Journey with the Archivist
Bishop Cleary (1910 to 1929) was the 6th Bishop of Auckland. In 1916, he travelled from Auckland to London to seek medical treatment, intending to resign because of poor health. Instead, he volunteered to serve on the frontline near Fromelles as there was no Catholic chaplain with the New Zealand 2nd Brigade in France. Here are some items from the Cleary collection from that time: Bishop Cleary’s Warrant Cleary kept diaries throughout his time as Bishop. Here is a page from 1917 “Extremely heavy bombardment…” Bishop Cleary’s map and location of Fromelles The popular story regarding this crucifix is that …
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While listing boxes I found one filled with stoles, altar linen and a black cassock. In the folds of the cassock was a pouch containing a pyx (a container for the reserved host). On closer examination the pyx had the name Rev J Ryan 9.5.1935 When I returned to the office I checked our card file of deceased priests (yes we still use a card file !) Fr James must have received this pyx at the time of his ordination in 1935 and it travelled with him to New Zealand and around the parishes of the Auckland Diocese.
The items from the Pompallier collection include administration records for the diocese, official church documents but also more personal documents from Pompallier including correspondence. One item caught my eye – a small hard cover note book listed as “Bishop Pompallier’s sermons and notes 22 Nov 1853 to Easter 1859.” The following pages are from that note book (POM 6-2). Illustration at the front of the notebook The archives also holds published volumes that belonged to Bishop Pompallier and are signed by him. Keeping with the Easter theme of this post, here are pages are from Bishop Pompallier’s Roman Missal printed …
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The records most frequently accessed from the Auckland Diocese Archive are the sacramental records. The records go back to the 1850s. We have genealogists requesting baptism, marriage or death records of their ancestors; couples needing their baptism records prior to being married in the Catholic Church; and parents seeking baptism records in order to enrol in schools. To access these records we used to have to go to the original or copies of the parish registers. That was until the age of computers where records entered into a database could be quickly accessed. One of the key projects this year …
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The Council of Trent (1545-1563) decreed that the Blessed Sacrament be reserved in the churches (Sess. XIII, Cap. VI, Can. VII) From our 1699 edition of the Council of Trent in the book collection in the Luck Room of Bishop’s House THE RESERVATION OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST AND TAKING IT TO THE SICK The custom of reserving the Holy Eucharist in a sacred place is so ancient[29] that even the period of the Nicene Council recognized that usage.[30] Moreover, the practice of carrying the Sacred Eucharist to the sick and of carefully reserving it for this purpose …
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There are current events that an archivist knows instantly create archival records. The opening last week of St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College in Drury is one of those events. This school will be run in the Jesuit tradition. I have already signalled that the agreement signed between the Bishop and the Jesuits will need to find its way to the archives together with photos of the signing. A photo from the official signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Diocese of Auckland, St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College and Jesuit Education Australasia. While the College is the first …
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Locked in the safe is one of the few drafts of the Treaty of Waitangi held outside of the National Archives. The draft signed by Governor Hobson was given to the Diocese by Dr Neville Hogg in 1986. Here is a photo of the Treaty and accompanying information from Dr Hogg. Pompallier was present at Waitangi and writes of his experience in his Early History of The Catholic Church in Oceania published in 1888. You can read the whole book here: https://archive.org/details/churchinoceania00pompuoft
Pompallier established the mission in Auckland at the end of July 1841 according to his Early History of the Catholic Church in Oceania. Here is his account. Pompallier’s “Instructions pour les travaux de la mission”, which has been dated 29 January 1841, reveals what information he gave to the new missionaries. The document is in French. However, we have an English translation. It is a fascinating read. One instruction caught my eye and I smile at Bishop Pompallier’s practicality. ADVICE ON MARTYRDOM AND MIRACLES Do not risk your life without very good reason. Far from seeking martyrdom, flee from it …
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