Christchurch Diocese planning Jubilee pilgrimage to Northland

The pilgrimage, from October 26-31, will be to “the sacred places at the very foundation of the Catholic Faith in New Zealand”, according to the diocese’s notices to parishes last week.

The pilgrimage will begin in Auckland and will explore the sites of the first missionaries who brought the faith to this country. Matt O’Connell, evangelisation coordinator in the Bishop’s Pastoral Office, will lead the tour. A priest chaplain will also be present.

Christchurch Bishop Michael Gielen will join the pilgrimage for two days, starting on day four for a visit to Totara Point, the site of the first Catholic Mass celebrated on New Zealand soil in 1838. That day will also include a visit to Motuti, where Bishop Pompallier is buried in St Mary’s Church. Mass will be celebrated there.

Among other sites to be visited on the pilgrimage will be Hohi (Oihi) Beach in the Bay of Islands, where Reverend Samuel Marsden led the first Christian service in New Zealand in 1814.

Pilgrims will also visit Doubtless Bay, where the first Mass in New Zealand territory was celebrated on a French ship in 1769, the Shrine of St Peter Chanel and the Pompallier Mission and Printery in Russell, as well as the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

FULL STORY

Weekly Notices 30 March 2025 – Catholic Diocese of Christchurch (Catholic Diocese of Christchurch)