Proceeds from the sale of the site at 20 Ponsonby Rd will go to refurbishing the St Columba Centre and adjacent Holy Cross Seminary in nearby Vermont St, Ponsonby.

The upgrade will see Te Kupenga-Catholic Theological College move its Auckland campus from 20 Ponsonby Rd to the St Columba Centre, giving staff and students a modern space better integrated with the seminary.

Barring issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the move to Vermont St is expected to happen around Easter, which is in mid-April this year.

The Ponsonby Rd site had been owned 50-50 by the NZCBC and the Society of Mary. The Society has agreed to purchase the NZCBC share and plans to host some of its ministry agencies at the site, including Logos, a Marist youth development project.

Te Kupenga was formed in January, 2020 by merging the former Good Shepherd College with the former Catholic Institute, creating three subsidiaries, including Catholic Theological College. It had always been planned to eventually move Catholic Theological College to another site.

NZCBC secretary and Bishop of Auckland Stephen Lowe said the bishops were pleased the Ponsonby Rd site will continue to house entities devoted to the mission of the Church.

“The buildings in which we perform our ministry may change, but our passion for the mission of the Church and the Gospel of Christ is enduring,” said Bishop Lowe.

“The bishops are grateful and very appreciative of the work and patience of staff of Te Kupenga and Holy Cross Seminary for helping bring these changes into effect, and we acknowledge the significant disruption to staff and students caused by construction works and moving premises.”

Catholic Theological College Level 7 head and lecturer Fr Merv Duffy said: “It will be hard leaving 20 Ponsonby Road – we’ve taught from here for 21 years – but the Vermont Street site has more parking, which will benefit our students.”

Photo: The property at 20 Ponsonby Rd.

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Auckland Bishop Patrick Dunn stepped down from the role at the end of his three-year term and because of health reasons.

Hamilton Bishop Stephen Lowe was also appointed vice-president and secretary of the conference.

Auckland Auxiliary Bishop Michael Gielen was given responsibility for Youth and Young People and the Bilateral Dialogue with the Anglicans.

The bishops met in Palmerston North on October 28-30.

They also met with Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, the incoming Deputy Head of Mission and First Secretary of the Nunciature Msgr Jose Martinez Franco, and outgoing First Secretary Msgr Edward Karaan.

Bishop Gielen, who attended an NZCBC meeting for the first time, said he was struck by the generosity and the genuine care the bishops have for the Church.

He said during the meeting there was a time set aside for reflection on the challenges and the opportunities the Church is facing as well as on the impact that the pandemic had.

“There was a deep passion and concern for how we can better serve the Church and an openness to listen to what people had to say and to where the Holy Spirit was leading,” he said.

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In mid-July, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published Vademecum (“Handbook”), a 17-page step-by-step-guide to help bishops and other Church religious administrators handle accusations of abuse by clerics against minors.

Complaints of abuse in the New Zealand Catholic Church are handled under the A Path to Healing, Te Houhanga Rongo protocols, introduced by the bishops in 1993 and updated several times since.

The Church urges victims of abuse – past and present – to complain to the Police or, if victims prefer, to the Church’s National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS), which can appoint independent investigators to examine complaints.

Cardinal John Dew, the Archbishop of Wellington and Metropolitan Archbishop of New Zealand, said he and his fellow bishops would look at the Vademecum guidelines closely and discuss them at their next full bishops’ conference meeting in September.

“It is a complex document,” said Cardinal Dew. “We will be looking carefully to see where it fits in with the civil and criminal law of New Zealand.

“The bishops believe that every person has an innate human dignity – te tapu o te tangata – and therefore all forms of abuse are unacceptable and indefensible.”

Cardinal Dew said NOPS was also reviewing the Vademecum document to identify if changes may be needed in A Path to Healing.

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The bishops expressed serious concern over a false statement attributed to them and circulating widely on social media that claims they are urging Catholics to vote for the New Conservative political party.

Wellington Cardinal John Dew, vice-president of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference, said they have reported the matter to the Electoral Commission.

“We are in the final stages of preparing our triennial Election Statement for distribution,” said Cardinal Dew.

“Our Election Statement will specifically say that it is not our role as bishops to tell people who to vote for.”

Cardinal Dew said they have made clear to all parishes as well as the New Conservative party that the circulating statement is false.

“I am particularly concerned that this false statement purports to say some of these fabrications were made in the name of an employee of a Church entity who is named in the document. That is truly appalling.

“We have been told by a representative of the New Conservative Party that they do not know who is behind the false statement, and we accept that,” Cardinal Dew said.

