Parish Boundaries - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz Catholic News New Zealand Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:46:06 +0000 en-NZ hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://cathnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-cathnewsfavicon-32x32.jpg Parish Boundaries - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz 32 32 70145804 Number of Parishes reduced from 50 to 24 in Christchurch Diocese https://cathnews.co.nz/2012/02/04/number-of-parishes-reduced-from-50-to-24-in-christchurch-diocese/ Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:43:01 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=18996

Earthquake damage, ageing clergy and smaller congregations have led to a decision which will see the number of parishes reduced from 50 to 24 in the Christchurch diocese The new parishes are larger and often involve a single priest holding services at more than one church. Christchurch Catholic Bishop Barry Jones said the reduction would "cause some Read more

Number of Parishes reduced from 50 to 24 in Christchurch Diocese... Read more]]> Earthquake damage, ageing clergy and smaller congregations have led to a decision which will see the number of parishes reduced from 50 to 24 in the Christchurch diocese

The new parishes are larger and often involve a single priest holding services at more than one church.

Christchurch Catholic Bishop Barry Jones said the reduction would "cause some sorrow and sadness", but was necessary to retain Sunday Mass.

"Sunday Mass is at the heart of the life of the church. Because we now have a reducing number of priests, parish amalgamations will see the formation of larger parishes, fewer in number," he said.

On Wednesday 25th January 2012, Bishop Barry Jones suppressed some existing parishes and established new ones. This was after an extensive period of consultation on The Provision of Sunday Mass in the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch.

Source

  • The Press
  • Image: Screen shot Christchurch Diocese
Number of Parishes reduced from 50 to 24 in Christchurch Diocese]]> 18996 18 new parishes for Christchurch diocese https://cathnews.co.nz/2011/12/06/18-new-parishes-for-christchurch-diocese/ Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:29:00 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=17544

A major reorganisation is ahead for the New Zealand diocese of Christchurch with the planned formation of 18 new parishes. "New and wider parish boundaries will now include previously separate parish communities, making possible a sharing of resources, both human and material. These changes will cause some sorrow and sadness, but also present new opportunities. For many Read more

18 new parishes for Christchurch diocese... Read more]]> A major reorganisation is ahead for the New Zealand diocese of Christchurch with the planned formation of 18 new parishes.

"New and wider parish boundaries will now include previously separate parish communities, making possible a sharing of resources, both human and material. These changes will cause some sorrow and sadness, but also present new opportunities. For many priests it will mean spending less time on administration and more on undertaking their priestly duties and advancing the mission of the Church," says Bishop Jones.

"Sunday Mass is at the heart of the life of the church. It, and parish life, requires the foundational ministry of the ordained priest. Because we now have a reducing number of priests, parish amalgamations will see the formation of larger parishes, fewer in number", he says.

  • 18 new parishes have been formed.
  • Six of these will have a parish priest and an assistant priest, the others only a parish priest.
  • The priest will live in the presbytery beside what will become the main church of the new parish.
  • New enlarged parishes may have more than one school under their care.
The changes will begin in February 2012 and will be completed by February 2014

The "Working Document on the Provision of Sunday Mass" was distributed for consultation purposes in November 2010 and so planning for some changes was already underway before the recent earthquakes.

However other changes may be necessary as the Christchurch City population has changed with people moving out of the city and people moving across the city. Most of the effects and implications are still unknown.

Source

 

18 new parishes for Christchurch diocese]]> 17544