Campbell is taking over from Father Mathew Vadakkevettuvazhiyil, who has left the seminary.

Bishop Emeritus Campbell accepted the interim role until a permanent appointment is made, expected at the end of 2023.

The appointment has been made by the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference Vice President, Bishop of Auckland Stephen Lowe, who says Bishop Emeritus Campbell's past experience as Rector of Holy Cross Seminary from 2001 - 2004 makes him an ideal candidate for the role.

Bishop Emeritus Colin Campbell served as the Bishop of Dunedin from 2004 to 2018, after which he retired.

In 2011 Campbell published a popular piece in The Tablet criticising the new translation of the prayers, responses and music used at Mass.

"Let us be clear about this. Christ died for all - not some," wrote Campbell.

Campbell said that language saying Christ came down from heaven for "us men and our salvation" is an embarrassment to our Catholic Church and its claim to inclusiveness.

"To persist with only saying 'men' in the creed is offensive and disparaging to our womenfolk who make up the majority of our faith family."

Holy Cross Seminary is the national seminary for diocesan priests' education and formation for the New Zealand Catholic Church.

Lowe also expressed the bishops' gratitude for Vadakkevettuvazhiyil for his contributions to the seminary.

Vadakkevettuvazhiyil's appointment as Holy Cross Seminary Rector was confirmed in 2021 by the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

NZ Catholic reports that before his seminary appointment Vadakkevettuvazhiyil was widely known as a parish priest in the Auckland Diocese, was Deputy Chair of the diocese's Justice and Peace Commission, and a member of the Council of Priests and College of Consultors.

Before coming to New Zealand Vadakkevettuvazhiyil, a Salesian of Don Bosco, was a missionary, teacher and administrator at Salesian education institutes in Tanzania and Kenya and an assistant parish priest and administrator in Kenya.

On March 11, buildings at Holy Cross Seminary were re-opened.

Reflecting on the stress of running a Seminary and living in temporary accommodation, Vadakkevettuvazhiyil expressed gratitude the Seminary had proper space to function.

"People were . . . most of the time, living here, studying here, learning to pray in the midst of disruption, learning to eat in the midst of disruption for a long time, having meals out of the garage," he said.

With no kitchen or dining room to cook or eat food at the seminary, Vadakkevettuvazhiyil described the year as being a year of living on takeaways.

Sources

• Supplied: NZ Catholic Bishops Conference
• NZ Catholic
• NZ Catholic
• NZ Catholic
• CathNews

No official English translation of the Italian language document has been published as yet by the Vatican.

The synod's final report has three parts - "The Church listens to the family", "The family in the design of God", and "The mission of the family".

The English translation can be found here.

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Speargrass Flat residents went to the High Court in a bid to stop the school, appealing an Environment Court ruling which upheld Queenstown council's granting of resource consent.

They lost an appeal and then in June 2012 withdrew their appeal against that decision.

Now, the residents have got their wish.

The 2.6-hectare Speargrass Flat site will go back on the open market.

In June Bishop Campbell said the campus was "ideally located" to serve the Arrowtown end of the parish and it would ease pressure on St Joseph's School in Queenstown.

St Joseph's primary school and heritage parish church are on a constrained site near Queenstown CBD, with a maximum roll of 175 pupils.

But last week diocesan general manager Gerald Scanlan said they were going back to the drawing board because of huge growth in homes and shopping areas at Frankton and Lake Hayes.

The majority of families with school-age children are moving to live in new residential developments near Frankton.

One option under consideration is a 300-pupil school at Remarkables Park, along with a new church and presbytery.

"The Wakatipu basin is a high-growth part of the country but we've got a school on a constrained site and quite an old heritage church," Scanlan said.

"We want to ensure we have an attractive contemporary schooling option available for people who want to send their kids to a Catholic school."

Source

• odt.co.nz
• scene.co.nz
• odt.co.nz
• Image: facebook

Speaking at a Chrism Mass at Westminster Cathedral during Holy Week, Cardinal Nichols warned such hostilities can cause "collateral damage".

His comments came a week after he rebuked the 461 priests in England and Wales for going to the press about a letter they signed calling on the synod to resist changes to the Church's moral teaching.

According to The Tablet, the cardinal said in his homily: "It is wrong, in my view, to think or speak of this synod as a battle, a battle between contesting sides."

"Battles have winners and losers," he continued.

"And often ‘collateral damage' is the most tragic consequence of hostilities."

Last month, at the launch of a book about Pope Francis, German Cardinal Walter Kasper called for prayer ahead of the synod "because a battle is going on".

Debate on issues such as allowing Communion for those divorced and remarried to be raised at October's Synod on the Family has exposed tensions in the Church, another article in The Tablet stated.

Bishop Peter Doyle, of Northampton, who with Cardinal Nichols will represent England and Wales at the synod, said there is a "puzzle" facing the synod.

"It's about upholding the constant teaching of the Church while at the same time trying to find ways of meeting painful situations with the compassion of the Lord," Bishop Doyle said.

Meanwhile, another English prelate, Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster, has drawn controversy for refusing to meet local members of the reformist group A Call to Action (ACTA).

An ACTA spokesman said Pope Francis wants the synod to get the Church to catch up with the modern face of the family, whose issues included gay marriage as well as divorce and remarriage.

Bishop Campbell said the group had no recognition or approval by the Catholic Church in his diocese.

The bishop also strongly rejected any insinuation that he is in disagreement with Pope Francis.

Sources

• The Tablet
• The Tablet
• Catholic Herald
• Image: Catholic News Agency

According to The Tablet, 2015 attendance dues for primary students (year 1 to 8) will be $420 per annum, while for secondary students (years 9 to 13) it is $830 per annum.

