On Wednesday the 130-year-old spiritual centrepiece of Christchurch was reduced to an ordinary ruin. And all in the space of half an hour. Up to 350 people gathered under a leaden sky in Cathedral Square for the service of deconsecration, led by Bishop Victoria Matthews. They were principally cathedral people but a scattering of civic Read more
Little would be left of Christ Church Cathedral once dangerous parts of the building are removed, earthquake authority engineers say.
The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) released hundreds of pages of files they hold on the cathedral yesterday in response to ongoing debate about the future of the building.
The nearly 500 pages of files include engineering reports on the cathedral, emails, photographs, correspondence with the Christchurch City Council and minutes from meetings to discuss the future of the cathedral.
Read the article...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...Bishop Barry is pleased to announce that in partnership with Caritas New Zealand, a role has been created of ‘Earthquake Recovery Coordinator’ and appointed Matthew (Matt) O’Connell to this full time role.
The Earthquake Recovery role has been created to work with parishes and communities providing leadership, support and guidance in assisting them in responding to pastoral needs.
Read the article...The future of the Christchurch cathedrals is even more uncertain after the decision by the largest insurer of New Zealand churches and heritage buildings to stop offering earthquake cover.
Dean Peter Beck and Catholic diocesan financial administrator Paddy Beban said they would not comment because they did not have enough information.
However, local Church of England media officer PhilipBaldwin said the decision to stop providing earthquake coverage was not a surprise
Asked if it would mean church closures, Mr Baldwin said decisions had yet to be made and it was going to be a long ongoing process.
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The company which insures most of New Zealand’s churches has today announced that it will no longer provide them with earthquake insurance.
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The demolition of Holy Trinity Church has been condemned by Lyttelton sculptor and stonemason Mark Whyte and heritage advocate Lorraine North. They say the church should have been slowly deconstructed in order to salvage unique heritage materials. The church in Avonside, one of the oldest churches in Canterbury, was designed by Benjamin Mountfort and consecrated in Read more
There could be some unpleasant shocks ahead when insurance for the catholic churches in the Christchurch region come up for renewal in November. Christchurch diocese financial administrator Paddy Beban says, “Our brick churches will generally be at the higher end of the risk scale and we can anticipate increases.” If the experience of other denominations Read more
Catholics in Christchurch drew inspiration from a recent Divine Mercy Congress as they work to rebuild from a series of devastating earthquakes that have hit the country in the last year.
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Insurance cover has been cancelled for the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Christchurch. Ansvar Insurance will pay out on the existing policy but will not cover the cathedral for further aftershocks. Church spokesperson Simon Pascoe will not say how much the Cathedral was insured for, but says it was covered for its replacement value. A lot of Read more