Gold chalice, special altar chair for Pope

Press, 21 November 1986, Page 17

Gold chalice, special altar chair for Pope

A 95-year-old golden chalice, which will he used during Communion at the Papal Mass at Lancaster Park on Monday, is held by the Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, the Most Rev. Denis Hanrahan. Bishop Hanrahan is seated on the altar chair that has been -■ made for the Mass by a Christchurch cabinet maker, Mr Joseph O’Neill, and his son Mr Kerry O’Neill It was upholstered by Mr Colin Loach. The chalice has special links with the Vatican as it was given to the first Bishop of Christchurch, John Grimes, by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. Pope Leo was himself presented with the chalice as a gift by the parish of Crupet Namur in Belgium. Pope John Paul H’s coat of arms has been embroidered for the altar chair by the contemplative order of Carmelite nuns from the Christchurch Carmelite Monastery in Hornby. Two of the nuns have also been chosen to receive Holy Communion from the Pope during the Mass. Ten of the nuns will make a rare outing from the monastery to the Mass, which the Pope will celebrate after attending the ecumenical service in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Host concelebrants in the two-and-a-half-hour Mass with the Pope will be Bishop Hanrahan and the Bishop of Dunedin, the Most Rev. Leonard Boyle. Pope John Paul left for his Pacific pilgrimage on Wednesday on his longest trip away from Rome since he was elected in 1978. By the time he reaches Auckland tomorrow, the Pope will have celebrated Masses in Bangladesh, Singapore and Fiji. After leaving New Zealand he will spend six days in Australia before going back to Rome via the Seycheile Islands in the Indian Ocean.