The Cathedral had been closed for six years for earthquake strengthening and extensive renovations and was a significant moment for the local church community.

The Mass also marked three days of celebrations.

Hope for the future

In his homily Martin said he had been asked about his vision for the cathedral's future.

"People have asked me what my hope for the cathedral is, and this is it. That this place be where people come for prayer, reflection and nourishment of their spiritual lives" he stated.

He also emphasised the importance of community activities within the cathedral.

"I want it to be where the place is humming and active seven days of the week, with various activities tied to our faith and for helping people in their lives to be more fully the people God made them to be."

Martin hopes the cathedral will be a centre of faith and community, and its reopening will mark a new chapter for the Wellington community.

Earthy and tangible faith

Another aspect Martin reflected on was the tangible nature of the Christian faith.

"One of the powerful realities of our religion is that we are an earthy religion. Our God came to this earth in matter. He walked on it. He engaged with us as creatures in an earthly body like our own" he said.

Martin said that Jesus experienced life on this earth and all that goes with it.

Emphasising the importance of beauty in the world, Martin said we express the reality of Jesus' life in earthly ways, through signs and symbols, words and gestures, the clothes we wear, and physical and tangible images.

He said that beauty is also expressed in our buildings, in our architecture, how we decorate them.

Elaborating on the importance of beauty, Martin said that beauty is also about the names we carry and those that we seek protection and care from.

"It's why we are so blessed to have a cathedral that bears the name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and also of Mary his mother, the perfect disciple, the one who helped Jesus to develop his own Heart of Love in this world.

"May this be a place where people are able to experience the fullness of God, to be freed from fear, forgiven their sins, experience the mercy and love of God, and find a community of faith for support in the Christian journey" he said.

Celebration and gratitude

Martin told the congregation that a cathedral has a very particular place in the life of the church community.

"I feel very blessed to be the Archbishop at this time as our cathedral reopens.

"That we can be back here in this cathedral after these years of absence is a cause of great celebration and gratitude" he said.

Martin expressed gratitude to all who helped with the reopening and for the attendance of Emeritus Archbishop, Cardinal John Dew, who concelebrated at the Mass.

Dew's presence was met with hearty applause.

Fundraising goals

Acknowledging the considerable generosity of parishioners, the Government and Wellington City Council, Martin commented that the renovation project is not yet fully funded and that some aspects of the Cathedral still need to become fully operational.

"In terms of fundraising, we now have a target of $720,000 to be able to finish the project" Martin said.

The community looks forward to the necessary funds being raised to complete the renovations.

Sources

• YouTube: Mass of Thanksgiving for the Reopening of the Cathedral, 7 June 2024
• Welcom
• CathNews
• The Post

Built in 1846, the Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary is New Zealand's oldest stone church and was undergoing earthquake strengthening and upgrades.

The project has a budget of $28.8 million, which is up on early estimates of $20m. This includes a $5m Government contribution towards building an educational space, Te Whare Hononga (the house that binds), which was completed in 2021.

Lead contractor Clelands Construction recently completed testing on a portion of the southern wall using seismic strengthening techniques proposed for the entire building, but estimated costs for the work have increased dramatically. Read more

Holy Family Parish priest Father Chris Friel said he and the parishioners were looking forward to Sunday's mass, the first in the historic building since February 2019.

Friel, who was ordained in the ornate church in 1994, has fond memories of it while growing up in Pleasant Point.

"It's very special ... It's great to have it open again." Read more

The classical-style cathedral in Hill St, Thorndon - designed by Dunedin architect Francis Petre and completed in 1901 - has been closed since 2018 because of earthquake risks.

Cardinal Dew says the $16.5 million cathedral project is able to start now thanks to an $8.5 million contribution last month from the Government's "shovel-ready" Infrastructure Fund, a $120,000 Wellington City Council Built Heritage Incentive Fund grant, and $3.3 million raised so far by the Catholic community.

Wellington firm L T McGuinness is the main contractor for the work, which includes base isolators to protect the cathedral during earthquakes; seismic strengthening of the roof; interior and exterior restoration; and refurbishment of the historic Arthur Hobday organ, installed in 1905.

L T McGuinness also did the strengthening and restoration of St Mary of the Angels in Boulcott St, completed in 2017.

Safety fences are already up around the site, ready for work to begin after Friday's blessing. Cardinal Dew said the project is expected to take at least three years and employ up to 300 people.

