Pat Lythe has been awarded the rare Papal honour of Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great for her services to the Catholic Church. Pat was educated in Hamilton, by the Sisters of the Mission, after which she attended Auckland University in the early 60s, graduating with an MA Hons in English.
While secretary of the University Catholic Society in the 1960s she met her future husband David Lythe (pictured), who was President of the Society. After country service teaching in Southland, they returned to Beachhaven, on the North Shore in 1970 where they have since lived. They have four sons, all now married with children.. Then began a lifetime of close involvement with the Church, at parish level in the parish of Maria Assumpta, Beachhaven and then at diocesan and national levels. Pat continued to play an integral role in many diocesan groups and departments despite coping with the needs of a growing young family.
In June1979 she was elected from the North Shore Regional Pastoral Council to be the first woman Chair of the Auckland Diocesan Pastoral Council, and has been the only woman to have twice held that position.(again in 1989) That same year she was nominated to be the Auckland woman representative on the National Commission for the Laity, a new body set up to examine the proper role and function of non-ordained women and men seeking to live out their faith as fully as possible. She was invited to Rome to take part in the pre-consultation for the Synod on the Laity in 1987.
On the ecumenical front, she became the Catholic representative on the former Conference of Churches in Aotearoa (serving one term as president in 1990-93) and she represented New Zealand at the World Council of Churches Assembly in Canberra. She is currently secretary of the Diocesan Commission for Ecumenism & Interfaith Relations. Formation of lay people for leadership within the church, especially in parishes, has always been a passion of Pat’s, and she has been on many working parties over the years lobbying and planning to bring this about. Today there are many theological and formational courses available for lay people and as part of her role with pastoral councils she runs formational sessions for new councillors. She is instrumental in helping to implement the Diocesan Pastoral Plan. To keep herself up to date she is studying for a theological degree.
While reluctant to accept the honour, Pat says she will continue to challenge the Church to stay true to its gospel values, and is delighted for all those laywomen and men in the local Church who work to bring about the Reign of God .