WelCom February/March 2025
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is proposing to list the Chapel of Our Lady of Compassion and Resting Place of Suzanne Aubert, in Rhine St, Island Bay, Wellington, as a Category 1 historic place on the New Zealand Heritage List | Rārangi Kōrero.
Natalie Marshall, Heritage Assessment Adviser, who prepared the listing report, says the Chapel and Resting Place have outstanding historical and spiritual significance for their direct association with the Catholic nun, nurse, and social worker Suzanne Aubert (1835–1926). The Venerable Suzanne Aubert founded the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion, the only Catholic order to be initiated in New Zealand.
‘The final resting place is a testament to Suzanne Aubert’s centrality to the order, which continues to make important social and spiritual welfare contributions locally, nationally and internationally.
Furthermore, Aubert has been nominated for canonisation and her resting place is a site of pilgrimage and education,’ says Natalie.
The chapel was a collaboration between architectural firm Structon Group Limited and the late artist John Drawbridge of Island Bay. It has special aesthetic qualities that evoke a powerful sense of awe and tranquillity.
Natalie says she is keen to learn about people’s personal connections with this place and what it means to them through submissions on the proposed listing.
The Home of Compassion complex continues to be owned and managed by the Mother Aubert Home of Compassion Trust Board, which was established in 1917. Public esteem for the place is evident in its ongoing use as a place of worship, retreat and learning.
People can make submissions by email to submissionscr@heritage.org.nz until 24 February.