NZ Catholic earlier reported a fake press release purportedly from the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference was picked up by a conservative Catholic blogger and posted on social media sites.

The blogger’s post had since been retracted.

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Cardinal Dew, in a pastoral letter, said churches have proven to be part of the spread of the virus overseas “and we don’t want that in New Zealand”.

“To be safe, I am suspending all Masses and parish activities which involve gathering until Tuesday 18 August,” he said.

“This means there will be no Masses this weekend, and the dispensation from Sunday obligation is in place. The dispensation also applies to the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is a Holy Day of Obligation and falls on Saturday,” he said.

Auckland Bishop Patrick Dunn suspended Masses until Friday (August 14).

“Gatherings of more than 10 people will not be allowed, so there will be no Masses or parish gatherings during these three days. We are not sure what this will mean for our weekend Masses as there is the possibility that this period of Level 3 restrictions could be extended if community tracing has not been successful,” he said.

“However, we are hopeful that things will return to normal after Friday, and that our weekend Masses will be resumed as usual.”

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference earlier released a statement outlining the pastoral implications of the government’s announcement on Tuesday (August 11) night.

The statement said under Alert Level 3, all churches must close except for small private weddings and funerals of up to ten people with physical distancing and other public health measures in place.

Under Alert Level 2, religious gatherings are restricted to a maximum of 100 people. The decision as to whether Masses can continue under this restriction was left to dioceses and parishes.

“Not all parishioners will be able to attend Mass in many larger parishes. Others will not attend due to health reasons, concerns or fears. For these reasons, the dispensation of attendance at Sunday Mass will be in place,” the statement said.

“We know this is a challenging time for many people, the more so because this re-imposing of restrictions follows more than 100 days of national hope and gratitude for the absence of community transmission. Our thanks and prayers go to you all for your wonderful work and witness during this pandemic.”

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People entering cathedrals – and other Catholic church buildings that opened for private prayer – were made aware of requirements for hand washing and sanitising, recording attendance for tracking and tracing purposes and of the need for physical distancing. Typically, no more than 10 people at a time were allowed into a building.

Information was also given about cathedrals and other churches being thoroughly sanitised each day.

The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Hamilton opened its doors from 9am to 5pm from May 14, the first day of alert level 2. As well as following the requirements outlined above, people were required to use pews within a cordoned off area. Reconciliation was available for 2 hours on Saturday mornings.

In Palmerston North, the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit opened for two hours each day from Sunday, May 17. People were able to visit the cathedral under the restrictions outlined above between 12pm and 1pm and between 4.30pm and 5.30pm each day.

St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral in Christchurch was open for prayer and Reconciliation each day from Monday, May 18 between 11am and 12.30pm and between 4pm and 5pm, with the restrictions outlined above.

In a message posted on facebook on May 14, it was announced that St Joseph’s Cathedral in Dunedin would be open every day from 9am to 5pm, under similar restrictions to those above. Reconciliation was available on Saturdays between 4.30pm and 5.30pm, with this taking place in the sanctuary to meet social distancing requirements.

In Auckland, St Patrick’s Cathedral was open for Reconciliation only on weekdays between 5pm and 6pm, starting on May 18. Similar restrictions to those above applied. People were asked to sign in at the entrance to the cathedral with one of the priests.

The parish leadership of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Wellington decided that, under the circumstances, the cathedral complex could not reopen in the initial conditions for alert level 2. It was hoped that future conditions in alert level 1 might see an absence of restrictions. The cathedral itself was closed in 2018 because of seismic risk.

Many other parish churches throughout New Zealand also opened their doors for various time periods.

Public Masses resume with restrictions

Public Masses have been allowed to resume as of May 29 in New Zealand, with a limit of 100 people present, but each parish’s leadership will decide if its own Masses are held on Sundays and/or weekdays or not at all under the current conditions.

On May 25, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that limits on numbers present at public gatherings – such as religious services – could rise from 10 to 100 under Covid-19 alert level 2. This would start from noon on May 29.

In a May 25 statement, New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference secretary Bishop Stephen Lowe said that “each parish will decide what is manageable and safe for their community, including whether any particular weekday or Sunday Mass resumes”.

Bishop Lowe acknowledged that “not all parishioners will be able to attend Mass because of the restrictions of numbers”.

“Others will not attend due to health reasons, concerns or fears. For these reasons, the dispensation [from] attendance at Sunday Mass continues.”

He added that live-streamed Masses will continue to be offered for these people.

