New Zealand cardinal dies at 93
December 26, 2023
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CWN Editor's Note: Cardinal Thomas Williams, the archbishop of Wellington (New Zealand) from 1979 to 2005, died on December 22 at the age of 93.
In a telegram of condolence to Archbishop Paul Martin of Wellington, Pope Francis recalled “with immense gratitude the late cardinal’s many years of priestly and episcopal ministry among Christ’s flock in New Zealand and his contribution to the Church throughout Oceania.”
Born in 1930 and ordained to the priesthood in Wellington in 1959, the prelate had no episcopal experience when Pope St. John Paul II appointed him archbishop of New Zealand’s leading see. The Pontiff created Archbishop Williams a cardinal in 1983.
Under his leadership, the number of parishes in the archdiocese declined from 91 (1980) to 47 (2004), and the number of diocesan priests declined from 154 to 64.
With Cardinal Williams’s death, there are 240 members of the College of Cardinals, 134 of whom are under 80 and eligible to vote in a papal election.
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