Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch

The Latin Rite Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington. Its cathedral and see city are located in Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It was formed on 5 May 1887 from a portion of the territory of the Diocese of Wellington, which was elevated to archdiocese later that same month.

Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch in the early 20th century.

Bishops of Christchurch[]

Tenure	Incumbent	Life
1887–1915	John Grimes SM	1842–1915
1915–1943	Matthew Brodie	1871–1943
1944–1950	Patrick Lyons	1903–1967
1950–1964	Edward Joyce	1904–1964
1964–1985	Brian Ashby	1923–1988
1985–1987	Denis Hanrahan	1933–1987
1987–1995	Basil Meeking	1929–2020
1995–2007	John Cunneen	1932–2010
2007–2016	Barry Jones	1941–2016
2017–2021	Paul Martin SM	1967–

Lyons was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Australia in 1950.

Current bishop[]

Paul Martin SM, Apostolic Administrator.

Bishops other than ordinaries[]

Coadjutor bishops[]

Denis William Hanrahan (1984–1985)
Barry Jones (2006–2007)

Auxiliary bishops[]

John Cunneen (1992–1995), appointed Bishop here

Affiliated bishops[]

Charles Drennan, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Palmerston North in 2011; succeeded 2012; resigned 2019
Stephen Lowe, appointed Bishop of Hamilton in New Zealand in 2014

Cathedral and churches[]

St Mary's Catholic Church in Hokitika belongs to the diocese.^[1] Following a structural assessment triggered by the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the church was closed to the public in June 2012.^[2]

For 57 years, the diocese was responsible for sending priests to the non-denominational Christian Chapel of the Snows at McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica, the second southernmost religious building in the world. This practice was stopped in 2015.^[3]