Description of the attraction
The Cathedral of Saints Patrick and Joseph is located in the heart of Auckland city, just a few meters from the Sky Tower.
In the 1840s, the government allocated land for the construction of several Catholic churches in central Auckland. The first building of St. Patrick's Church was built of wood. Only 6 years later, in 1848, a new stone church building was rebuilt. The church was so beautiful and grand that it became a kind of landmark in the city. She began to be displayed in prints and photographs as a symbol of Auckland. In 1884, the reconstruction of the building began, the foundation was laid and the foundation was erected. Then the building that can be seen today was rebuilt.
In the 1960s, an additional Liston House was built to house the administrative departments of the diocese. The Liston Hall is now located on the ground floor of this building. It is allocated for services and visiting parishioners. Social services of the city also carry out their work here. For example, meetings of alcoholics anonymous, drug addicts anonymous, people with hepatitis C are held here. On the upper floors of Liston House, clergy live.
In order to attract young people to the church, various events for young people are regularly held in the cathedral. On the second Sunday of every month, those who are not indifferent to the problems of those in prisons gather in the cathedral, and on every fourth Sunday - people who are ready to provide all possible help in the Auckland hospital.
The Cathedral of Saints Patrick and Joseph has a lot to see. For example, a bust of Bishop Jean-Baptiste François Pompalier. Pompalier was the first Catholic bishop of New Zealand. In 1937, Archbishop James Liston commissioned a bust of Pompalier to commemorate the centenary of his arrival in New Zealand. The bust was created on the basis of all available portraits of Jean-Baptiste, including the cross of the legion on his chest.
The main treasure of the Cathedral is the Tower of the Bells. It is home to two of New Zealand's oldest bells. The larger of the two bells (24x26 inches) bears the inscription: "Hail Mary, in honor of Saints Bartholomew and Stephen 1723". On the smaller bell (20x18 inches), the inscription says that the bell was donated by the butchers of the city in the name of Saint Mary. Until 1980, bells were rung by hand. But an automated system was subsequently installed, and on October 31, 1980, at 6 pm, the bells were operated by an electrical mechanism for the first time.
