SACRED HEART
CATHEDRAL
WELLINGTON, NZ CATHOLIC
PAUL SCOTT
I could find no plan of this Cathedral, but this simplified satellite view will give us some idea. The geographical placing of this Cathedral with the sanctuary almost due west of the nave is 180° different from the liturgical convention which we shall follow here. That is, we shall assume the sanctuary is in a due Easterly direction, with a capital letter to denote the convention. This means that the Blessed Sacrament Chapel will be South of the nave. This seems a difficult concept here, but from within the Cathedral it will seem quite natural.
We shall walk around the outside of theCathedral as far as possible, and then enter the entry hall from the car park.
A brief history of the Cathedral is given below. However, if you want to begin your tour of the Cathedral immediately, tap / click on START . You can also access intermediate points in the tour by a tap / click on the following links:
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HISTORY
[Wikipedia]
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and of Saint Mary His Mother, better known as Sacred Heart Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral on Hill Street, Wellington, New Zealand. It is the parish church of the Thorndon Catholic parish (founded 1850) and the Cathedral of the Archbishop of Wellington. The New Zealand Parliament is a close neighbour of the Cathedral. However, the Thorndon Catholic parish predates that institution. The Cathedral is part of a Catholic precinct which includes St Mary’s College; Sacred Heart Cathedral School; St Mary’s Convent, the motherhouse of the Sisters of Mercy in Wellington; the Catholic Centre, in which Catholic administration is located, and Viard House, which is both the Cathedral parish presbytery and the residence of the Archbishop.
The church was popularly known as ‘the Basilica’, because of its palladian architectural style. It was designated as the Cathedral of Wellington in 1984 after earthquake strengthening and the addition of the Blessed Sacrament chapel, foyer, sacristy, courtyard, hall (called Connolly Hall) and piazza. The parish of Thorndon was administered by the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) for eighty-five years until 1935, although secular or diocesan clergy were also stationed there. The founder of the see, Bishop Viard, and the first two Archbishops, Redwood and O’Shea, were also members of the Society of Mary. Since 1954 all the archbishops and the resident clergy of the Cathedral have been secular clergy.
Thorndon has always been the residence of the archbishops of Wellington except for the period 1935–1954 when Archbishop O’Shea continued to live at Paterson St, Mt Victoria which was his address as coadjutor.
On 13 July 2018, the main Cathedral building was closed for seismic strengthening, with services continuing in the chapel or at St Thomas Moore Church, Wilton.
