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Diocese of Christchurch

Christopolitan(us)

Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Christchurch, New Zealand

Latin rite diocese covering much of the South Island of New Zealand, seated in Christchurch. Erected on 10 May 1887, it is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Wellington. The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was demolished after the 2011 earthquakes; St Mary's Pro-Cathedral serves as the provisional cathedral.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
5 May 1887
Latin
Christopolitan(us)
Patron
san Juan Bautista
Annuario code
001001149

The see in figures

Catholics
68,750
Population
673,790
Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
10.2%
Priests
61
Catholics per priest
1,127
Extent
32,000 km²
Catholics per km²
2.1

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Michael Gielen
Born
2 June 1971
Birthplace
Cambridge

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

St Mary's Pro-Cathedral stands in Christchurch, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Wellington

A suffragan of Wellington.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Christchurch, the largest city in New Zealand's South Island, holds the cathedral and see of the Diocese of Christchurch (Dioecesis Christopolitana), a Latin Catholic suffragan of the Archdiocese of Wellington. The diocese came into being on 5 May 1887, formed from part of the territory of the Diocese of Wellington, which was itself raised to an archdiocese later that same month.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.