Meeking was the seventh bishop of Christchurch.

He was ordained as a priest in 1953 and then as a bishop in 1987. He served as bishop from 1987 until 1996.

Meeking served in a number of parishes in the diocese and held other pastoral appointments such as chaplain to Christchurch Hospital and representing the Catholic Church to the National Council of Churches.

He undertook doctoral studies from 1963-1966 in Rome at the University of St Thomas Angelicum.

In 1969 was appointed to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome where he worked for the next 18 years.

The bishop of Christchurch, Paul Martin said: "Bishop Basil had a great love of priesthood and has left us a legacy of priests who have a strong identity in their priesthood."

Since his retirement as the Bishop of Christchurch, Bishop Basil worked from 1997 to 2006 with the late Cardinal Francis George of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

He then resided in Christchurch and continued giving retreats and talks in New Zealand and overseas.

Click here to read more about Bishop Meeking.

Funeral arrangements

• Monday 15 June: From 10.00 am, Bishop Basil will be at the Carmelite Monastery Chapel (52 Halswell Road). People are welcome to come and pray during this time.
• Monday 15: Rosary will be recited at the Carmelite Chapel at 7.00 pm.
• Tuesday 16 June: a Vigil Mass will be celebrated at the Nazareth House Chapel,220 Brougham Street at 2 pm.
• Tuesday 16 A Vigil Requiem Mass in Extraordinary Form (Latin Mass) will be celebrated at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, 373 Manchester Street at 7 pm
• Wednesday 17 June: The Requiem Mass for Bishop Basil will be celebrated at 11 am at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, followed by burial at Bromley Cemetery, corner of Linwood Avenue and Keighleys Road

Source

• chchcatholic.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: twitter.com

Meeking was first ordained as a priest in 1953 and served as Bishop of Christchurch from 1987 until 1996. Read more

All three were ordained as diocesan priests for the Christchurch diocese, where they have been working as deacons.

Supporters witnessing their priestly promises of obedience and service of the church and its evangelising work included family from New Zealand and overseas, fellow students - among whom about six are from Vietnam - and many seminary staff.

The ordination represents the international flavour of the Church, says Fr Paul Shanahan.

Huynh (called Anthony) is from Vietnam, Graeme's family is from New Zealand and although Alister is also a New Zealander, his parents are from the Philippines.

Shanahan says he, along with 40 to 50 priests concelebrated the ordination. They included Merv Duffy, who is the acting principal of Good Shepherd College and Brendan Ward, who is the rector of Holy Cross Seminary.

The emeritus bishop of Christchurch, Basil Meeking, was the ordaining prelate and Anthony's uncle, who is a Bishop in Vietnam, presided in attendance as a concelebrant.

The MC for the ordination, Fr Chris Friel, arranged the celebration with "a beautifully done liturgy," Shanahan says.

This acknowledged the new priests' diversity. There were two choirs - one of which was Vietnamese - and the second reading was read in Vietnamese. Translations were included in the service sheet.

"There was a wonderful spirit of faith and support at the ordination," Shanahan says.

"It brought back memories of my own ordination day in Christchurch's basilica (now earthquake damaged). There were eight of us ordained that day.

"It was a very uplifting occasion and many of the [now elderly] clergy were encouraged to see 'reinforcements coming'," he added.

The ordinations were streamed live on YouTube.

Source

• Juliet Palmer
• Image: Peter Flemming