At a time when many parish churches are closing, the diocese is bucking the trend: it bought the 6.23ha Ascension Wine Estate for a new church and community centre.

The parish and diocese have been looking for the better part of 20 years, says Auckland diocese's general manager, James van Schie.

"We have looked at lots of different sites. Some have been too big or too contoured or in the wrong place or too expensive. This one [near Warkwoth] looks right for us."

New church for the site

Van Schie says once all the paperwork is done, Warkworth's Holy Name parish will take over the site. It plans converting the winery's function centre into a church.

The space and aesthetics of the existing Italian-style building on the Ascension site meant a new church could be up and running quickly, van Schie says.

"The architecture has a familiar and aesthetic appeal for us. Beauty is an important part of life but it doesn't mean that it has to always have an Italian or Mediterranean feel in the future.

"Our church is increasingly multicultural, increasingly strengthened by the dynamism of Asia and the Pacific.

"So what the future will look like is really open to the creativity of the community."

Van Schie says there will be consultation on what people would like to see on the site, including what happens to the wine-making facilities.

"We don't have any intention to make wine at this stage, but you know Catholics have been involved in brewing beer and making wine for some time."

Due diligence, consultation

Right now, there's a lot to be done before The Holy Name parish can start work.

"We are still in the due diligence period" van Schie says.

"We haven't gone unconditional. We're excited by the opportunity but we are just working through the finishing touches of community consultation and our own due diligence."

Longer-term, the diocese may see demand for schools for the area, van Schie predicts.

Just at the moment though, the population isn't big enough to support a typical 250-300 pupil school.

However, van Schie noted that although the diocese's newest school (St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College in Drury) opened last year, the diocese acquired the land for it in the late 1990s.

The diocese had pegged west Auckland as the next growing part of the city, he says.

A year or two ago it acquired a 10-hectare site in Huapai, with a long-term view to building another "Ormiston-style" development of church, parish centre and schools.

Source

• OneRoof

From term one next year, Auckland's new $80 million St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College will provide an education to hundreds of pupils.

In July 2022, the Establishment Board of Trustees of St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College announced that Dean Wearmouth will be the foundation principal of the college.

Wearmouth, the former principal at Marcellin College, took up his position in term 4, 2022.

A recent fly-over video shows most of the scaffolding is off the three-level buildings. The red brick (interspersed with 'flashes of black'} construction is arranged in an L-shape, with yet-to-be-completed landscaping still in the pipeline.

Other yet-to-be-completed tasks include internal fit-outs. Distinctive window placements and two prefabs are at the site where Savory Construction started last September after months of earthworks were completed.

Jesuit school

The Auckland Catholic Diocese says the new diocesan school will be run in the Jesuit tradition.

Australian Jesuits say at first St Ignatius of Loyola will cater for 340 students. They're expecting the roll to grow progressively to 900 by 2030.

"Enrolment applications for the college have now closed as we have reached our maximum intake, demonstrating the strong demand we foreshadowed for Catholic education in this growing southern precinct" the Diocese's 2022 annual report says.

St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College owes its existence to a generous donation from late Mangere multimillionaire Howard Plumley.

Besides the Plumley Endowment, the remaining school construction funds have come from "a mixture of debt, land sales and donations".

The Diocese says the final construction costs for the new school are subject to the timing of future stages and design and commercial negotiations over the coming years.

It is assumed that the costs will be in the range of $70m to $80m.

Howard Plumley

Plumley had no children and died in 2016 aged 91.

He lived in the same modest Mangere house for at least 60 years. His will bequeathed most of his $122m to the Catholic Diocese of Auckland.

His donation is thought to be New Zealand's biggest-ever gift from a private individual.

Source

• NZ Herald
• CathNews NZ
• NZ Herald - Flyover video

"Initially we saw it as creating a framework to amalgamate RNZ and TVNZ," says Peter Garrick, a spokesperson for the group.

"We had hoped the Bill would strengthen the independence of public broadcasting. Unfortunately, as drafted, the present Bill seems to weaken this independence substantially."

