A pastoral letter from Bishop Michael Gielen has been read at Masses in the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch over the weekend. It launched a process of finding a name for the new Catholic cathedral. Catholics are being invited to suggest a name and offer an explanation why they believe it would be a fitting choice. Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Christchurch Diocese’
Vatican announces steps to stop spiritual abuse
Monday, February 12th, 2024
The Vatican has announced steps to combat the misuse of Catholic spirituality for potential spiritual abuse. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has expressed a heightened vigilance over the potential for mystical or spiritual elements to be exploited for abusive ends. Speaking to OSV News, Cardinal Read more
More exorcisms! The Vatican acts
Thursday, November 16th, 2023
The Vatican has responded to Bishop of Christchurch Michael Gielen’s request for help dealing with unauthorised exorcisms and related spiritual abuse in the Diocese. The retired bishop of Toowoomba, Robert McGuckin (pictured), has been tasked with conducting an Apostolic Visitation to investigate the allegations. The former professor of Canon Law at the University of Notre Read more
New chapel next to locked St Mary’s Church in Hokitika
Monday, September 11th, 2023
A new chapel will be built next door to the locked St Mary’s Church in Hokitika, parishioners have been told. The news – delivered at Mass last weekend – dashes hopes for a $2 million contribution from the Christchurch Catholic Diocese towards re-strengthening and reopening the existing church, which was closed 10 years ago. Friends Read more
Exorcisms suspended by Christchurch bishop
Thursday, August 3rd, 2023
Following allegations of unauthorised exorcisms, Bishop Michael Gielen has suspended all exorcisms in the Christchurch diocese and ordered a comprehensive review of the practice. Gielen is currently in Portugal at World Youth Day. The announcement arrives in the wake of a report by TV3 journalist Michael Morrah that exposed alleged unapproved exorcisms conducted by the Read more
Poor Church communication helps trivialise exorcism
Monday, July 31st, 2023
The recent television reporting of exorcisms and potential abuse by a fringe religious group in the Diocese of Christchurch is deeply disturbing on several levels. Poor Church communication is in the spotlight. The nub of the issue is why a fringe group, that does not belong to the mainstream of the Church and does not Read more
Christchurch exorcisms – Paddy Gower has issues
Thursday, July 27th, 2023
Fr Michael Mary, the leader of the ‘Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer,’ a conservative Latin Rite Catholic group in Christchurch, denies accusations that his group performed exorcisms on children. He clarified that sprinkling Holy Water around a child does not constitute an exorcism. The controversy surrounding the ‘Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer’, also Read more
Christchurch diocese gets new General Manager
Thursday, September 23rd, 2021Simon Thompson is the new General Manager of the Christchurch Diocese. Currently, Thompson is Manager, Strategy and Planning at Ōtākaro Limited, the Crown-company responsible for the construction and operation of Te Pae Christchurch, New Zealand’s newest large-scale convention centre. He has also held positions at the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, Christchurch International Airport and Air Read more
Three former Christchurch bishops moved to temporary mausoleum
Monday, June 14th, 2021
Three of Christchurch’s former bishops have been disinterred and temporarily moved to a mausoleum at the Carmelite monastery, Halswell, in Christchurch. The move signalled earlier on, is part of the demolition of the old cathedral. Bishops John Grimes, Edward Joyce and John Cunneen were moved to the mausoleum over a period of three days during Read more
Former Christchurch Catholic bishop Basil Meeking dies
Thursday, June 11th, 2020The seventh Catholic Bishop of Christchurch – Reverend Basil Meeking – has died. Meeking was first ordained as a priest in 1953 and served as Bishop of Christchurch from 1987 until 1996. Read more