Wellington archbishop calls for more prayer promotion

By CathNews New Zealand

October 13th, 2026

Archbishop Paul Martin SM (NZCBC)

Wellington Archbishop Paul Martin SM has asked for more promotion of prayer in his archdiocese and has expressed a desire for a location that is open 24 hours a day for that purpose.

Archbishop Martin said that one of great joys of his time serving as Bishop of Christchurch was discovering the power of the Perpetual Adoration chapel that was set up at St Gregory’s Church in Bishopdale.

“There the Blessed Sacrament was exposed 24 hours every day, and people were rostered to be there for all of those hours,” he wrote in the archdiocesan newsletter, WelCom.

“The number of people who would come and spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament over the course of the week was amazing. People of all ages and stages would come and do so regularly, as well as those who were rostered. The power of that place of prayer in the diocese was real. I would very much like us to have something similar here in our Archdiocese.”

Archbishop Martin said that his “desire is that all of us learn how to pray in a real way”.

“When I hear people say that they don’t know how to pray, that is a sign of failure on our part as a Christian community. It would be very powerful if each parish had groups who were helping people learn the different ways of praying and giving guidance to help those who might be searching in that area.”

Archbishop Martin called for promotion of the life of prayer and asked the faithful to reflect on that in their lives and parishes.

“There are many different ways of being able to pray,” the archbishop said.

“You can use Christian meditation, Lectio Divina, imaginative prayer as St Ignatius Loyola developed, charismatic prayer, Taizé prayer, just to name a few. What is key is spending the time in prayer, finding the time to do so and learning what form of prayer helps you to hear what God might be saying to you.

“My desire is that all of us become people of prayer and people of the Spirit, allowing the God who loves us unconditionally to grace us with his power and strength so we can live this life he has given us to the full. That will only happen when we do something concrete about it.”

FULL STORY

WelCom Issue 14 September 2026 (WelCom/Archdiocese of Wellington)