Restore Our Catholic Cathedral (ROCC) spokeswoman Dame Anna Crighton said they had given up their legal battle after receiving legal advice from barrister Prudence Stevens, which concluded the section 38 notice could not be challenged in the courts.

The only thing we could do is file an injunction to stop the work. But if we do that, and we lose, we have to pay all the legal costs," Crighton said.

"It was always going to be a challenge."

"The only thing we can do is shame them and let people know that we did try."

The diocese has since acknowledged that demolition cannot start until a work plan is approved. Approval by Information New Zealand (Linz), the Government agency that oversees the emergency earthquake power, in the form of a section 38 notice, is being sought.

Linz property and land manager Matt Bradley said a decision should be reached on the demolition plan within a week.

A spokesman for the Catholic diocese said demolition work would commence only once the plan was approved by Linz.

Crighton received the title Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2020 New Year honours.

She had long campaigned to protect New Zealand's historic buildings but stepped up after the 2011 earthquake.

She was a Christchurch City Councillor for twelve years (1995-2007) during which time she chaired the Arts Culture and Heritage Committee.

Crighton has helped restore the quake-damaged Isaac Theatre Royal in her role as director of the theatre's charitable foundation.

She also helped preserve more than a dozen Christchurch heritage buildings.

She has a PhD from Otago University. The subject of her thesis is The selection and presentation culture of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• heritageawards.co.nz
• otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com
• Image: rnz.co.nz

They were responding to two announcements made recently by the bishop Christchurch Paul Martin.

On 9 June he announced a proposal to close 13 churches in the diocese

On 4 August the bishop revealed that the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the cathedral church of the diocese, damaged in the Christchurch earthquake, would not be restored.

With the help of facilitators, the participants followed a process that involving prayer, personal reflection and sharing what they hoped the discussion would achieve.

They collated issues raised under the following headings: Schools, Finance, Sacred Heritage, Consultation, Good Process, Emotional and Spiritual Wellbeing, Laity, Alternatives, Good Plan.

Those attending were then asked to select a group to discuss one of these topics.

A summary report of the meeting highlighted the following issues:

Proposed closure of churches
1. Closure of churches will weaken the interface between schools and the Catholic Community. There are 10 Catholic primary schools next to churches marked of closure.

"Our primary school children, our young families (who often re-engage via our schools), their grandparents, others and our older religious - those 65 years and older who have time for prayer and to help pastoral.

2. First-generation migrants and tertiary students are communities most adversely affected by the 9 June proposal because the two big student churches, St Teresa's and Christ The King, are among those that are to proposed for closure.

3. Those least affected by the proposal are the most mobile groups:

• Secondary school students. Three of the primary five proposed hubs are near the five Catholic Secondary schools
• Those with no children or dependents
• Those who can easily afford and sare able to drive long distances to Mass.

The decision to build a new cathedral

Most who addressed this topic wanted the Basilica to be recognised as the place of pilgrimage.

They wanted the ruins made accessible and safe so they can be a place where people can walk, pray, celebrate Mass, sing and remember.

Cathy Harrison and Trish O'Donnell facilitated the meeting.

A second gathering will take place on Sunday 25 August 3.00 - 5.00pm at St Peters Hall, 11 Fisher Ave Beckenham.

For further information about the proposed changes click here

Source

• Supplied: a report complied of 15 August
• Image: christtheking.org.nz

A spokesman for Woods said she "does not have the power to intervene as the rules under the Christchurch District Plan govern and enable the demolition of the Catholic basilica."

"The replacement district plan process undertaken by the Christchurch City Council was robust, including the appointment of an independent hearings panel," he said.

"The panel considered a significant amount of evidence in relation to the demolition of the Catholic basilica before making the decisions which were notified to the council and implemented in the operative Christchurch district plan."

The diocese of Christchurch was granted a section 38 notice in August 2015 for the demolition of the earthquake-damaged basilica.

A section 38 notice allows a building owner to demolish without resource consent.

The notices were granted after the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes so that damaged and dangerous buildings could be cleared more quickly.

Council head of resource consents, John Higgins, said consent would not be required by the Catholic church for demolition if the section 38 notice was valid.

A spokesman for Land Information New Zealand confirmed the section 38 notice for the cathedral was still valid, but was subject to some conditions like providing a detailed demolition plan.

