Bishop will ‘trust the process’ for new Christchurch cathedral

Christchurch Bishop Michael Gielen said in a wide-ranging interview with The Press that the cathedral’s master planning phase is underway, to be followed by concept design, detailed design and then the build.

In June, Warren and Mahoney was appointed as architect of the new Catholic cathedral and surrounding precinct. In a media release at the time, Bishop Gielen said “we are confident that Warren and Mahoney will walk with us in building a worthy house of worship to glorify God and to welcome his people”, and “it will be a place where heaven and earth meet”.

No budget for the new cathedral has been released.

“We’ve given them our brief and then we’ll find out what we can afford,” Bishop Gielen said.

A previous plan for a new cathedral alongside offices, a school and a car park on Armagh St was reviewed by Bishop Gielen. The decision was made to rebuild on the site of the former cathedral.

“Part of the reason to come back here [to Barbadoes St] is prudence around our finances. We want to make sure we can afford to build it, so that we do build it,” Bishop Gielen said.

Asked about the possible timeframe for the project, the bishop said “I have dreams but I’m trusting the process”.

“Warren and Mahoney are pretty strong about trusting their process. I’ve never done this before. This is the first cathedral [in New Zealand] in 120 years and no other living bishop has done it.”

Stuff asked if five years would be a reasonable ballpark figure?

“I won’t give a number,” the bishop replied. “You know what happens when you give numbers, you get held to them and you let people down. People’s hopes are dashed. I will trust the process.”

The previous Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was completed in 1905, damaged in the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 and demolished in 2020. Bishop Gielen said the previous cathedral was well known throughout the country.

“The whole country celebrated the Blessed Sacrament cathedral. I went there and celebrated Mass once. I marvelled at it from afar and from close. I was very honoured to have been there.”

FULL STORY

Moving heaven and earth: Christchurch’s Catholic bishop builds a new cathedral (By Philip Matthew/The Press)