Old name chosen for new cathedral

Sunday, 4 August 2024

Christchurch's new Catholic cathedral will have the same name as its predecessor - The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

Christchurch’s new Catholic cathedral is to be given the same name as its predecessor, The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

Congregations were told of the decision at mass on Sunday in a letter from Bishop Michael Gielen.

The previous cathedral was severely damaged in the earthquakes and demolished in 2020 after the church opted not to repair it.

The previous Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes St in Christchurch.

The rebuild will go ahead on the same Barbadoes St site.

Blessed sacrament is a name for holy communion, the sharing of bread and wine which Catholics believe to be the body and blood of Christ.

Gielen picked the name from a shortlist of three. He said he had considered feedback from both advisers and local Catholics over a period of two months, and prayed.

The cathedral was demolished in 2020 after being badly damaged in the earthquakes nearly a decade prior.

The other short-listed names were of two saints, St Francis of Assisi and St John the Baptist.

In a letter read to mass-goers, Gielen said there had been 2000 responses which helped him understand people’s affection for the existing name.

“Your heart, expressed through a desire for the name Blessed Sacrament, has won my heart,” he said.

Bishop Michael Gielen, pictured earlier this year at the Barbadoes Street property where the new Catholic cathedral will be rebuilt.

“Some people spoke of the pain of losing the previous cathedral after the earthquakes, and how retaining the name would provide some comfort for them.

“Our path towards a new cathedral will take many years, but this is another important milestone on our way.”

He said the Blessed Sacrament name was a “taonga” flowing from the last supper of Jesus, and choosing the name reflected its importance to the Catholic belief.

The previous cathedral was completed in 1905. It replaced a wooden church built as a temporary or pro-Cathedral in 1864.

After the earthquakes the church had intended to repair and reopen the Ōamaru limestone building, which was designed in the Italian Renaissance style, but repair proved too expensive.

The church opted instead to build an entire Catholic precinct, including the new cathedral plus offices and a school, on land it had bought on a riverside block on Armagh St opposite Victoria Sq.

Items from the interior of the former cathedral were stored after its demolition. (File photo from before the earthquakes).

This year, after consultation with the faithful, it opted instead to re-use the Barbadoes St land.

The new Catholic cathedral will be the first built from scratch in New Zealand for more than 120 years.

In the meantime, St Mary’s on Manchester St is in use as the pro-Cathedral.