Paul Martin, the Catholic bishop of Christchurch recently announced three possibilities for the earthquake-damaged basilica.

One of the options is to demolish the existing building and build a Cathedral on a new site.

A decision on the future of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch has been delayed to March or April next year.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• Image: flickr.com

The fact that a Protestant was the first person to use it is a source of quiet amusement for the man who constructed it.

Upholsterer Colin Loach tells how he put the very large chair in front of his elderly neighbour's door.

"He wandered out with his leg in plaster and a smoke in his mouth and in his pyjamas, of course and said, 'What the bloody hell's that?' I said to him, 'It's the Pope's throne'."

"And that was when he collapsed in the chair, had his photo taken and declared himself the world's first Presbyterian Pope!"

For security reasons, Loach worked on the chair in secret, not even telling his children what he was doing.

Before completing it, he slipped something special inside.

For many years Loach had been a tram driver at both Ferrymead Heritage Park.

On the back of a photo of a Christchurch tram he wrote his and Joe O'Neill's details, identifying them as the chair's makers.

"And I stuffed it in among the springs. I must say I was quietly amused to see him there [the Pope, at Lancaster Park] in all his glory."

"Little did he know he was sitting on a picture of a Christchurch tram!"

O'Neill, a cabinetmaker, made the frame of the chair. Sisters from the Carmelite Monastery of Christ the King embroidered the Pope's Coat of Arms onto a piece of cream velvet.

After being rescued from the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament the chair has been stored along with other items from the Cathedral in six securely locked shipping containers near the ruined building.

This is a digest of a story produced by Justin Gregory and used archival audio from Nga Taonga Sound and Vision. You can subscribe or listen to every Eyewitness podcast on iTunes or at radionz.co.nz/series.

Image: radionz.co.nz

American architect James McCrery arrived from Washington DC this week and saw the cathedral for the first time on Tuesday.

In an article in the NationaL Catholic Register McCrery is described as a man who "devotes his career to reversing a trend he describes as decades of church design that does little to glorify God or inspire the faithful."

"It's a big-time problem," McCrery said of architecture that dismisses centuries of Tradition and most symbolism of the Catholic religion."

"It's a gem of great classical architecture," McCrey said after visiting the Cathedral site.

"The world needs to know more about this grand building. It's absolutely magnificent."

"I can see a lot of damage through the broken windows, but I'm optimistic that there are portions of it that can be saved."

He said he was here to "foster a love and appreciation for tradition" and show local architects the building and other quake-damaged churches in the diocese could be repaired in a way reflecting the history of the church.

"Architects can't set that history aside," he said.

The restoration of the nave, if possible, would be a "huge amount of work".

He needed to look at the cathedral more closely to say whether or not he believed it could be saved, he said.

"I don't know yet but I hope my answer is 'yes' because it's magnificent, I mean who wants to erase this?"

Watch interview

McCrery founded his firm, McCrery Architects LLC, in 2007.

It has been commissioned to design a variety of traditional projects in The United States for both secular and Church clients.

Projects around Washington include the U.S. Supreme Court Book Store and the statue pedestal for President Reagan.

There is also a long and growing list of projects for Catholic churches all around the country, including a new 150,000 square foot Carmelite Monastery in Wyoming and a chapel on Boston Harbor for the Archdiocese of Boston.

McCrery is active in the American Institute of Architects, the Institute for Classical Architecture & Classical America, the National Civic Art Society, the Society for Catholic Liturgy, and the Supreme Court Historical Society.

Listen to interview

McCrery gave a public lecture at Villa Maria College on Wednesday evening.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• ncregister.com
• bishopoconnell.org
• mccreryarchitects.com
• Image: Screenshot stuff.co.nz

While public debate continues to rage over the decision by the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch to demolish Cathedral in the Square, columnist Jane Bowron notes there has been relative silence over the future of the Catholic Basilica in Babados St. She asks why the Catholics have been "allowed to get on with their decision- making processes in relative peace, while the Anglicans have to fight it out in the streets and letters to the editor pages of The Press?"

"I suspect there remains in Christchurch the notion of old that the Catholics are still regarded as peripheral, parked over on the edge of town in an area back in the day that was next to the gas works that turned the cathedral a nicotine yellow." she says

Source

• The Press -Jane Bowron
• The New Zealand Herald
• Image: Anglican Taonga