THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Tablet, 5 September 1912, Page 13

THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

IN THE PATH OF THE PIONEERS (Contributed.) • *' TWENTY-FIVE YEARS’ PROGRESS. In connection with the recent diocesan silver bilee, his Lordship Bishop Grimes had compiled -by the respective pastors, brief, but comprehensive, records of each parochial district, many of which were founded prior to the erection of Canterbury and Westland as a separate episcopal see. As a further indication of the consistent interest his Lordship maintains in these series of articles relating to the Church in New Zealand, I have been kindly permitted to summarise for my present purpose these chronicles of progress, and of interesting events. In the process, many persons and happenings, perhaps long since wholly or partially forgotten, will be recalled to the memory of the older residents/ 1 and no doubt appreciated accordingly; whilst it is felt that to the younger generation, a realisation of such farreaching results will act Us a stimulus to enduring effort— open out a wider vista of the future, —so that, when the records of the next quarter of a century come to be written, the same wondrous expansion will be evident, in magnitude proportionately greater. Taking each district in the order relative to the year marking its missionary foundation we have ; first of all, - v HISTORIC AKAROA. This beauty spot of Canterbury—so reads the record was the horizon of the sun of Catholicity in the province, Bishop Pompallier and his companion missionaries having there, in 1840, planted the faith and offered the Holy Sacrifice, the first Mass celebrated in Canterbury and the South Island. The tribal hostilities of the Maoris was' a great check to the early growth of the Church in Akarpa. The churches and presbyteries of the pioneers afforded the zealous priests a share in the privations of Bethlehem of old. Subsequently Akaroa was attended by the clergy of Lyttelton. s In 1889 the Rev. Father Burton, 0.5.8., became resident priest. .-He was succeeded by the Rev. Father (now Dean) Bowers. The Right Rev. Dr. Grimes made Akaroa his residence in 1893. The next pastor was the Rev. Father Dunham, and in 1902 the Rev. Father (afterwards Dean) Foley, S.M., attended the district. The Rev. Dr. Kennedy next ministered to the Catholics of the parish of Akaroa, until 1908, when he- was replaced by the present pastor, the Rev. S. Bonettoi The Little River district and various settlements in the numerous bays of Banks* Peninsula are included in the parish of Akaroa. The first Catholic school in Akaroa was established and placed in charge cf the Sisters of Mercy in 1898. A spacious convent was erected and later added to, and the Sisters, besides teaching in the parish school, conduct a high school. A considerable sum was, a few years ago, expended on the presbytery. There is an Altar Society with a membership of sixty, whilst the sodality of Children of Mary numbers fifty. The church at Akaroa is dedicated to St. Patrick. St. John’s, at Little River, is a neat little church. It was formerly used -! as a State school building, until acquired by the parishioners and adapted to its present purpose. The Little River portion of the Akaroa parochial district was attended by the Rev. Father Richards during his pastorate of Lincoln. Catholicity-in the PARISH OF ■ LYTTELTON ;; Pfe. dates from 1860. On Sunday, August 27, of that year the first Mass in the seaport town was celebrated by the Rev. Father Chataigner,, S.M., in the presence of a . Catholic congregation numbering forty-nine persons,

forty-four of whom' had arrived in Lyttelton from the United Kingdom three days previously. Some time in 1863, Sir Frederick Weld, then Prime Minister of New Zealand, presented the Catholics of Lyttelton with a piece of land for the erection of a church. About the middle of the year 1864, the foundation stone of the present church was laid. This pretty little edifice, built entirely of grey stone at a cost of £I2OO, was opened on June 29, 1865, and dedicated to St. Joseph., At present it is the oldest Catholic church in the diocese, and four Bishops have at intervals presided at sacred ceremonies within its hallowed walls, the Sacrament of Confirmation having been administered by the revered pioneer, Dr. Yiard, S.M., the late Dr. Moran, his Grace Archbishop Redwood, S.M., *nd his Lordship Dr. Grimes, S.M., during the past forty-seven years. In 1871, a two-roomed cottage was built at the back of the church, and here the first pastor of Lyttelton, Father Boibieux, took up his abode some time in June of the same year. A Catholic school was built in 1875, which cost about £4OO, lay teachers being in charge until the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy. The Rev. Father Kickham acquired a new presbytery in Exeter street about 1888, this property being afterwards given to the Sisters of Mercy for a convent, on the arrival of four of them from Greymouth in 1890 to take charge of the parish school. Additions to the convent, a new school, belfry, and sacristy were erected in 1902. Also a new presbytery which cost £7OO. A valuable property, adjoining the convent, was purchased a few years ago for £B2O, and only last year a sum of £l2O was expended on the renovation and interior decoration of the church. The following pastors of Lyttelton assumed charge of the parish at the time hereunder stated:-—Rev Fathers Boibieux, S.M., June, 1871; Francis Del Monte ?q?c F 'V S ®P tembe U 1873; Chataigner, S.M., March, 187 b; J. Donovan, September, 1877; M. W. Walshe September, 1881; P. Tracy, July, 1882; D. H. O’Con- . nor, January, 1884; M. C. Kickham, April, 1887 * 7oo?‘ koughnan, March, 1889; M. Laverty, September! 1889; W. Purton, 0.5.8., February, 1892; D. M. Salvador, May, 1893; P. J. Cooney, March, 1901. Ihe sodality of Children of Mary number 30 members.

THE PARISH OF LINCOLN, known, also among the old residents as the Catholic mission of New Headford, and Shand’s Track, dates its foundation back also to 1860. Originally, and for a considerable period, Mass was celebrated at Mr. P. Henley’s old residence at Shand’s Track, the priests of Christchurch visiting the district four or five , times during the year. An acre of land was obtained from Mr. Henley upon which a school building was erected which, meanwhile, also served as a church. Father Chervier, S.M. (afterwards Dean) went to reside permanently in the locality in 1870. He 'obtained an additional three acres of land adjacent to the school, and erected a presbytery at a cost of £3OO. The school building was utilised for church purposes until 1880, when the present Church of the Reparation was erected at a cost of £2OOO. Under the then arrangements, Leeston and Little River former portions of the New Headford mission. In 1892, the late Dean Foley, S.M. succeeded to the charge of the parish and he acquired four acres of land in Lincoln, which cost £240. Whilst visiting the Chatham Islands, Dean Foley was temporarily replaced by the Rev. Father J. Goggan, M M. The Very Rev. Dean Foley, revered and beloved by all who came under the influence of his kindly zeal served the parish until the appointment of the Rev. Father Richards in 1900. The new rector established an Altar Society, and promoted a bazaar, which realised a net profit of £SOO. A new presbytery was soon erected at Lincoln, about two and a-half miles from bhand s Track. The entire expenses of the building amounted to £I2OO. The Rev. Father Lee, MS H who succeeded Father Richards in 1908, remained but six months until the arrival of another member of the Order of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the Rev. Father Drohan, who remained in charge of the parish

for eleven months, during which time he had' the church painted, and a small tower erected at a cost of about £2OO. For an interval of twelve months, the clergy of Christchurch Cathedral attended to the spiritual requirements of the people of the district. In February of the present year (1912), the Rev. Father Daull, S.M.A., was placed in charge of the parish. The parochial district is a large one, embracing, besides Lincoln and its adjoining settlements, Greenpark, Kaituna, Motukarara, Tai Tapu, Ladbrook, Prebbleton, Templeton, Broadfields, Rolleston, Burnham, and Springston. A branch of the 1T.A.C.8. Society, consisting of forty-six members, and the Altar Society are of great assistance to the Church.

(To be continued.)