Back in the heart of the church
Today, Archbishop Paul Martin and his congregation will begin three days of celebrations to mark the reopening of Sacred Heart Cathedral – six years after it closed and at a cost of $13 million.
The historic Sacred Heart Cathedral will open its doors today after a $13 million makeover.
Regarded as the “seat of the Catholic Church in New Zealand”, it has been off limits for six years after being declared earthquake prone in 2018.
This weekend members of the parish will return to a building, which no longer has a salmon pink interior or its stunning Oamaru stone covered in paint.
Archbishop Paul Martin is delighted with the final result and pleased that the building’s heritage features have been retained and refurbished. He is confident that parishioners will be impressed.
“I know people will be really delighted when they see the work that has been done and for us to be able to come home again to the mother church of our archdiocese, which so many are looking forward to.”
Given the building’s obvious heritage values, he says there was never any talk of demolition.
In Catholicism, the term cathedral signals it is the home or seat of the archbishop, which is technically known as the cathedral.
Features of the refurbishment include strengthening the roof and walls, restoring the Oamaru marble to its original glory, restoring the copper cladding, putting in the altar from the St Gerard’s Monastery and securing the aisles.
The interior is now a more orthodox white, creating a vibrant look.
Lay pastoral leader Debbie Matheson says that with such a historic building, it was important it was done properly.
“I think it is fantastic. We tried to keep as much of the heritage as possible. We don’t want it to look brand spanking new.”
Funding came from a range of sources, including $6.5m in 2020 from Crown Infrastructure Partners for shovel-ready projects.
The city council put in $120,000 and the
rest came from members of the parish.
The original building on the Hill St site was St Mary’s Cathedral, which was destroyed by a fire in 1898.
The cathedral was then built and opened in 1901 as a parish church. It was consecrated as a cathedral in 1984 by Cardinal Thomas Williams.
The importance of the building is spelt out in a document appealing for donations.
“The cathedral will become once more a local and national tourist attraction, and its mana as a heritage building in Wellington’s historic Thorndon precinct and seat of the Catholic Church in New Zealand will be restored.”
Matheson said the key to the successful fund-raising was getting the shovel-ready money. It gave the project impetus and the church also supported the aim of the funding, to support local contractors.
“It is a beautiful building and it is exciting to see what they have done.”
The project has also created a new-found camaraderie within the parish. “Every completed transformation in the cathedral brings added excitement for the return to worshipping and serving our fiercely committed community in new ways.”
The reopening celebrations began at 5.30am this morning, with a whakawātea dawn blessing by mana whenua, followed by an evening mass, during which the cathedra (bishop’s raised throne) will be returned to its position, and the doors of the cathedral again reopened.
On Sunday, the cathedral parish will celebrate the 10am mass as a ‘’homecoming’’. Later in the day there will be tours of the cathedral.