The bishop noted that the guidelines for the reception of Holy Communion and health practices during the pandemic will remain in place. These include distributing Holy Communion only in the hand, not on the tongue, and not from the chalice.

On May 26, the New Zealand bishops issued a pastoral letter “on leaving the closed room”, referring to the closed room in which the apostles and others, including Our Lady, prayed between the Ascension and Pentecost. (The text of the letter is to the right).

The bishops wrote of rejoicing in taking steps returning towards some semblance of normality, and of joy at being able to celebrate the Eucharist together again.

But the various restrictions for the good of the vulnerable and elderly were acknowledged, as was the likelihood that some churches will not open immediately.

“We ask you to be patient and understanding while your parish leadership determine what will happen in your parish,” the bishops wrote.

Government advice for such gatherings is to maintain hygiene standards and meet existing record-keeping requirements for contact tracing.

Comment

The May 26 letter came after two weeks of communicating with authorities and public comment by the bishops after the Government backtracked on an initial alert level 2 limit of 100 for gatherings – indicated by the Prime Minister on May 7 – to a maximum of 10 announced five days later. This was on the grounds that close fellowship among churchgoers would be a greater risk of spreading the virus than the same number of people in a cinema or restaurant assembling in groups of 10, but without intermingling.

The 338 Catholic churches in New Zealand were permitted to open their doors for private prayer under certain conditions from May 14.

With the Anglican bishops, the New Zealand Catholic bishops wrote to the Prime Minister and this resulted in a Zoom conference between her, Cardinal John Dew, Bishop Patrick Dunn, the director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, and leaders of other faiths on May 13. The Prime Minister stressed the need to wait a little longer as the country was still at a very vulnerable stage.

Within a few days it emerged that the New Zealand Police had issued guidelines to officers indicating religious services could proceed with larger numbers, provided people sit in groups of 10, with each group two metres apart from others and a register being kept of those attending. The Police guidance stated that such an event was not technically a “gathering”. But the Ministry of Health reiterated that no more than 10 people could attend public gatherings, including church services.

The Catholic bishops wrote a strongly worded letter to the Prime Minister on May 22, urging that the Cabinet raise the limit of numbers allowed at religious services to at least 100. It had been signalled that an announcement would come on May 25, after Cabinet met. But there had been some hints that the limit would be raised to 50 only.

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This was the message sent by the country’s six Catholic bishops in a letter to parishioners, priests and parish leadership on May 12.

The new Level 2 rules the New Zealand Government announced the previous day restricted religious gatherings to a maximum of 10 people, compared with a proposed limit of 100 stated in the Government’s first level 2 announcement the previous week. Masses and other religious services would have been possible with the limit of 100, a statement from the NZCBC noted.

All celebrations of Mass in this country were suspended on March 20 and churches were closed five days later as New Zealand was locked down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The bishops met on the morning of May 12 via Zoom video conference and concluded that the limit of 10 people was too restrictive to allow even a limited resumption of weekday Mass, and certainly not any Sunday services.

“Like yourselves, we too are disappointed that we are not yet allowed to assemble in our churches in groups larger than 10 people,” the bishops’ letter stated.

The letter noted that the Government will reconsider the limit of 10 people at religious services in two weeks from May 11. It added that the Catholic bishops have, on May 12, joined with the Anglican Church in asking the Government to look again with urgency at increasing that number.

The bishops said the limit of 10 would allow churches to reopen from Thursday, May 14, for individuals to visit for such activities as private prayer and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. All official health and safety requirements must be met for this.

The letter from the bishops noted that “we are not advocating Eucharistic Adoration at this time”.

Not all churches would be ready to open their doors on May 14 for these limited activities, but that will be up to individual parishes, the letter added. The popular online streaming of many Masses is likely to continue for some time.

The bishops’ letter concluded: “While these have been difficult weeks for all, we know that in some surprising ways they have also been graced days for many. We have been encouraged and inspired by the number of people who have taken the opportunity during this lockdown time to deepen their spiritual life and re-evaluate their daily lives as individuals and families.”

Many Catholics and members of other denominations took to social media to express strong disappointment in the Government’s decision to backtrack from the proposed limit of 100 at gatherings to a mere 10. Many commenters pointed to the fact that 100 people could be in a cinema or restaurant in the new level 2, but could not be in a church for a service with the same numbers.

But the Prime Minister defended the across-the-board limit of 10 for such gatherings, which also applies to events like funerals and tangihanga, on the grounds of public safety, given the likelihood of close fraternisation of those present. She also applied this reasoning to church services, saying that she had received advice that these involved close fellowship among those present.

