WelCom August 2019:
Bob Houston
Our Lady of Fatima Church, Waikanae, to close and be sold.
With the imminent final Mass, closure and sale of Waikanae’s Parata St site of Our Lady of Fatima Church, it’s a time of high emotion for many within Our Lady of Kāpiti Parish.
Moving on is never easy, particularly when we are saying ‘goodbye’ to somewhere so many have felt so comfortable for so long; and where many have shared faith, love, sorrow and comfort for ourselves, families and friends.
These are all feelings we ponder as we farewell this church from our last Mass there on August 18, to move on to our new Our Lady of Kāpiti Parish Centre, Presentation Dr, due for opening Easter 2020. What pre-empted this move has included two earthquake-prone churches, the need to relocate the parish school, the overall shortage of priests, and guidance from Cardinal John Dew about the location and direction for our new parish complex.
As one of our parishioners recently wrote, ‘Church, is my worshipping community, the people who gather with me to celebrate Jesus in our lives; it is not the buildings we do it in. You could collect us all up at Mass and put us somewhere else, and we would still be the same group of people gathered to celebrate our faith.’
Our faith has been served well by many buildings within our Kāpiti region, and when necessity has dictated change, it has happened – no doubt with the same pangs of sadness many of us are feeling at the moment. But as our forebears made the sacrifice for us, we need to too for those who will follow us.
An important part of our new parish centre complex will be the Our Lady of Fatima Chapel ‒ we may change the location, but our devotion to Our Lady will forever continue.
Until the new complex opens, we will use St Patrick’s Hall as a Mass Centre. Also, there will be a Sunday Mass at Cedarwood Funeral Home, Waikanae, and a number of celebratory outdoor Masses. Alternative arrangements have been made for Requiem Masses when required.
Bob Houston is Chair, Our Lady of Kapiti Pastoral Council.
Our Lady of Kāpiti Parish Centre, Presentation Dr, Paraparaumu, construction well underway and due for opening Easter 2020. Photos: Bernie Velasco