Cathedral project out of limbo
A decision on the future of Christchurch’s planned new $40m Catholic cathedral is imminent after a ruling from the Vatican lifted the project out of limbo.
Planning on the central city development came to a halt in March, when parishioners mounted a legal challenge to the Vatican, opposing the church’s $100 million post-earthquake building plan.
However, Christchurch Bishop Michael Gielen announced to parishioners yesterday that Rome would only hear the challenge relating to the Christchurch South parish, not the entire city.
“This clears the way for us to move ahead – it allows every other parish to continue planning their future,” he said in a written statement released yesterday.
Gielen would not say what that future would look like for the cathedral project, but promised an update before the end of the year. A decision on the cathedral’s future sits with Gielen alone. He was “currently investigating a number of options”, the statement said.
Gielen said the project had been delayed by matters beyond the church’s control, but it was now “pushing forward with some final assessments”.
“I appreciate the importance of a Catholic cathedral to this city and will ensure the wider community gets a chance to share their perspectives before any final decision is made.”
Earlier this year, a group of parishioners lodged a canonical legal challenge following the 2019 merger of the city’s parishes.
The group opposed the church’s post-earthquake $100m building plan, which included the cathedral project and other church developments across the city.
In 2019, the former bishop Paul Martin announced plans to replace the now-demolished Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes St, with a new $40m cathedral on a half-hectare site the church bought opposite Victoria Square on the corner of Colombo and Armagh streets. A new school would be built at the other end of the block, with offices and a parking building to be built in between by private developer Philip Carter.
Other aspects of the building programme included merging suburban parishes and selling the excess land, as well as selling off the Barbadoes St site.
In a move rarely, if ever, previously seen in New Zealand, the Vatican’s highest court agreed to hear the case.
At that point, Gielen put a hold on the cathedral project and asked the city’s parishes to do the same with any future building plans.
He also asked the Vatican for precise details of the challenge.
In yesterday’s statement, Gielen said he met Vatican officials and had since been advised Rome would only hear the petition relating to the Christchurch South parish.
One of those behind the case, Phil Clearwater, said stopping the cathedral project was never the group’s primary goal.
It only wanted greater consultation over decisions being made.
He said he was disappointed the case would not apply to the whole of the city because the entire diocese should be working together to achieve a better process.
The case, or recourse, was written and signed by a small representative group of individual Catholics from city parishes. They are part of the 300-strong Gathering Group, comprising parishioners who have worked to challenge the diocese’s plan under canon law, or church law.
Gielen has advised parishes to consult with their communities and consider what resources they needed to become more sustainable and mission-focused.
In a letter read by priests at Mass yesterday, Gielen asked parishioners to consider the greater good in their decision-making.
He said the diocese had always been about more than church buildings.
“Through our parishes, schools and social services, Christchurch’s Catholic community has always worked to make Aotearoa New Zealand a better place,”