Ramblings on the Diocese of Christchurch.

New Zealand Spring Garden














Classical New Zealand House

Have got back into the swing of things in Ashburton celeberated the Sunday Masses in Rakia at 6.00 pm, the 8.30 am in Tinwald and finally the 10.00 in Ashburton. I don’t normally do that but Monsignor Jim was a little tired after running up and down all week to Christhurch, and I was fresh after a few days break. Mons is one of the Bishops consulters and they had been finalising all the moves of the diocese. These come into affect at the end of January. It will seem strange to us as all our moves come into affect at the end of September. However it must be remembered that they are upside down here as their summer begins on the first of December and January is the month of the Holidays everything shuts down. The schools are out from the 19th December to the End of January. So Churchy wise everything is quiet and the priests go away. That is when I become really useful to the diocese and it will get me round Canterbury.

The Diocese have a unusual system of moving priest, which I can see has some benefit for the priest, but in another sense I could see it might not be beneficial all the times for the parish. Our system in Portsmouth is that the Bishop with his consulters go through the needs of the diocesan parishes. The Bishop will then call the priests he wants in certain parishes and discusses it with them individually. One would need a very good argument against certain moves but if a priest was really unhappy about a move. I know our bishop wouldn’t demand that a priest should go there, but in the end we priests make a vow of obedience to our bishop and his successor. Less than twenty years ago it might have been quite different. I heard from one priest that he was phoned up on a Friday night by his bishop and told to pack his bags as he was expected to be in another parish on the next day. To me that is very cruel and thank goodness those days are over.

I digress. Here in the Christchurch diocese their system is at the beginning of September if you want a move you write to the bishop and inform him of your intentions. A consulter then comes and sees the priest asking him what kind of parish they have in mind, i.e. a country parish, busy city or town parish, either on the East coast or the West. Then when all the parishes are known the list goes out to those who have offered themselves for a move. The one good thing about the system is that you cannot wait to see what parishes are available before you put in your request. Once your name is in the hat you have to move. The downside to this system as I see it, is that a parish might be stuck with one priest for many years. Some of the priests here have been in the same parish for over twenty years. I do not think that is good either for the parish or the priest. In the last week all the changes were announced and they were taken quite favourably by priest and laity.

I have met many of the priest here and they are just like any other diocesan body of priests. I can pick out priests with the same characteristics as priests in my own diocese, yet each one is an individual and can be embraced by the Church. I find the diocese a friendly one and a lot more homely than our one in Portsmouth. That I believe is because it is smaller and so people can get to know each other easier.

Went to a diocesan get together this week and met a lot of the religious orders who are working in the diocese. There were quite a few there but the majority of them were Mercy sisters who had a big presence here at one time because their founder Kathleen McCauly made a visit to Australia and started a foundation there. The one thing that puzzled me was how many of them lived alone working in parishes. Looking at the overall age of the religious and it is not hard to imagine that in a few years time unless something earthmoving happens there will be no religious left. That will be a sad day for the Church in general especially here in New Zealand, as they have put a lot of time and effort in to planting the seed of faith in this land.

Uncle Arnett is not very well at all. He went on a trip to Wellington and has come down with some bug. He looks very pale and weak but he is getting about a little but gets very tired quickly. I am going to try and get him to come to Ashburton for a few days for a rest. The mountain air might relieve his chesty condition. He has also lost quite a lot of weight, though like his sister Nellie he does eat very well, yet he is always telling me that he has not long to live. He is also very interested in finding what happened to his sister May Eastwood, (My mum). So we are going to the Mormon Church as I believe they have the records of Births and death of everyone who is recorded. So keep Arnett in your prayers.