WelCom June/July 2023
Archbishop Paul Martin sm was installed as Archbishop of Wellington in a special Mass on Saturday 17 June at St Teresa’s Pro-Cathedral in Karori.
The congregation of hundreds included many clergy, Archbishop Paul’s family members invited guests, parishioners and friends.
After the Procession of the Clergy at the start of the Installation Mass, Archbishop Paul knocked three time on the outside of the closed doors of the Pro-Cathedral. The doors were then opened for him to enter as he was called into the Pro-Cathedral with a Kaikaranga to begin Mass.
The Installation of the Most Reverend Paul Martin SM DD as Archbishop of Wellington
St Teresa’s Pro-Cathedral of Wellington, Saturday 17 June 2023
Archbishop Paul Martin sm was installed as Archbishop of Wellington in a very inclusive Mass on Saturday 17 June at St Teresa’s’ Pro-Cathedral in Karori.
The gathering of hundreds included bishops, clergy, Archbishop Paul’s family members, tanagata whenua, distinguished guests, friends and people representing different groups in the life of the Archdiocese.
A Mihi Whakatau was given by Matt Ammunson-Fyall.
Fr Chris Martin sm gave a Mihi Whakahoki – a speech of reply.
Archbishop Paul was principal celebrant with the Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand His Excellency Novatus Rugambwa and concelebrating Bishops: Michael Dooley, Bishop of Dunedin; Michael Gielen, Bishop of Christchurch; Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Auckland; and Colin Campbell, Emeritus Bishop of Dunedin.
In his main homily, Archbishop Paul said it was a blessed bonus the Installation coincided with the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
‘Mary is a living example of what love looks like,’ he said. ‘A woman of deep love too for God and for us. I do feel blessed to be taking up this calling as Archbishop of Wellington on this day, under the mantle of the immaculate heart of Mary, as I begin this vocation of service to the Church of the Archdiocese of Wellington.
‘My hope is that through this I will grow in my own holiness and closeness to God along with all the people who I have the privilege of serving.’
In a post-communion homily and thanks to everyone who helped on his road to the archbishop’s chair, Archbishop Martin said the Church doesn’t exist in some ethereal domain without bodies and people who have lives with all the joys and sorrows that make it up.
‘This is what I am looking forward to, working with you all for the future of our Church in the archdiocese and indeed for Aotearoa New Zealand. We are living in challenging times, but the Good News is still that, and I have great trust in God at work in our world, and through each one of us.’
Following the Installation Mass, everyone was invited to join Archbishop Paul for refreshments at the Baptist Church Hall in Karori.
‘We have to fall in love with Christ’
Michael Fitzsimons
With just a few days to go before his impending installation as the 7th archbishop of Wellington, Archbishop Paul Martin sm is feeling pretty relaxed. He’s chatty with a ready sense of humour.
He knows what the role involves. He was bishop of Christchurch and for a year and a half year had a foot in both the Christchurch and Wellington dioceses while a successor was found for Christchurch.
‘I’m not feeling anxious at all. I have a sense that this what I have been asked to do and trust that I am here because the Holy Spirit wants me here.’
Archbishop Paul is a very tall and cheerful Marist priest and – apart from the late Bishop Max Takuira Mariu who was auxiliary bishop of Hamilton and New Zealand’s first Māori bishop – he was the first Marist bishop of a diocese since Archbishop Thomas O’Shea was made coadjutor archbishop of Wellington more than 100 years ago.
We are on this journey together and we desperately need each other.
Born and raised in Hawke’s Bay, he was educated at St Joseph’s primary school and St John’s College in Hastings before entering Mount St Mary’s Seminary in Greenmeadows. Most of his priestly life was involved in education. His teaching career took him to Pompallier College, Hato Pāora College, St Bede’s College and St Patrick’s College Wellington where he was rector for six years. He was appointed assistant provincial for the Society of Mary before going to Rome as the Society’s general bursar. With a reputation for decisiveness, he was appointed bishop of Christchurch in 2017 and Coadjutor Archbishop of Wellington in 2021.
Archbishop Paul is now, presumably, in Wellington to stay. He is about to become very familiar to us. As he writes in his first letter to the archdiocese, ‘I have been called to play my part in the life of the archdiocese for the next 19 years, God willing.’
When asked what his priorities are, his first response is the spiritual renewal of the diocese.
‘If we are going to have a life of faith, we have to fall in love with Christ. All the other things flow out of that. Mass on Sunday will never be enough to maintain a spiritual life. If we are not in love with Jesus Christ, we won’t be motivated to build the Christian community or be a proclaimer of the Good News to others.
