Selling City Land to Fund a Cathedral: Christchurch Catholics Will Rebuild Where the Quake Took Their Old One

• Christchurch’s Catholic diocese will build its new cathedral on the Barbadoes Street site
• The 1905 Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was demolished after the 2011 earthquakes
• Almost 85 per cent of 1,604 survey respondents backed the site, which was also the cheapest option
• The diocese plans to sell central-city land it owns to pay for the build

The Catholic Diocese of Christchurch in New Zealand has decided to build its new cathedral on the same Barbadoes Street site as the old one, RNZ reported on April 21, 2024. The original Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament opened in 1905 and was demolished in 2020 after irreparable damage in the 2011 earthquakes.

Bishop Michael Gielen said building on the same site continued 160 years of Catholic worship there. “This will be the first new Catholic cathedral built from scratch in New Zealand for more than 120 years, so it will be a complex undertaking,” he said. “Our new cathedral will take time, but the wait will be worth it.”

Diocesan general manager Simon Thompson said three locations were considered: Barbadoes Street, Armagh Street or an expanded St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral on Manchester Street. Almost 85 per cent of 1,604 respondents to a community survey backed Barbadoes Street. Gielen said it also made the most financial sense. “Our analysis said that the Barbadoes Street site would be the most economical option for our cathedral,” he said, adding that the decision supported the goal of being a financially stable diocese.

The site is to include the cathedral, a cultural and community centre, offices, a presbytery and parking. Master planning was to begin in 2024. Thompson said the diocese would soon sell land it owns in the central city to fund the build. No figure was given, but RNZ said the project could be expected to cost tens of millions of dollars.

For Jamaican churches still repairing buildings after hurricanes, the Christchurch approach is instructive. Rather than borrowing or waiting for donors alone, the diocese is using its property portfolio: keeping the site with the deepest roots, selling surplus land elsewhere, and planning a mixed-use campus with offices and a community centre. Churches that own more land than they use can turn some of it into the capital for rebuilding, provided titles are clean and members are consulted, as Christchurch did with its survey.