"Once complete, the cathedral will again be available to serve the Catholic congregation, and the wider Wellington community," said Cardinal Dew.

"Due to its globally acclaimed acoustics, it is a much sought-after musical venue and its historical and architectural merits make it a popular tourist attraction as well as a landmark on Hill St across from Parliament."

Cardinal Dew said everyone is invited to attend the blessing and prayers for the safety of the workers. The event will take place on the piazza in front of the cathedral, or in the cathedral chapel if rain is a problem.

Source

Supplied David McLoughlin
Communications Adviser, NZ Catholic Bishops
Te Huinga o ngâ Pîhopa Katorika o Aotearoa

The project cost is $3.9 million. The parish and its community must raise $1.6m of this.

Parish priest, Father Brian Fennessy, said that so far just over $1m has been received in donations and pledges.

One of the organisers of the garage sale, Kevin Brosnahan, said organisers were "reasonably happy" with Saturday's sale.

While he was not able to say how much had been raised, Brosnahan said they had sold "a lot of items" at the sale.

Because of the amount and range, it was hard to tell what had sold well, but there was "everything for everybody", including stainless steel pots, he said.

"Jewellery seemed to sell quite nicely."

Across town, an early childhood centre is being built on the site of the former St Joseph's Church.

It had been was purchased by Tauranga company Horizon Resources in April 2017 for $450,000.

The Holy Family parish in Timaru was formed in 2012 by combining two Timaru parishes, Timaru North and Sacred Heart.

The parish also includes St Patrick's in Waimate.

There were two churches in what was formally Timaru North - St Thomas the Apostle and St Joseph's.

St Joseph's Church was deconsecrated in 2013 and demolished about 18 months ago.

The church had not been used for regular mass for the five years prior to its deconsecration.

Since February 2019 all weekend Masses have been held at St Thomas' while work is being carried out on the Basilica.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• chchcatholic.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

On Thursday, Heritage New Zealand confirmed the category 1 historic place will close between May and October 2019 in order to carry out the work. Continue reading

The feature-length documentary is about the seismic strengthening of St Mary of the Angels church in central Wellington.

Parish priest Father Barry Scannell, who features in the film, says it "beautifully captures" the scale and challenges of the $9.5 million rebuild.

"The whole project was a great test of faith - never really knowing if it would all work out ... but the end result is just stunning," he said.

He hopes the documentary will help shed a light on the immense amount of work that went on behind the scenes to get the church to the standard it's at today.

"The finished film has turned out to be a remarkably rich documentary which anyone will enjoy - especially Wellingtonians who know of the church and its special place in the capital's history."

The film started out as just a way to document the church-strengthening project.

However, filmmakers Paul Davidson and Barbara Gibb quickly realised there was more to the story.

Now A Test of Faith tells the whole story of just how much of the church was taken apart and replaced with modern materials and innovative engineering.

"Although it was an exercise in challenging architecture and engineering, I knew that the story amongst all that could make a really rich, people-focused documentary," Davidson says.

"The fascinating thing for me was the intertwining relationships of all those working on the site, from the architects and engineers to the labourers down on the ground."

Proceeds from the gala, which had a price tag of $100.00 per ticket, will help fund completion of unfinished work on the church crypt, choir room and grounds.

Source

• Stuff
• Image: Stuff

The church was reopened and blessed by Cardinal John Dew, the Archbishop of Wellington, last week.

It had been closed for almost 4 years to undergo earthquake strengthening.

At the completion of the $9.5 m project the only visible change is the addition of two sheer walls at the rear of the church.

Large parts of the church have been taken apart and rebuilt.

But special care has been taken to retain its original appearance.

Before the work began the church was assessed to be between 15 and 20% of the current building standards. It is now close to 100% compliant.

"But you'd never know the difference thanks to 3D digital mapping that's helped preserve the 1922 gothic architecture and some creative solutions to replace columns along the 21-metre-high ceiling," said Brian McGuinness.

He is the managing director of LT McGuinness, the construction company that undertook the project.

He was at Mass in St Mary of the Angels when the second Seddon earthquake occurred.

It is understood the cost of the project was put at more than $20m but LT McGuinness gave the church "value for money".

There has been widespread praise for Fr Barry Scannell, the parish priest of St Mary of the Angels.

He made the difficult decision to close the church and he then energetically led the money raising campaign required to fund the restoration.