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In a statement signed by all the bishops, they acknowledged that this Easter “has been one that we’ve never experienced before”.

“We have felt the pain of not being able to celebrate together the Easter liturgies in our local churches. Some of you were looking forward to being baptised or received into the Church at Easter, and this is yet to happen,” they said.

“The future, for many, appears uncertain or even dire. In the meantime, we are continuing to have the tomb experience of being locked down at home and we know, for many families, that this situation is becoming difficult and stressful.”

They said this lockdown has provided the Church with a quiet time to reflect on our lives and the way we live.

“Our hope and prayer is that, when we leave the tomb of lockdown, we will work together as a community to build a better Church and society. Our hope is that we will all be stronger in our relationships with one another and in our appreciation of the gift of life,” they said.

“Our hope is for a society that is not driven by profiteering, but works for the common good as we together rebuild our nation’s economy. Our hope is that we will be a society that is more aware of the tangible presence of God who journeys with us on the paths of life. Our hope for the Church is that we will be more ardent in our faith, hope, love and service.”

With the country in lockdown, many of the faithful gathered around their devices to pray with priests or bishops as each day of Lent was celebrated.

Many of the traditions were missed, like the blessing of the palms on Palm Sunday, washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, as well as veneration of the cross on Good Friday.

Trust in his voice

Hamilton Bishop Stephen Lowe had been celebrating daily Mass on-line since the lockdown started.

On Easter Sunday, he addressed children in his homily.

Holding an Easter egg up, he explained how the chicken inside the egg is in “a lockdown”, just as Jesus was locked in a dark tomb.

He said he wondered if the chicken would believe, if the children told the chicken that it will be born to a bright and wonderful world.

“If we are talking to the chicken in the egg, we’d have to say, trust me. Believe me. There is a whole new world you are coming into,” Bishop Lowe said. “And that is the same with our faith in Jesus. We believe what Jesus said to us . . . that Jesus is risen.”

Addressing the older parishioners, Bishop Lowe reminded them that life is a mystery. “[that is what our faith asks us to believe] . . . to look beyond the locked-down, closed-down mind or heart that we have, our inability to understand, but to trust in his voice. It is the voice of the Son of God who says, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me shall have everlasting life’,” he said.

Rule-breaking God

Christchurch Bishop Paul Martin, SM, said we must not allow the enjoyment of Easter Sunday to “obscure what this great day is about”.

“We must realise that the first Easter day was the most decisive intervention of God into our world,” he said.

He said there was a long lead-up to this intervention wherein God sent prophets to teach his (God’s) people, until he sent his only Son to bring the good news to his people.

“Having maltreated the prophets, the so-called chosen people went on to do the most despicable thing that ever happened, and they put to death God’s only Son,” he said. “And how does God respond? Instead of unleashing his wrath, he turns the tables on us and wipes out our sins and opens for us the road to heaven. Bishop Martin said we have “an inexplicable God”.

“We have a God who breaks all the rules. We have a God, who, in the face of a catastrophe, turns it into the greatest possible good for humankind. This is the reason we rejoice.”

Life after Covid-19

Wellington Cardinal John Dew said Covid-19 has brought a “deep darkness . . . devastating darkness for thousands” as well as despair and hopelessness for those affected.

He said, while the number of deaths might be small, there are thousands who have lost their jobs and now wondering how they will manage financially.

“Living in the silence, in the darkness of lockdown, with uncertainty and anxiety is never easy,” he said.

The cardinal said Jesus showed us that it is in the way we serve and care for others that we bring light into the world.

In his Easter Vigil Mass homily, Cardinal Dew said Jesus rising from the dead is God’s promise kept.

“That’s the promise of God. He will not leave us in darkness. He will always be with us,” Cardinal Dew said. “God keeps his promises. He has risen as he said he would.”

Cardinal Dew said Mary Magdalene and the disciples didn’t know what the world would be like after the Resurrection, just as we don’t know what the world is going to be like after the pandemic.

“For us, there will be life after Covid-19, because Jesus, the Risen One, stands with us and says, ‘do not be afraid’. God keeps his promises,” he said.

Little distance

Dunedin Bishop Michael Dooley reflected on the distance between Calvary and Jesus’ tomb which he saw on a trip to the Holy Land in 2014.

In his homily at the Easter Vigil Mass, Bishop Dooley said he was struck by the fact that Calvary, the place of Jesus’ death, fit into the same church where Jesus’ tomb was, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

“The place of Jesus’ death and the place of his Resurrection are very close. That’s not only a geographical point. In a spiritual sense, Calvary and the place of Resurrection can be very close together in our own lives,” he said. “Suffering and death reside next to joy and hope and new life.”

