Young French boy Marcellin Champagnat was regarded as an independent type with a strong sense of justice, but definitely not academic. He walked out of
Cheeky children called the Cluny Sisters “the Loony Sisters”. They didn’t mean it; they regarded their teachers highly. Pupils called the legendary Sister Benignus “Biggles”,
In a concrete quadrangle packed with cars a posse of upset parents parted from their sons. I was among them, a 12-year-old country hick alone
French priests of the Society of Mary were the backbone of Catholicism in New Zealand’s pioneering days. They bore the letters SM after their names
The Irish-based religious order of Christian Brothers specialised in teaching. The Brothers arrived in New Zealand in the 1880s. Eighty years later they opened their
Catholic schools struggled with growing numbers of pupils in the 1950s-60s “baby boom”. They received almost no financial aid from the Government. They could not
Many Catholic women in the Christchurch Diocese were taught by Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions. The first Sisters of this order to arrive
A pair of priests from a single family was not unusual in the 1900s. The Hanrahan brothers, Tom and Jim, were an example. Their
The mid-20th Century “baby boom” ignited an explosion in New Zealand school rolls. The number of new pupils in primary and secondary levels almost overwhelmed
Dean Nicolas Binsfeld SM was “an intrepid missionary” and “a pioneer priest”, according to a 1923 edition of Catholic newspaper The Tablet. Pioneer priests in