"No-one else had the determination, vision, courage and cheek to enable this to happen," said Cardinal Dew after he had blessed are re-opened the church.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• tvnz.co.nz
• Image: screenshot video Paul Davidson

Council staff had recommended giving the church $200,000 to help with its $9.3 million earthquake strengthening project.

But city councillors increased their contribution to $400,000 on Thursday, and signalled as much as $500,000 be given to St Mary of the Angels.

Deputy Mayor Justin Lester proposed giving the church $250,000 from the Built Heritage Incentive Fund this financial year and pre-approving $150,000 from the fund for 2016-17, provided it ticked all the boxes with councillors during the Annual Plan process.

He suggested even more money could be found for the church from other budgets in next year's Annual Plan, taking the total contribution up to $500,000.

Before agreeing to hand over more funding, councillors heard from representatives of Chamber Music New Zealand and the New Zealand Festival, and St Mary of the Angels patron Sir David Carruthers.

In her report to councillors, Vanessa Tanner, the council's senior heritage advisor, had said St Mary of the Angels was a fine example of a late Gothic Revival-style church.

"The building is an enduring landmark on Boulcott and Willis streets and makes a strong contribution to the sense of place and continuity of its site and the streetscape."

St Mary's was one of nine heritage properties that received a slice of the $675,500 councillors dispensed from the Built Heritage Incentive Fund.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

St Patrick's redevelopment committee chairman Sean Toomey says the current work involves earthquake-strengthening, removing the roof to fix leaks and install new damp-proof floors.

The work on the Basilica is part of a redevelopment programme to make The Saint Patrick's site is the centre for the Dunedin South Pastoral Area.

There are three components to the redevelopment:

• Redevelop the old school buildings to become the centre for Catholic Social Services and to create a multi-purpose Community centre which will include a children's playground.
• Creating a park in the midst of an Industrial Area.
• Renovating the Basilica which includes establishing a new entrance and a connection into the Mercy Chapel.

St Patrick's Basilica was opened in 1894.

It was designed by Mr F. W. Petre.

The original plan included a central dome and a colonnaded porch which were never completed because of the costs involved.

St Patrick's is in the classic style of a Roman basilica.

The building is constructed of brick which is now plastered, with concrete foundations.

Source

• odt.co.nz
• dspa.org.nz
• Image: skyscrapercity.com

Video of the work done to date shows contractors L T McGuinness are well underway with the first phase of bringing the heritage-listed church up to 100 per cent of code, which involves strengthening its foundations and shear walls.

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake forced the church's closure in July 2013 after its structure was found to be between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of new building standards. Any building below 33 per cent is considered earthquake-prone. View video

That's after already spending about $2million ten years ago to restore the structure that was built in 1888.

That restoration brought the church up to 33 per cent of the New Building Standard, just short of the 34 per cent required by the Earthquake-prone Buildings Amendment Bill that could become law this year.

Critics have panned the widespread net cast by the bill.

Building and Construction Minister Nick Smith told the Weekend Herald that he has asked officials to come up with a compromise plan that would cut costs, limit work to those buildings that needed it most and still have the legislation ready to be introduced by the end of the year if National was re-elected.

St Benedict's finance committee chairman Richard Hurley said it would cost at least $3 million to meet the standard and up to $8 million to do it well for their church.

The parish is not poor, but could not possibly afford that, he told the New Zealand Herald.

The church is one of about 30 out of 50 church-owned buildings surveyed by the Auckland Catholic diocese, which would be classified as earthquake-prone under the bill.

Auckland diocese administration board member Paddy Luxford, who is a geotechnical engineer, said the Church accepted that some buildings would have to be upgraded, but it would struggle to find the money for many others.

"We cannot afford to upgrade these, so we'll have to vacate them," he said.

"If they're historical, as I understand it, we might not be able to demolish them so they might end up becoming derelict."

Early estimates suggested at least half of all church buildings in New Zealand could be classed as earthquake-prone under the bill.

The bill, which has passed its first reading, as currently worded sets a national time frame of 20 years for buildings to be strengthened or demolished.

It requires territorial authorities to assess buildings within five years and for work to be completed, or buildings to be demolished, within 15 years of assessment.

Owners of category one historic places may apply for an extension of up to 10 years.

Sources

• New Zealand Herald
• Weekend Herald
• Beehive
• Heritage New Zealand
• Image: Newton Resident Business