He said, in this pandemic, the suffering of Calvary is close to the people and the reality of death is on our minds. But the many selfless acts of generosity and service bring hope.

“This is God’s grace working in our world. As Christians on this very sacred night, we celebrate that there is very little distance at all between us and God’s gift of resurrection and glory,” he said.

Easter people

Auckland Bishop Patrick Dunn, in his Easter message to parishioners, said the first reference to the Resurrection in the New Testament is actually in St Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians where St Paul had to definitively tell them that Jesus rose from the dead.

Bishop Dunn said that, late in the day of the first Easter Sunday, the apostles were in lockdown, terrified because their lord was executed as a terrorist and fearing that they will face the same fate.

Then, the apostles became conscious of his presence in the room with them and heard his familiar voice.

“It was the dawning of a new age. They were to be missionary disciples now to take the message of this new age to the ends of the earth. And that’s our mission, too,” the bishop said.

Bishop Dunn said there is something in the human heart that longs to live forever.

He said this is the message that the early Christians brought to the world.

He said in these times of uncertainty, we bring a message of hope.

“That’s the great message of Easter, that we have a future,” the bishop said. “St Augustine, one of his great phrases was, ‘we are an Easter people. Alleluia is our song’ . . . We are called to live happily ever after. Jesus walks with us.”

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“This [piece of legislation] totally ignores the fact that there are always at least two human lives involved in every pregnancy,” said a spokesperson for the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, Ms Cynthia Piper.

“There is no longer any recognition of the rights of the unborn child in this new law,” said Ms Piper, a lecturer for the Church’s Te Kupenga – Catholic Leadership Institute, speaking on behalf of the bishops.

“That is a travesty of human rights. To hold that the foetus is not a legal person ignores the reality that a genetically unique human life has begun which is neither that of the mother or the father. That the law fails to recognise this does not change what is a biological and human fact.”

The bishops’ conference also believes the new law will fail many women.

“Those of us who have experience of supporting women with so-called unwanted pregnancies, or women who have had abortions, know only too well the coercive realities that drive many women to have an abortion that they later regret,” said Ms Piper.

“That is why we have argued consistently that it is in women’s best interests that the legal pathway to an abortion needs to be robust. This law does nothing to help those women who, for a variety of reasons, choose an abortion because they feel they have no other choice, whether that is because of partner pressure or for economic or social reasons.

“Neither does this law do anything to reduce the overall number of abortions, something that a majority of New Zealanders have consistently said they want. It has been rushed through and is ill-considered in so many ways.”

Furthermore, the bishops are absolutely dismayed that MPs voted down a host of sensible amendments that would have made the new legislation much more compassionate, said Ms Piper.

“These included amendments that would have required babies born alive to be cared for like any other child, a ban on sex-selection abortions and a ban on disability discrimination abortions.”

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“This Bill totally ignores the fact that there are always at least two human lives involved in every pregnancy,” said a spokesperson for the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference, Ms Cynthia Piper.

“There is no longer any recognition of the rights of the unborn child in this new law,” said Ms Piper, a lecturer for the Church’s Te Kupenga – Catholic Leadership Institute, speaking on behalf of New Zealand’s Catholic bishops.

“That is a travesty of human rights. To hold that the fetus is not a legal person ignores the reality that a genetically unique human life has begun which is neither that of the mother or the father. That the law fails to recognise this does not change what is a biological and human fact.”

The Bishops Conference also believes the new law will fail many women.

“Those of us who have experience of supporting women with so-called unwanted pregnancies, or women who have had abortions, know only too well the coercive realities that drive many women to have an abortion that they later regret,” said Ms Piper.

“That is why we have argued consistently that it is in women’s best interests that the legal pathway to an abortion needs to be robust. This law does nothing to help those women who, for a variety of reasons, choose an abortion because they feel they have no other choice, whether that is because of partner pressure or for economic or social reasons.

“Neither does this law do anything to reduce the overall number of abortions, something that a majority of New Zealanders have consistently said they want. It has been rushed through and is ill-considered in so many ways.”

Furthermore, the bishops are absolutely dismayed that MPs voted down a host of sensible amendments that would have made the new legislation much more compassionate, said Ms Piper. “These included amendments that would have required babies born alive to be cared for like any other child, a ban on sex selection abortions and a ban on disability discrimination abortions.”

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