Posts Tagged ‘Catholic Parish of the Wairarapa’

Ministry formation helps and unites sprawling Wairarapa parish

Thursday, June 20th, 2024

A Ministry Formation Day last Saturday helped parishioners in their liturgical and pastoral ministries. A bonus was that parishioners from all five towns in the Wairarapa parish worked together for the first time since the parish was formed in 2015. Ministry formation is necessary because most of us think of our involvement in the Church Read more

Former Carterton presbytery now a family home

Monday, November 6th, 2023

A 110-year-old building that once served as a Catholic presbytery has been transformed into a stunning family home in the South Wairarapa countryside. The villa was formerly home to St Mary’s Catholic Church’s parish priest in Carterton and was hauled away in pieces in the middle of the night in November last year. The building Read more

Wairarapa Catholic church empty, earthquake-prone, vandalised

Monday, August 28th, 2023
Catholic church

A former Catholic church on the main road through Carterton is dismally neglected. Since the Catholic Parish of the Wairarapa sold the property in 2021, the once cared-for Catholic church is now seen as an eyesore. Rubbish, debris and overgrown leaves surround the now-empty St Mary’s church on the corner of King Street and SH2 Read more

Archdiocese suspends parish mergers amid appeals to Vatican

Monday, August 7th, 2023

The Archdiocese of St Louis, Missouri, has suspended the mergers of several parishes that have appealed their closures to the Vatican. Mike Stevens of St Roch’s parish spoke to the media, saying the parish is a vital component of what goes on in the community, it’s also very integrated into the community. Under the restructuring Read more

Carterton parish house trucked south

Monday, November 28th, 2022
Carterton parish house

Wairarapa parishioners in Carterton were disappointed to see their parish house hauled away last week. Former parish council member Asrina Hutchinson​ told Stuff it was sad to see the building go after it played such an important role in the community over the years. “It was a very happy place and very much a parish Read more

Another place to meet

Thursday, November 17th, 2022
Another place to meet

The café is a place where I not only find a drink and a croissant but also the convenience of somewhere to write. In so many ways, it has replaced the pub as a meeting place, a stop-off point for anyone and everyone to pause a while over a hot coffee, to read or have Read more

Evangelisation promoted in tiny sub-parishes

Thursday, August 25th, 2022
evangelisation

Evangelisation doesn’t depend on big parishes, says Hanoi’s Archbishop Joseph Vu Van Thien. Even tiny ones, like those with just 70-200 parishioners each, can still evangelise others. The way Catholics live out their faith is what’s important, he says. They should trust in God, who always loves and blesses them. They should also try to Read more

Instead of Sunday Mass Greytown Catholics pray

Monday, May 31st, 2021
No Sunday Mass

Wairarapa parishioners in Greytown have announced a Sunday Morning prayer service to replace what was their regular Sunday Mass. The group establishing the service say while Sunday Mass is available in Masterton or Featherston, these options do not always work for everyone. “It also does not support the local community,” Gerard McGreevy of the Establishment Read more

Seismic shift in church earthquake rating

Thursday, April 15th, 2021

Of 75 buildings in the Wairarapa tagged as ‘high seismic risk’, civic officials have listed St Patrick’s Church in Masterton as one of six deserving priority attention. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise (MBIE) rates St Patrick’s as only 26% NBS compliant (New Building Standard). Church engineers originally rated the building at a much Read more

Parishioners mourn orders to close three out of five Catholic churches.

Thursday, December 3rd, 2020

Many in the Wairarapa Catholic community are mourning orders to close three of its five Catholic churches. Earthquake-prone building regulations, ageing populations and shrinking Mass attendance have all had a part to play in deciding to close the buildings. Cardinal John Dew, of the Wellington Catholic Archdiocese, said at least one Sunday Mass or Vigil Read more