During a recent trip in January,  Anna and I visited Christchurch, New Zealand, and were stunned to see the effect of the earthquake devastation. Walking around the city centre - which had been so beautiful on a previous visit many years ago, was a surreal experience. It was an unrecognizable cityscape with lots of flat open space, ruined buildings, and an unreal quietness – few people, little traffic.

The cathedrals, both Anglican and Catholic, were badly hit in the earthquakes. The Anglican Cathedral stands in the central square. Once an iconic symbol of Christchurch, it is now a teetering wreck which needs to be completely deconstructed on account of having moved off its foundations during the quake. It is surrounded by a sturdy fence as it is so dangerous, and inhabited only by pigeons and weeds. The shock of seeing the wreck of this famous iconic building was clear on everyone’s faces – people standing quietly and staring at the gaping black hole that used to be the West Front of a stunning cathedral.

The Catholic Cathedral fared slightly better in that its Nave had been earthquake-strengthened some years ago, and remained relatively unscathed during the quakes. However, the sanctuary, transepts, West Front and towers were badly damaged – the whole presenting the appearance of a deserted classical ruin. We were able to look in through a hole in the wall to see the devastation - a deserted bomb site of a church with piles of rubble and organ pipes hanging down over a balcony. The building was still beautiful but to see it in its piteous condition affected us enormously, and brought us both close to tears.

As fundraising professionals who have been involved with many cathedrals and churches over the decades, we can see that an enormous amount of work will be required to restore both cathedrals to a usable state. Although it is not decided for either cathedral what form the restoration will take, i.e. how much should be reconstructed, and how much should be new, we have been told that both will require millions of dollars, and we know that this will take a superhuman effort by the whole Christchurch community in particular and New Zealand in general. Our thoughts are with everyone involved in restoring these iconic buildings.

22.02.2017

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