‘I want us to be people who know how to pray, who spend time in prayer with God each day, not just an hour on Sunday.’
In the diocese we need to provide lots of different ways for people to experience prayer, he says.
‘There’s no one size fits all. Some people like eucharistic adoration, for others it’s Lectio Divina or Taizé prayer. We have to help people to learn to pray so that its actually an encounter with Christ. Our moral life as Christians, our commitment to social justice, all of that comes out of our relationship with Christ.’
At the same time he would like to see a focus on the intellectual side of our faith, so people understand better what it is we believe.
‘One of the great things about Catholicism is its intellectual rigour. I hope we will be able to provide new opportunities for education in faith in our schools and parishes and diocese. We need to ask ourselves “what can we do to achieve this, what might we need to let go of to make this a priority?” ’
Spiritual renewal and a deeper understanding of our faith are vital to sustaining our faith communities and preaching the Good News to the society we live in, says Archbishop Paul.
‘Our sacramental practice has diminished and we have to help people to discover that again, and to learn how to pray so that it’s actually an encounter with Christ.’
Leadership style
In the leadership roles he has had in Catholic education and as a bishop, Archbishop Paul has developed a reputation for being decisive and ready to tackle difficult issues. So what can we expect here in the Wellington archdiocese?
‘I am really conscious that I have been called to lead. I want to know what people are thinking but I also know what the Church teaches and is asking of us too. So it’s not just a pick‘n’mix of the bits I like and the bits I don’t like. One of the things I really like about the Church is that it places the ideal before us constantly. That’s what we strive for and often we miss but we get up and keep striving. It’s bigger than “what Paul Martin thinks”. It’s very beautiful in its entirety.
‘We are on this journey together and we desperately need each other. As a society we are suffering from a breakdown in community living. We are very individualistic. It doesn’t come naturally as it did in the past. That’s part of the craving and that’s why Church as community is really important.’
Mass on Sunday will never be enough to maintain a spiritual life.
And what will a synodal church look like? What changes can we expect? His short answer is we don’t know yet.
‘I would be surprised if it doesn’t mean a shift in the way we do things. But what is that actually going to mean in practice? We don’t know that yet. I’m going to the Synod in Rome in October and it’s going to be very interesting to be part of that.
‘The synodal process is exciting but also quite challenging because Church structures in the past have been quite clear whereas this will take a while to work through. My concern with the process to date is whether it has raised people’s expectations beyond what was ever intended. I don’t know that it was supposed to be a whole review of morals and doctrine and Church practice. The synod itself is taking two sessions over two years to thrash it out. Even then it may still be a work in process.’
Priest role critical
One thing Archbishop Paul is clear about is the need to continue to have priests at the centre of the sacramental life of parishes, in as much as that is possible.
‘If you think it is important to be able to have the sacraments available to people, and I do, there is a critical number of priests you need to make that happen. It doesn’t necessarily mean we need the same number of priests as we have had in the past. But there is a critical number and people of faith want to celebrate the eucharist, be able to go to reconciliation and have a Church funeral. These things are at the heart of people’s faith.
‘I think a community without a priest is a much lesser community than one with a priest. The key for me is to have a priest in each community and if we can’t do that then we need to put in place other forms to help the community to get going but that is less desirable.
‘Having said that, I am all for establishing pastoral teams and leadership teams within the parish – with the priest as part of that – working together in a way that allows us to fulfil the mission of the Church.’
The shortage of priests may mean we need to rely more on priests from overseas but he notes ‘our history is full of priests who have come from overseas – French, Irish, Dutch’.
‘An important part of it is to help priests who come here to understand our culture. We have to be understanding of the realities they face and embrace the fact that we are a very multicultural church now in New Zealand. Our new migrant Catholic communities are a wonderful gift to us as a community.’
It’s a good thing the Archbishop is up for a challenge. I remember interviewing him previously when he extolled the virtues of doing a good day’s work and going home tired. To wind down, he likes biking, doing crosswords and sudoku and listening to podcasts. Friday Night Comedy on BBC4 and The Economist’s The Intelligence are among his favourites.
He is realistic about the fact that it is a challenging time to be in a leadership role.
‘You can’t please everybody all the time. If you could, you wouldn’t actually do anything. You do have to be a bit thick-skinned. If you know you have taken good advice and you make a decision, well that’s it. I rarely lie awake at night.’
The joy in the role lies in setting up things to help people do well, he says.
‘I want to support priests to do well, help our parishes and schools flourish. That gives me energy. It concerns me that we have fewer people available, fewer resources to do things than in the past but I don’t want to wind down. I want us to wind up.’