Big, 600 seat church buildings don’t “bring people” in Christchurch. Good healthy functioning communities small or large, with community – enabling priests and lay ministers, folk who include everyone in the mix, and allow all sorts of community lead projects to flourish, create the places where people want to come. In these places the interface Read more
Christchurch Catholic diocese’s general manager Andy Doherty said no donations have been made for the specific purpose of restoring the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral. $200,000 left to the church in a will had no specific provision for restoration of the basilica. The donated total of $350,000 would be used for the planned new cathedral, he said. In Read more
People fighting to preserve heritage buildings are questioning the decision announced by the Bishop of Christchurch to demolish the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral. But Christchurch Regeneration Minister, Megan Woods says the city needs to accept the church’s decision and move on. Woods said she had many fond memories of the cathedral having gone to school next Read more
Well, I guess we have had just about everything here in Christchurch since September 4, 2010. Two years of death-defying earthquakes then the grief-stricken, the demolition, the dying, the rebuilding aftermath. Followed by March 15, 2019, with 51 people dying while at prayer in the mosques, and while we are prayerfully and painfully recovering ourselves, Read more
Land and buildings used by the Christchurch parishes of St Francis of Assisi parish in Mairehau, Christ the King in Burnside, St James in Aranui, the Sacred Heart in Addington, St Peter’s in Beckenham, Saint Peter and Paul’s in Halswell and the Holy Trinity in Bryndwyr may no longer be needed when the parishes are Read more
Bishop Paul Martin, the Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, is proposing to create five new parishes in Christchurch by merging 12 existing parishes. The proposed changes were announced at Sunday masses throughout the Diocese via a video message on Pentecost Sunday. Parishioners have been asked to provide feedback by August 30. The five new parishes would Read more
Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods does not have the power to intervene and stop possible demolition of the Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. A spokesman for Woods said she “does not have the power to intervene as the rules under the Christchurch District Plan govern and enable the demolition of the Catholic basilica.” Read more
Christchurch regeneration minister Megan Woods is seeking formal advice on whether she could intervene to prevent the demolition of Christchurch’s Catholic cathedral. A spokesman for Woods said last Wednesday that formal advice on whether she could intervene to prevent demolition under a section 38 notice could be with the minister in about two days. The Read more
The Catholic bishop of Christchurch, Paul Martin, says the diocese is in talks over the purchase of a city centre site near Cathedral Square, which he declined to name. Martin said the land purchase talks were part of an assessment of three options for the 113-year-old Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament which was severely damaged in Read more
The Catholic bishop of Christchurch, Paul Martin, has released a file on child abuser Cornelius O’Brien to one of his victims, a Christchurch man in his 50s. Martin was asked by RNZ’s Phil Pennington if he thought the church should start publishing the names of clergy whom it had found guilty of abusing children even Read more