OPENING OF NEW PRESBYTRY, GREYMOUTH

New Zealand Tablet, 19 March 1914, Page 27

OPENING OF NEW PRESBYTRY, GREYMOUTH

(By telegraph, from our own correspondent.)

March 17. The solemn blessing and consecration of the new Presbytery of St. Patrick’s was celebrated on Sunday last by his Lordship Bishop Grimes, of Christchurch, in the presence of a large concourse of people. His Lordship, in the course of his public address at the ceremony, congratulated Very Rev. Ejean Carew on the zeal and energy displayed by him during his sojourn in the Grey parish. The sum of £28,000 had been spent by him in the erection of churches and schools in various parts of tho parish. St. Patrick’s Church itself had cost £IO,OOO, being equal to any church in New Zealand. The new presbytery had cost £SOOO, and was a credit to the parish and town of Greymouth. An address of welcome was presented to his Lordship Bishop Grimes by the congregation. It was as follows; ‘ To Right Reverend J. J. Grimes, S.M., D.D., ‘ Bishop of Christchurch. ‘ My Lord, —We, the parishioners of St. Patrick’s Church, Greymouth, assemble to-day to tender to your Lordship a very hearty welcome to the Coast, and to express our pleasure at seeing you again after your absence in Europe. It -was with deep regret we learned, my Lord, of your severe illness on the voyage Home, and our fervent prayers ascended to the Throne of God for your Lordship’s speedy recovery. Thank God, our prayers, in conjunction with those of so many of your flock, have been answered : and we fervently hope and pray that a new lease of life has been granted to your Lordship to continue the noble, self-sacrificing work you have so ably done in the past. ‘ Wo must congratulate your Lordship on having succeeded so well in diminishing the Cathedral debt, and we sincerely trust the day is not far distant when your lordship will have the happiness of seeing this noble edifice free from debt, bearing upon it the impress of the consecration of our Holy Mother the Church. Our congratulations and thanks are also due to your Lordship for bringing into the diocese the good Sisters of the Little Company of Mary to care for the sick of the diocese. The excellent records which these good Sisters have established in other places, notably in Sydney, fully justify our anticipations of the great work they will achieve among poor, suffering humanity. ‘Lastly, my Lord, we must thank you for coming to Greymouth to open our fine presbytery which, we are proud to say, is second to none in the Dominion. This great work and the enlargement of the church are due, primarily, to the great zeal and energy of our worthy pastor, Very Rev. Dean Carew, whose splendid ;works for the glory of God will be a lasting* monument to his name. Since your Lordship’s last visitation of this part of your diocese a fine church and school have been erected in Cobden, also a school in Runanga, buildings which compel the admiration of all classes of the community. We feel that you, my Lord, will rejoice with us in the success of the efforts of priests and laity

to promote God's glory, and on the blessing of God which has so visibly attended them. ' ; Begging y our Lordship's blessing, we beg to,subscribe ourselves, for and on behalf of the congregation, (Signed by members of St. Patrick's Church Committee.) 'Greymouth, March 15,'1914.' One only needs a glance (says the GreymoutHi Star) at St. Patrick's new presbytery to note that it is thoroughly and substantially built. From the entrance in Chapel street it has every appearance of a wellfinished building. Its foundations are high and support a two-storied superstructure of brick, its lofty walls being capped with a bungalow style of roofing, and it is naturally one of the most noticeable residential build- / ings in town. In November, 1912, a contract was let for the building, together with substantial alterations to the church alongside, to Messrs. Luttrell Bros., of Christchurch, for £5200. The section on which the

presbytery is built cost another £BOO, and furnishings, draining, etc., ran the total cost of recent improvements to approximately £7OOO. The presbytery is now practically out of the contractor's hands and ready for occupation. The building occupies a superficial ground space of about 105 x 50 feet. The rooms are all lofty, well-lighted, spacious, with steel ceilings, and plastered throughout. There are 12 rooms on the ground floor, 12 rooms on the second floor, and what might be termed a third storey is represented by a large room, 57 x 20 feet, just under the apex of the roof, so really no space is lost. Each room has a fireplace, and the interior woodwork is of beautifully-grained West Coast rimu timber, obtained from Messrs. Stratford, Blair, and Co.'s factory. The floors are covered with linoleums, and generally the furnishings are of a plain, serviceable kind rather than approaching anything in the way of gaudy or excessive decoration ; at the same time, the building is fully equipped with all the modern conveniences of a well-appointed home. The dining-room, the largest room on the ground floor, is 24 x 22 feet, from which a side door leads to a verandah of spacioua dimensions, whilst from a balcony above a grand panoramic view is obtained of the town and also a splendid , view of Cobden, and the recently-built Catholic church and convent in this rising suburb is easily distinguished from the balcony with the naked eye. A feature of the presbytery is the excellent ventilation provided, and the patent adjusters for windows, which swing outwards on the principle of folding doors. Altogether the new presbytery is a credit to the contractor, and will be highly appreciated by the priests of the local parish, the old presbytery having proved too small for some. considerable time past to adequately house the local priests, not to mention the visiting clergy who make Greymouth their headquarters from all parts of the Coast. It is, perhaps, needless to add that the Very Rev. Dean Carew has been the leading spirit in the extensions of the church in Greymouth and also in the country districts. His zeal and energy are widely recognised, and the many Catholic churches and schools in the Grey district to-day stand as marked indicators of his faithful and untiring services during the fleeting years since he took charge of the Grey parish in 1884.