Garrick says the Commission's submission notes several areas where this weakening could occur.

The Bill's apparent lack of protection from Government retaliation if ANZPM reports in a way that displeases the Government of the day; currently, RNZ and TVNZ are legally independent Crown companies, he says. Government ministers can't direct them.

"But ANZPM, as established by this Bill, will be an autonomous Crown entity and, under the Crown Entities Act, it ‘must have regard to Government policy when directed by the responsible minister'."

He says this will undermine ANZPM's independence, which is different from the Bill's stated intentions.

Garrick says that government interference in broadcast news has occurred in the past, and it should not be permitted by this Bill.

"It's important that this Bill doesn't end up sanctioning this," Garrick says.

Concerned about ‘editorial independence, impartiality and balance', Garrick says it is the Commission's view that these are key and ways are needed to measure them.

They support the view of Waikato University's Professor Alistair Gillespie that editorial independence, impartiality and balance should stand alone in the new law to counter ‘any rising fear that governments, either directly or by manipulating budgets and appointments', have undue influence.

In these times of 'fake news', the Commission also warns that the Public Media Bill lacks a clear commitment to the integrity of information apart from existing standards of the news being reliable, accurate, comprehensive, balanced and impartial, they say.

In terms of funding, the Commission says the Government needs to investigate a range of funding methods. These include a special tax to guarantee ring-fenced funding, programme sponsorship or a mixture of methods, including subscriptions.

The submission also focused on the importance of the Asia Pacific region and recommends that here the ANZPM must strengthen and broaden its coverage.

Journalist Philip Cass also spoke on behalf of the Justice and Peace Commission.

Cass says the region's strategic importance will increase and, as the tipping point for climate change draws nearer, the strategic and geo-political scene will become more complicated.

In addition he notes that, as New Zealanders include many of Asian and Pacific descent, there is a large market for news and current affairs about the region.

But he also observed, "in 2018, the Ministerial Advisory Group on the Allocation of Funding for Public Broadcasting stated that Pasifika audiences are not well served".

He welcomes the resumption of RNZ Pacific's shortwave service, but observes there is no absolute guarantee that RNZ's international service will continue under the new model.

Source

• Supplied

The gift comes from one of the oldest institutions of Western & Christian civilisation, the Sovereign Order of Malta, through its Sydney members.

The above picture shows staff and helpers at St John the Evangelist parish in Otara parish modelling the coats.

The coats are being distributed by the diocese through some of its agencies in Auckland, the James Liston Hostel and St Patrick's Cathedral in the central city, and by Catholic Social Services and St John the Evangelist Parish, both in Otara.

But not just the coats were gifted to the diocese by the Order of Malta. In addition they paid for freight, customs clearance and delivery to Pompallier Diocesan Centre in Auckland.

"It started over a lunch time conversation with one of the members of the Order of Malta who was visiting Auckland from Sydney," said Lyndsay Freer of Auckland diocesan communications.

"He was disturbed to hear of the extent of homelessness here and because they have distributed some thousands of coats in Australia, he decided to send some to us," she said.

The idea of giving coats to homeless people began with the Order's Australian branch and it has now caught on around the world. Last Christmas, they distributed 1000 coats to the homeless in and around Rome.

What is the Sovereign Order of Malta?

A lay religious order of the Catholic Church since 1084, the Sovereign Order of Malta has diplomatic relations with over 100 states and the European Union, and permanent observer status at the United Nations. It is neutral, impartial and apolitical.

It is active in 120 countries caring for the poor and marginalised through its medical, social and humanitarian works. Day-to-day, its broad spectrum of social projects provides a constant support for forgotten or excluded members of society.

The Australian Association of the Order was formed in 1974, and operates across every State and Territory of Australia. It now has several members in New Zealand, based in Wellington.

The Order of Malta is active in 120 countries and is committed to serving the poor and sick worldwide as it has been for over 900 years. Its motto is Upholding human dignity and caring for people in need.

Source
Supplied: Diocese of Auckland