Repair of the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral now put at $100 million “We are really looking at three options – whether to demolish the existing building, to retain what we can of the basilica and rebuild to its former glory, or, in the short-term, whether or not to mothball the building until we have a clearer Read more
It is hoped that the pupils under canvas in five Christchurch primary schools will soon be able to return to their classrooms. On 17 February blocks were closed at St Mary’s School and Our Lady of Assumption School Hoon Hay. Some days later pupils at schools St Bernadette’s, Hornby, Christ the King, Burnside and St Peter’s, Read more
The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch , Barry Jones, says a comparison of this year’s annual survey of the numbers of adults and children coming to Sunday Mass with the surveys of the last few years seems to show that the earthquakes have had no effect on the number of persons coming to Sunday Mass He Read more
Children in two Christchurch Catholic schools are being taught in marquees set up as clasrooms. Five tents have been at Our Lady of Assumption in Hoon Hay to temporarily replace the block that housed five of the school’s 12 classrooms. The school has a roll of 260. Four have been installed at St Mary’s, in Read more
Earthquake damage, ageing clergy and smaller congregations have led to a decision which will see the number of parishes reduced from 50 to 24 in the Christchurch diocese The new parishes are larger and often involve a single priest holding services at more than one church. Christchurch Catholic Bishop Barry Jones said the reduction would “cause some Read more
Missing: Two bronze doors. Possibly stolen, or possibly not.
Christchurch’s Catholic Cathedral has misplaced the tabernacle doors valued at $185,000, after they were removed from the 106-year-old earthquake-damaged building for safekeeping.
The only problem is the board of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament doesn’t know who has them.
Read the article...
The Catholic and the Anglican Churches are facing some tough decisions about the future of their Christchurch Cathedrals – restore the old ones or build new ones. The Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament leaders are considering whether to restore the building for more than $100m or build a new cathedral for about $40m. “I am still 50-50. Read more
A major reorganisation is ahead for the New Zealand diocese of Christchurch with the planned formation of 18 new parishes. “New and wider parish boundaries will now include previously separate parish communities, making possible a sharing of resources, both human and material. These changes will cause some sorrow and sadness, but also present new opportunities. For many Read more
One hundred years after a parish priest expressed concerns that plans for it were too ambitious, the Sacred Heart Basilica in Timaru has celebrated its centenary. The celebrations, which took up much of the weekend, culminated with a 90-minute mass on Sunday morning which saw the church packed out with hundreds of attendees, including numerous Read more
Catholic Cathedral staff are delighted to get back 11 stolen chalices they did not even know were missing.
Christchurch police last week returned the chalices to the church after finding them in a stash of stolen goods accumulated by a group of squatters living near the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Barbadoes St.
Read the article...