Prefects and staff of Sancta Maria College were honoured to be invited to Father Michael Gielen’s Episcopal Ordination on Saturday at the Vodafone Centre in Manukau.
The ordination began at 11am, and although the venue was soon full, we managed to get seats near the stage.
Pope Francis has appointed Father Michael Gielen from the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton as the new Auxiliary Bishop for Auckland. Ordained as a priest in 1997, Bishop-elect Gielen served parishes in Gisborne, Hamilton and the western Bay of Plenty before becoming Director of Formation at the Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland in 2014, helping to train new priests.
In his new role, he will assist the Bishop of Auckland, Patrick Dunn. The Diocese of Auckland has almost 40 per cent of New Zealand’s 471,000 Catholics.
We congratulate Father Michael Gielen on his appointment, and we wish him the best for the future serving the Catholic Church in New Zealand.
Lorenzo Cruz
