Monday, September 24, 2012

Church deemed quake risk

Parishioners of a Westport church will continue to attend mass there, despite learning the building is high earthquake risk. An initial evaluation assessment found the 37-year-old St Canice's Catholic Church was only 18 per cent compliant with the New Building Standards, said Father Raymond Soriano. This gave it a grade E rating, the lowest possible and meant it was 25-40 times more liable to collapse in a quake than a 100 per cent compliant building. More

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Futuna's Jesus sculpture returned


Jesus finally returned home from the dead today, briefly stopping in Karori under a heavy police escort.

The historic mahogany statue of Christ, hand-forged by sculptor Jim Allen, went missing from Karori’s Futuna Chapel in 1999 or 2000 around the time the chapel was sold by its former owners, the Society of Mary, to housing developers.

The statue was recovered from an empty rural property in Ahititi, Taranaki in late August and was today welcomed back to its original home.

The statue was formally recognised with hymns and holy water before police escorted it to Te Papa where a conservation assessment and any restorative work that may be required will take place.

The sculpture is expected to be permanently reinstated at the chapel in March.

More.
Dominion Post 6/9/12

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Historic statue of Jesus recovered

Wellington police have found Jesus - in Taranaki.

A historic mahogany statue of Christ which was stolen from Futuna Chapel in Karori was recovered this week in rural Taranaki after being missing for more than 12 years.
More...

Dominion Post 31/8/2012