Dunedin diocese needs just over $2 million in attendance dues income each year to meet mortgage payments on its 28 schools, insurance costs, administration and urgent minor capital works costs.

The insurance costs for the diocese's school buildings shot up last year from $135,000 to $400,000.

Bishop Colin Campbell expressed his gratefulness for the support and sacrifice shown by parents.

To avoid increasing costs, and subsequent increases in dues, capital works programmes at Dunedin diocese schools have been kept to a bare minimum, despite work that needs to be done to keep schools up to date.

It is Dunedin diocese policy that no child from a Catholic family is to be denied access to Catholic education because of the inability of parents to pay attendance dues.

Source

The Tablet

Before the blessing ritual, Bishop Campbell expressed his enthusiasm for the Centre, and for pro-life work in general.

He reminded the crowd of the struggle to oppose the licence to perform abortions at Dunedin Hospital in the late 1980′s, and the more recent struggle over the abortions at Southland Hospital.

He paid tribute to the work that Voice for Life, Pregnancy Counselling and Pregnancy Help have done over the years.

There are now three of Family Life International NZ's John Paul II Centres for Life throughout the country. The Dunedin Centre adds to the two existing Centres, in Auckland and Wellington.

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Source

Supplied by Family Life International
Image: Supplied by Family Life International

Bishop Campbell said he had received supportive emails, "But I have received some nasty emails too, and some are quite personal".

He declined to tell the Otago Daily Times the exact contents, saying only "I would describe them as offensive".

The letter calls for the Southern DHB to stop its plan to begin performing abortions in Southland Hospital - which they plan to start in early August.

1 August 2012

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ

You will be aware that there are proposals in place to establish an abortion facility at Southland Hospital. In spite of the good work of Southlanders for Life, Voice for Life and many concerned in raising their voices in opposition the Management at Southland Hospital still appear to be pursuing this option. The pleas of many concerned people on this issue have gone unheeded. As Catholics our opposition to abortion is well-known.

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops have on a number of occasions written about the evil of abortion. In 1989 in speaking of abortion as the "greatest human rights issue confronting New Zealand in our day" they went on to say:

"Every human being has an inviolable right to life. Rich or poor, strong or weak, young or old, born or unborn - every human life is sacred. The directly-intended killing of any innocent human being is always wrong. Nothing can ever justify it. It is urgent to proclaim this truth in season and out of season, welcome or unwelcome." (What's wrong with abortion? New Zealand Catholic Bishops, 1989)

As a Family of Faith we are opposed to all abortion and we must do all we can to prevent this culture of death spreading in our country. As the ad goes, "think globally, act locally". Let us continue to pray and raise our voices in the private and public arena and in our wider community. Let our voices and pleas be heard by our politicians and Minister of Health. We pray that members of the Southern District Health Board and its management will hear our voice and reject this license for abortion at our Southland Hospital.

"Each human is a unique masterpiece, yet each is a likeness of God individually and separately hand-drawn by the Creator and destined, through union with Christ, to live forever." (ibid, NZCBC, 1989)

In the Spirit

+ Colin Campbell

Source

• The Otago Daily Times
• Scoop
• Image: TV3

The Catholic Bishop of Dunedin, the Most Reverend Colin Campbell, purchased a property on Speargrass Flat Road, Arrowtown, in 2006. A school for 60 pupils was planned, as the Catholic school in Queenstown had grown too big for its premises. The Diocese had in mind to build a school in Arrowtown catering for the whole district.

The lodge on the property was destroyed by fire, so it was decided to build a 112 pupil school. The classroom block was to be 480 square metres and the administration block 220 squm. There is also room for a playing field and a 42 space car park. The cost estimate was between $3 and $5 million.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council granted a resource consent for the school in 2009 even though 26 of 28 submissions were against it. Residents and landowners on Speargrass Flat Rd appealed the consent in the Environment Court, which ruled in favour. Eight groups then appealed against this ruling, again including residents and landowners.

It was alleged by those appealing against the ruling that there were errors in the decision of the Environment Court. The decision said that there was no evidence of error in the court's consideration of the 'nature and scale of activities', nor was there a failure to consider traffic.

Although there were two errors of law in the court's decision, Justice French dismissed the appeal because the court had dealt properly with matters relevant to its decision.

Sources

• The Southland Times
• Image: Chris Gin Photography

The Easy Rider, a fishing boat with nine people on board, sank just off Stewart Island in Foveaux Strait early last Thursday morning, 16 March. One survivor was found, while four bodies have been recovered.

"On behalf of the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin, I wish to express my deepest and prayerful sympathies for those who have drowned in this recent tragedy in Foveaux Strait. Our prayers and thoughts are with their grieving families. At Mass today in Wellington, I prayed for those who have died and for the families and friends affected, and asked those at Mass to keep them in their prayers".

Source

• New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: The Southland Times

Bishop Campbell has made a public criticism of changes endorsed Pope Benedict. University of Otago Associate Prof Greg Dawes, an authority in modern Roman Catholicism said this is unusual.

Dawes thinks Bishops should be free to have an independent point of view. But, he says, over the past 100 years, there had been moves to "reduce bishops to branch managers reporting to head office" and criticism was not always tolerated.

When clergy disagreed with Rome, they usually "ignored instructions" but kept quiet about it.

Dawes think that because he chose to go public, Bishop Campbell might get a rap over the knuckles.

Bishop Campbell's article can be read in the 17 September edition of the London Tablet. It is reprinted in the October edition of Tui Motu

Source

• The Otago Daily Times
• Image: The Catholic Church in New Zealand