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Elements of Serra

Blessed Junipero Serra

The Serra Council of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific (SCANZSPAC) held its fifth biennial convention at the St Columba Centre, Auckland, during the weekend of October 15-17, 2004.

This was the first time that such a Serra convention had been held in New Zealand.

Just over 60 participants came from Auckland, Australia, China and the USA. Among them was Bishop David Walker, Bishop of Broken Bay diocese in Sydney and the Australian Bishops Ecclesial Adviser to SCANZSPAC.

Bishops from New Zealand included the Bishop of Auckland, Bishop Patrick Dunn, the Assistant Bishop of Auckland, Bishop Robin Leamy, SM, the Bishop of Hamilton, Bishop Denis Browne, and the Assistant Bishop of Hamilton, Bishop Max Takuira Mariu, SM.

· On Friday evening Msgr James Shannahan, the chaplain to the Serra Club of Auckland, welcomed visitors and locals to the Travellers'Mass in the Sacred Heart Chu rch in Vermont St.

· On Saturday morning Bishop Walker - assisted by Bishop Dunn, Bishop Takuira Mariu, Fr Philip Handforth (the newly appointed rector of Holy Cross Seminary) and Fr Brian Cummins, SM, rector of the Marist Seminary, along with Fr Brendan Daly, principal of Good Shepherd College - celebrated Mass and prayed for the success of the convention.

· Kevin Fellew, from Sydney and president of SCANZSPAC, and Frank Douglas, president of the Auckland Club, officially welcomed all to the convention.

· John Woodward, international chief executive of Serra International, based in Chicago, addressed the convention. He stressed the coming Year of the Eucharist and encouraged adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as a powerful means of obtaining vocations to the priestly and religious life.

He also mentioned that on November 24 the Holy Father would bless six monstrances, intended for six regions of the world. One of these is Oceania. Their purpose would be to highlight the importance of the Eucharist to the Catholic Church as well as to encourage prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

Mr Woodward promoted the Internalional Serra Convention of 2005, which is to be held in Asia for the first time - in Bangkok, Thailand.

Other speakers were -
· Fr John Dunn, principal ofthe Catho.lic Institute of Theology, who spoke on "Challenges for the Church today".
· Bishop Walker, who spoke on supporting and affirming priests.
· Bishop Leamy, who spoke on ministry in the islands of the South Pacific.
· Fr Bernard Kiely (Diocesan Vocations Director) and Fr David Tonks, who challenged the members of Serra to “journey in hope” by examining their work and learning from other members of Serra throughout the region.

At the convention dinner in Rydges Hotel, Bishop Dunn, under the heading “Be Not Afraid” encouraged his listeners to accept the challenge of hope and to see the positive developments in the Church of today. They were there for all to see, he said.

· On Sunday morning a special convention Mass, prepared by Fr Kiely, was celebrated by Bishop Dunn, assisted by Bishops Leamy and Takuira Mariu in St Patrick's Cathedral, bedecked in the colourful banners of Serra clubs of Australia and New Zealand.

The servers were all seminarians, who had also been of great help in the roles of chauffeurs and odd-job men throughout the weekend.

The convention closed at the Pompalher Diocesan Centre, where everyone had a farewell lunch. Most visitors left on a sightseeing tour of Auckland.