Catholic Church in New Zealand

The Catholic Church in New Zealand is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Roman curia in Vatican City (within Rome). There are an estimated 500,000 baptized Catholics in New Zealand, 12 percent of the total population. In New Zealand there is one Archdiocese (Wellington) and five suffragan dioceses with 530 priests and 1200 men and women religious.

History

Pope Gregory XVI established the Vicariate of Western Oceania in 1835, and sent Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier and members of the Society of Mary (Marists) to be New Zealand's first clergy. They arrived early in 1838.

There have been three New Zealand Cardinals: Peter McKeefry, Reginald Delargey and Thomas Williams. All three were at the time Archbishop of Wellington and Metropolitan of New Zealand.

The 150 year old St. Patrick's Cathedral in the Auckland diocese has been recently renovated and was re-opened on 14-15 September 2007.

Dioceses

The six dioceses (listed here from north to south) are:

*Auckland
*Hamilton
*Palmerston North
*Wellington: (which includes Tokelau)
*Christchurch
*Dunedin

Religious Orders in New Zealand

*Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre
*Assumptionists
*Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God
*Capuchins
*Carmelites
*Sisters of the Cenacle
*Christian Brothers
*Cistercians
*Columban Fathers
*Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions
*Daughters of Charity
*Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion
*De La Salle Brothers
*Discalced Carmelites
*Divine Word Missionaries,
*Dominican Order: both friars and sisters
*Franciscan Friars
*Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood
*Sisters of Mercy
*Little Company of Mary
*Little Sisters of the Assumption
*Little Sisters of the Poor
*Marist Brothers
*Marist Sisters
*Mill Hill Missionaries
*Mission Society of the Philippines,
*Missionaries of Charity
*Missionary Sisters of St Peter Claver,
*Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary
*Redemptorists
*Society of the Sacred Heart
*Rosminians
*Sister Disciples of the Divine Master
*Sisters of Nazareth
*Sisters of St Brigid
*Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny,
*Sisters of St Joseph of Nazareth
*Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart,
*Sisters of the Good Shepherd
*Sisters of the Holy Faith
*Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
*Society of Christ
*Society of Mary
*Workers of Christ the Worker

Controversies

As with a number of other countries the Catholic Church in New Zealand has had priests convicted of pedophilia.

Marylands School, operated by the Roman Catholic Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God in Christchurch, has been the centre of a number of sex abuse cases. By 2006 the Australasian branch of the St John of God order had paid out $5.1 million to men who had been sexually abused at the school.cite news
last = Henzell
first = John
coauthors =
title = Trial attempt to regain faith
work =
pages = 1
publisher = The Press
date = 2006-03-17
url =
accessdate = 2008-06-26 ] A nonprofit trust, the Male survivors of Sex Abuse Trust, worked with many of the victims.

In 2006 Bernard McGrath, a former Roman Catholic Brother, was convicted on 21 charges of sex abuse while working as a teacher and dormitory master at Marylands School. He was acquitted of a further 32 charges. The abuse happened when he worked there in the 1970s.

In 2008 Roger Maloney, who also worked at Marylands School, was found guilty of seven sex abuse charges and was acquitted of a further 16. [cite news
last = Hartevelt
first = John
coauthors =
title = Catholic brother convicted of abuse
work =
pages =
publisher = The Press
date = 2008-06-26
url = http://www.stuff.co.nz/4597017a11.html
accessdate = 2008-06-26 ]

ee also

*Trends in religion in New Zealand
*Christianity in New Zealand

External links

* [http://www.catholic.org.nz Catholic Church in New Zealand] - official website