ARCHDIOCESE OF WELLINGTON

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 22, 7 June 1923, Page 27

ARCHDIOCESE OF WELLINGTON

vFrom our own correspondent.) June 1. Owing to the number of aspirants to the priesthood, tho accommodation at the Greenmeadows Seminary is not sufficient to enable the work entailed in training students and gving them the necessary novitiate course to be carried on there. The Very Rev. Father O’Reilly, S.M., (Provincial of the Marist Fathers), has just completed the purchase of a magnificent property at Feilding known as “Highden,” well known as the home of the late Mr. Walter Johnston. The'property consists of over 200 acres, with a large roomy residence, and numerous other buildings. The price paid was £17,000. The Marist Fathers will convert the property into a novitiate, both for the students entering the Marist Order and the priests who,. are required to undergo their second novitiate course. The latter at the present time is conducted In Blenheim, but will be transferred to “Highden” when it is ready for occupation. Greenmeadows will also be relieved of the first novitiate.

The Redemptorist Fathers are conducting a very successful mission at Kilbirnie. One week is being devoted to the women and another to the men of the parish. Rev. Father Connolly (rector of the parish) is also arranging for the Redemptorist Fathers to conduct a mission at the newly-erected church at Seatoun.

The Marist Brothers’ Old Boys’ Association will hold a. bazaar towards the end of the year for the purpose of raising funds to develop the association. An appeal is being made to the ladies of each parish to render assistance in making the function a success.

Rev. Father Quealy (Petone) is determined that bis parish will be provided with an up-to-date and commodious church to meet the demand of his growing congregation. For this purpose he is bazaar, which will take place early in the new year to augment the fund already in hand for this object. The new church will be dedicated to the memory of his heroic predecessor (the late Father J. McMenamin), who sacrificed his life on the battlefields of France whilst engaged in his priestly office as chaplain to the N.Z. Forces.

Rev. Father Connolly, Kilbirnie’s popular parish priest, has had many difficultiesprincipally financial —in the spade work incidental to the formation of a new parish. Commencing his duties some three years ago, he was forced to establish his presbytery in a tent which he erected in the church grounds at Seatoun. Whilst living in the tent he had the misfortune to have his motor car stolen, and when recovered it was practically beyond repair. After spending

several months under canvas, he acquired a fine property in Kilbirnie to serve as a presbytery. Later he acquired another property for the extension of school at Kilbirnie, and last year he built a new church-school at Seatoun. To enable him to lighten the financial burden thus imposed, a monster art union and bazaar is being organised, and will be held in a few months’ time. There ■is no doubt that the Catholics of Wellington will assist Father Connolly to reduce his liabilities, as they recognise and appreciate the strenuous work he has been engaged in, in equipping his new parish with the requisites for the spiritual benefit of his parishioners. The Hibernian Pipe Band will hold a concert on Monday, June 11, at the Town Hall, to augment the uniform fund. A splendid programme has been arranged to which the best of local talent will contribute. Very successful socials and picture entertainments are being conducted at St. Francis’s Hall, Hill Street, under the direction of Father Smyth, S.M., Adm., with gratifying results. '

Mr. P. Verschaffelt, who has had a distinguished career in the Public Service, has been appointed the new Public Service Commissioner. The appointment, which was announced by the Prime Minister, takes effect from June 1. Mr. Verschaffelt is the first Commissioner who has risen through the ranks of the Civil Service proper to the controlling position to which he has been appointed. The appointment in 1921 of Mr. Verschaffelt to the position of Assistant Commissioner had the support of the Public Service- Association, and as the same groufids still hold good his -further promotion will probably find favor. The Public Service Journal stated on March 21, 1921: —“The Public Service Association stands for the principle of promotion by merit, with seniority as a makeweight when other qualities are equal; therefore, the appointment of Mr. Verschaffelt as an Assistant Public Service Commissioner has our support and our hearty approval. In addition to his natural ability and high educational qualifications, he possesses an experience gained during his term of office as secretary to the Public Service Commissioner, which must be of great value to himself and to the Commissioner, also an advantage to the service. This practical application of the principle of promotion by merit should encourage young officers to strive to qualify, by study and by a zealous discharge of their duties, for the prize positions in the service which 'are coming closer to their reach.” Mr. P. Varschaffelt joined the Public Service as a cadet in the Lands and Survey Department at Gisborne in January, 1904, and three years later was transferred to a clerkship in the head office at Wellington. On the coming into operation of the Public Service Act, 1912, he was associated with the late Mr. Robert Triggs, Assistant Public Service Commissioner, as inspector, and in May, 1915, was promoted to the position of secretary to the Public Service Commissioner. In May, 1919, he was appointed to Controller of Wills, Trusts, and Agencies’ Division, Public Trust Office, and in the following year to the position of chief accountant in that office. On the appointment of his Honor Mr. Justice Frazer to the Presidency of the Arbitration Court, Mr. Verschaffelt succeeded • him as Assistant Public Service Commissioner, in which position he. was associated with Mr. W. R. Morris, C.M.G., 1.5.0., until the latter’s retire-

ment. at the end of February of this year, from which date Mr. Verschaffelt was appointed Acting-Public Service Commissioner. Mr. Verschaffelt received his' primary education at the Marist Brothers’ School, Napier, and later attended the Victoria University College, Wellington, He is a Fellow of the Incorporated Society of Accountants (by exam.) and a member of the New Zealand Society of Accountants. He has also graduated as a Bachelor of Laws at the New Zealand University, and has been admitted as a

barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court. Mr. Verschaffelt was at one time secretary of the Newman Society; also of the Thorndon Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul

Society, and the Thorndon branch of the Hibernian Society.