Governor-General Opens Hospice For Aged Sick

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27501, 8 November 1954, Page 12

Governor-General Opens Hospice For Aged Sick

Four years ago, during the Canterbury Roman Catholic centennial celebrations, Cardinal Gilroy laid the foundation stone for the Mother Mary Potter Hospice. Yesterday afternoon the hospice, for the aged side and dying was officially opened by the GovernorGeneral (Sir Willoughby Norrie).. He was accompanied by Lady Norrie. Hie ceremonv was held in glorious weather in the beautiful gardens of Calvary Hospital, Bealey avenue, in the grounds of which the hospice has been built. Seats were provided for 2000 persons, but it was officially estimated that at least another 1000 were standing. The hospice, named after Mother Mary Potter, founder of the Little Company of Mary, is the first such institution in New Zealand, although in Australia the Little Company of Mary administers hospices at Adelaide and Hobart. It will accommodate 20 patients of both sexes, who will be treated free. Admission will be determined by the needs of each applicant, and persons of all denominations will be admitted.

Before speeches were made, the Archbishop of Wellington and Metropolitan of New Zealand (the Most Rev. P. T. B. McKeefry) blessed the hosEice, and after inspecting a guard of onour of boys from-the Xavier College Cadet Corps, the GovernorGeneral officially opened the new building. Among those in the official party were Archbishop Liston (Auckland), Bishop Kavanagh (Dunedin). Bishop Foley (Fiji), the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr J. T. Watts), the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr R. M. Macfarlane, M.P.), and Dr. L. H. Cordery, president of the Canterbury division of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association.

“My first duty is to offer publicly cur thanks to Almighty God that it has been possible to open this hospice to extend charity to those in need in this beautiful city of Christchurch,” said the Bishop of Christchurch (the Most Rev. E. M. Joyce). He welcomed the Governor-General and Lady Norrie and other members of the official party.

“Trinity of Works” “The opening of the Mother Mary Potter home may be said to complete on this site a trinity of works inspired by Christian charity and dedicated to the service of man,” said his Excellency. “It is 40 years since the first hospital of the Little Company of Mary opened its doors to the sick m Christchurch, and since then over 100,000 patients have benefited by their care —and this sneaks for itself. “The spirit of this institution is expressed m the words, of the noble foundress to whose memory this home has been dedicated,” said his Excellency. “She said to her first sisters, and through them to all members of the Little Company of Mary: ‘Have hearts to love, hands to serve, bodies to suffer.* ” Sir Willoughby Norrie recalled a period of si±“‘wqeks he spent in Calvary Hospital in Adelaide after he had met with an accident “I left Calvary c.ompletely cured—and, what is more important a far better man, full of admiration—and real admiration—for that splendid body of women who devote their lives to the alleviation of suffering,” he said. “When Mary Potter founded her hospice in an old dismantled stocking

factory—not nylon—near Nottingham, England, little did she visualise that 100 years later another hospice would be founded fn Christchurch in New Zealand—a city she would have loved, and. its people too, folk she would have taken to her warm and generous heart,” said his Excellency.

This home was called a hospJkjfc—a word familiar in the English language that signified a haven of rest—a place where hospitality and care were generously dispensed. “Hospices for travellers, for pilgrims, for the sick, were for. centuries associated with religious institutions in England and Europe. Here we see a hospice for chronic invalids,’” said his Excellency. “We pray that Calvary Hospital may continue to carry on its outstanding record, and I know that this new work will be a source of increasing good for those who come here.” Devotion and Sacrifice

The development of the work that could be seen today was a tribute to the devotion and the sacrifices of the sisters, said Archbishop McKeefry. He congratulated them on their latest effort. “The sisters have given everything so that the patients might enjoy the best,” he said.

Christchurch has a notable record for charitable works, and this, for the most part came from the sisters, helped by both Roman Catholics and non-Catholics, said Archbishop Liston. “Today- they have crowned a wonderful achievement iof more' than 60 years of charity in the name of Christ,” he said. Mr Watts, in whose electorate the hospital is, said that as a former Minister of Health he had something to do with the hospice when arrangements were first being made to have it built. The Little Company of Mary was held *in very high esteem in Christchurch, not only by Roman Catholics but also by persons of other religions, because they remember with gratitude the care and attention they and their friends received from the sisters.

The Little Company of Mary had a world-wide reputation for the care and attention they bestowed upon their patients, said the Mayor. This was an event in the life of the city. Dr. Cordery said that when the foundation stone of the hospice was laid, the support of the medical association was promised. He again pledged the support of the association. “The problem of accommodation for the aged and sick is a very pressing one, and this new wing will do much to alleviate that shortage,” he said. Mr A. McDonald, chairman of the auxiliary that made arrangements for the opening, asked for financial support. The building cost about £60,000 and furnishings cost another £9OOO. Great help had been given by the Government, which made a grant of £27,000 for the building, he said.. At the conclusion of the speeches, hundreds of persons inspected the new building. Afternoon tea for those present was served by the sisters and women helpers. A collection taken up during the afternoon for the hospice realised £l2OO.