

The church will continue to support him through his "turmoil", and after counselling, he expected Father Fitzmaurice to come out of prison "stronger".

They had paid his living costs, covered his legal fees and counselling costs, and since the convicted fraudster had no assets or any savings were realistic that he couldn't pay any reparation.

But Bishop Jones said: "Some kind of symbolic reparation when he's in a position to do so... we'd expect that."

Crown prosecutor Marcus Zintl said it had cost the church $31,000 in investigation fees to uncover Fitzmaurice's offending. Reparation of $149,000 was sought but the church was realistic in acknowledging Fitzmaurice's inability to pay.

Zintl said the offending involved 735 separate acts of dishonesty. It was highly calculated and premeditated offending.

"The offender was a man of faith, but the very faith that was placed in him by the Catholic church and the community, he has betrayed."

Defence counsel Jonathan Eaton told the judge: "He stands before you for sentencing truly ashamed and deeply remorseful for the harm he has caused."

Eaton said Fitzmaurice was aware of the breach of trust towards the bishop, the church, parishioners, family, and friends.

He said said a report described the offending as "a spiralling vocational and emotional meltdown over several years".

He said Fitzmaurice, who had entered the seminary at 17 and became a priest at 23, could still work for the church he had devoted his life to.

While he could never work in Christchurch again, Eaton said an "olive branch" had been extended by the Bishop of Auckland.

Eaton also indicated they would be challenging the sentence and applying for Father Fitzmaurice's release on bail pending the hearing of an appeal.

Source

• NewsTalkZB
• New Zealand Herald
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: 3News

"High Anglicans might be happy about it, but a lot of other Anglicans are very Protestant, so they don't like a lot of images, they don't want statues of Mary, they wouldn't want stations of the cross around the church, so what you'd have to do is truck stuff in and out."

"The differences between the two churches, such as the ordination of female priests and the doctrine surrounding Jesus' mother Mary, would make the proposal impossible. The Anglican Church split from the Catholic Church more than 500 years ago and had always 'defined itself against the Catholics'", said Grimshaw. To combine into one cathedral now would raise questions about theology, authority and control over the one building.

He also said bringing the Catholic Cathedral into the city centre would be an "incredible political move" because Christchurch was originally meant to be an Anglican settlement. "Everything works against having a shared cathedral."

His comments come after reports that Anglicans in Christchurch are talking about rebuilding a shared super cathedral with Catholics.

Christchurch Bishop Victoria Matthews has confirmed the controversial idea has been discussed informally but is reluctant to speak publicly for fear of killing the possibility.

"There are conversations about this going on, but those conversations are with ourselves," she told Fairfax Media.

"As far as I know there is nothing on the radar."

He said such a far reaching issue as this would have been raised at the recent annual Anglican Diocese of Christchurch Synod and the Vatican would also have to be involved in any discussion.

"I can't image them saying ‘that's fine'." Different faiths used individual churches because "they cater to different styles and personalities", he said.

Christchurch's Catholic Bishop Barry Jones said he struggled to 'visualise' how the two church groups could combine into one building.

Jones was aware Anglican churches in the South Island had been 'very hospitable' to displaced Catholic congregations but struggled to imagine the city's two major cathedrals following suit.

"The really important part is that a cathedral is the bishop's church by definition and how you would have a building that would serve as a church of two bishops, I don't know and I can't imagine it."

Source

• 3 News
• 3 News
• Stuff.co.nz
• Stuff .co.nz

The Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, based on a tiny windswept island in the Orkney Isles, Scotland, was formerly part of the breakaway Society of St Pius X.

In a formal ceremony on the island of Papa Stronsay, the group's superior, Father Michael Mary, FSSR, expressed gratitude to "the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, to Bishop Hugh [Gilbert] of Aberdeen and Bishop Barry [Jones] of Christchurch for their mercy and kindness towards us".

Three brothers of the traditionalist group are in the Christchurch community, which was established in 2007. There is also one in the Philippines.

The community on Papa Stronsay — a name which means "Priests' Island of Stronsay" — made a public profession of vows before Bishop Gilbert during the ceremony of canonical recognition.

The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer was founded in 1988 — with the blessing of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of the Society of St Pius X — on the Isle of Sheppey in England. The community moved to France in 1994, then purchased Papa Stronsay for its home in 1999.

In its remote and austere location, the order produces electricity with a diesel generator, pumps water from wells, and heats its buildings and water with kerosene burners. It also maintains a website and its superior is on the social networking site LinkedIn.

The journey to the island from the mainland usually requires two ferry trips, followed by another five-minute crossing on the monastery's boat.

The traditionalist group's reconciliation with the Catholic Church followed Pope Benedict's issuing of "Summorum Pontificum", a papal decree that allowed traditional Latin rites to be more widely used within the Church.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

Transalpine Redemptorists

Image: Transalpine Redemptorists