Sacred Heart College, Napier
Encyclopedia
Sacred Heart College, Napier (Te Kareti o Ngakau Tapu) was founded on its present site in 1867 by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions
. For the first one hundred years of its existence, the College was staffed predominantly by the Sisters of the Missions. Sister Mary Rose who completed her term in 1998 was the last Mission Sister to hold the position of Principal. The original buildings withstood the Napier earthquake of 1931.
During the 1990s new buildings were erected and existing ones upgraded. The new Barbier and Marian blocks were blessed and opened, and Ross and Dennehy blocks were updated and rededicated. On June 30, 2001 the convent building, the chapel and a section of the hostel were destroyed by fire. These have now been, or are in the process of being, replaced. The latest addition is the full-sized gymnasium named after Sister Mary Rose Holderness.
The boarding hostel attached to the college, which had accommodation for some seventy five girls, was closed in April 2010 Both the College and the hostel are administered on behalf of the Sisters by the Mission College Napier Trust Board and the Hostel Management Committee. The Board of Trustees administers government funds and governs the school.
Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions
The Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women. They were founded in Lyons, France in 1861 by Euphrasie Barbier. The Congregation's presence is felt worldwide...
. For the first one hundred years of its existence, the College was staffed predominantly by the Sisters of the Missions. Sister Mary Rose who completed her term in 1998 was the last Mission Sister to hold the position of Principal. The original buildings withstood the Napier earthquake of 1931.
During the 1990s new buildings were erected and existing ones upgraded. The new Barbier and Marian blocks were blessed and opened, and Ross and Dennehy blocks were updated and rededicated. On June 30, 2001 the convent building, the chapel and a section of the hostel were destroyed by fire. These have now been, or are in the process of being, replaced. The latest addition is the full-sized gymnasium named after Sister Mary Rose Holderness.
The boarding hostel attached to the college, which had accommodation for some seventy five girls, was closed in April 2010 Both the College and the hostel are administered on behalf of the Sisters by the Mission College Napier Trust Board and the Hostel Management Committee. The Board of Trustees administers government funds and governs the school.
Sources
- And God gave the increase: Centenary in Napier of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions, 1865-1965, Daily Telegraph Co, Napier, 1964.
- Ernest Richard Simmons, Brief history of the Catholic Church in New Zealand, Catholic Publications Centre, Auckland, 1978.
- Michael King, God's farthest outpost : a history of Catholics in New Zealand, Viking, Auckland 1997.
- Michael O'Meeghan S.M., Steadfast in hope : the story of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington 1850-2000, Dunmore press, Palmerston North, 2003.