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Author: Christchurch Catholic Archives

A Bedean Reminiscence

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

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Education: Marist Fathers

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

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Education: Christian Brothers

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

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Education: Holy Faith Sisters

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

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Frs Jim and Tom Hanrahan

The Hanrahan Brothers

  A pair of priests from a single family was not unusual in the 1900s. The Hanrahan brothers, Tom and Jim, were an example. Their

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Catholic Development Fund

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

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Dean Nicolas Binsfeld SM

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

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