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Catholic Church
Although having multiple other locations, the current site was blessed and opened on 17th April 1966, and has been used lovingly ever since.
The church’s history began in 1906 when the first wooden St. Francis de Sales Church was completed on The Parade in Island Bay. Fr. Thomas Devoy SM played a key role in acquiring land for the church, purchasing two acres on The Parade for £1,150 despite competing offers.
In 1920, Island Bay officially became a parish, and the church was expanded in 1922 to accommodate the growing congregation. A second church, the Church of the Holy Name, was opened in 1931 in the former Humber Street Hall but was later damaged in an earthquake and sold in 1952.
After purchasing land in 1946 for a new church, construction began in the early 1960s, resulting in the modern, fan-shaped church that was opened in 1966 with a striking mosaic and a focus on unity in the Mass and Communion.
In 1968, the original church buildings were sold to the Serbian Orthodox Church, closing one chapter in the parish's history while ensuring the future at its new site.
Click below to read articles about St Francis de Sales
Click below to read articles about St Francis de Sales
St Francis and surrounding area from Orchy Cresent lookout.
Image via: Fred Holden 2025©
Former churches of St Francis de Sales
Former churches of St Francis de Sales
Penelope Holden née Richards 2025
Penelope Holden née Richards 2025
Images via Fred Holden 2025©
In 1906 the first church of St Francis de Sales at 75 The Parade, Island Bay was completed. It was a wooden building and considered a substantial building at the time. There were also two new houses in Clyde Street. Fr Thomas Devoy sm, Provincial of the Society of Mary in New Zealand, was approached by a resident from Island Bay with a view to persuading him to purchase a property in the area for the future needs of the local Catholics.
It is a great credit to the foresight of Fr Devoy sm that after some initial hesitation, and upon inspection of the section with Fr Thomas O'Shea sm, he was prevailed upon by Mr Miller of Harcourt and Coy to make a down payment of £50 towards the purchase price of £1,150 for the two acres on The Parade owned by the McMenamin estate. Only just in time, for while still in the solicitor's office and just after the signing of the ownership papers a rival agency offered Fr Devoy sm £2,200 for the property. Fortunately for the future parishioners, Father refused the temptation of a temporary gain. The parcel of land which was purchased with Society of Mary money, was later subdivided, and what was not needed for the parish was eventually sold. The land on which the church and hall were sited was, however, still held in the name of the Society of Mary, a fact which was later to cause some confusion and division in the parish.
In 1920 the Parish in Island Bay was officially proclaimed a parish. Archdeacon Thomas Devoy sm was appointed parish priest with his nephew Father Mark Devoy sm (curate) and Fr Eugene Kimbell sm (assistant), and they took up residence in Clyde Street. directly behind the church.
An extension was added to the church in 1922, which provided 50% more space.
The hall in Humber Street was purchased in 1920. There were a number of alterations carried out, including the installation of electric light and water hydrants. The hall was then used as a skating rink then a picture theatre for ten years, with a billiard saloon in the back room, while the Salvation Army leased it for services on Sunday. The parish retaining the right to use it for such purposes as school concerts, an annual week long bazaar and social functions.
In 1931, Fr Moloney sm decided the building could be put to better use and opened it in November of that year as the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus. It was opened as a second church, after being converted from a theatre, in November 1931, Church of the Holy Name of Jesus. The structure of the church in Humber Street was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1942, making it unsafe. It was used for storage and then sold in 1952. ‘The once impressive old building still stands and is now used by a commercial film-making company’
The church on The Parade was widened by approximately 60cm in 1940.
In April 1946, the Parish purchased for £7,000 2 1/4 acres of land on the corner of Clyde and Mersey Streets, the Smitten property, also known as the McMenamin estate, to build a new church. The property had a large two storey house used as a hostel for refugee Polish boys until it was demolished in 1959. Fundraising began in earnest in 1961
The design of the new church was fan shaped with the interior converging towards a central altar, which in turn is dominated by a large striking mosaic of Christ on the cross, made from 135,000 pieces of ceramic glass and plastic tiles. The exterior building material is ferro concrete. The foundation stone of the new church was blessed by Archbishop McKeefry on 16 May 1965.
In 1968, the buildings at 75 The Parade were sold to the Serbian Orthodox Church. The church was renamed to Saint Sava (who is considered the founder of the independent Church, and celebrated as the patron saint of education and medicine by Serbian Orthodox Christians. For more information, see St Sava).
Sources: Parish of Wellington South
St Francis de Sales, Island Bay Parish History 1906 1920 - 1990 Pat Hutchinson Editor
St Francis de Sales, Island Bay Parish History 1906 1920 - 1990 Pat Hutchinson Editor
Assembly Hall, Humber Street, nearing completion in 1907. In 1920, the parish of St Francis de Sales (Island Bay) purchased it and until 1931 it was leased out for a variety of purposes, including a skating rink and picture theatre. In 1931, the parish converted it into the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus. An earthquake damaged the structure and the facade in 1942.
Assembly Hall, 33 Humber Street, Island Bay, Wellington, Smith, Sydney Charles, 1888-1972 photographs of New Zealand. Ref 1/1-024919-G Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.St Francis de Sales Church artworks
St Francis de Sales Church artworks
The Sanctuary Mosaic of Christ upon the Cross
The Sanctuary Mosaic of Christ upon the Cross
The mosaic is a dominating feature on the curved back wall of the sanctuary. The mosaic rises from the altar floor 5.4864 metres to the sanctuary ceiling and is 3.9624 metres wide. It contains approximately 135,000 half inch square pieces of ceramic, glass and plastic tiles.
The mosaic depict Christ upon the Cross in a state of glory. His Head is erected and He gazes out with open eyes upon the congregation.
His feet come down to the top of the Tabernacle and His arms are on a cross piece the same width of the main altar. His Body shows rays of glory to the edges of the Mosaic.
The mosaic on the curved back wall corresponds with the enclosed altar area and the Tabernacle in a Unity of Sacrifice and Sacrament.
In this feature it combines Christ’s Divinity and Humanity, His Bloody and Unbloody Sacrifice, gathering us to Himself in the Mass and Communion.
The artist is Mr L Fone of Hampton Ltd, Christchurch and at the time cost £1,000.
Source: SFdeS 1965 Sacred Vessels & Church Appointments
Sanctuary Mosaic of Christ looking over St Francis de Sales Church - Image via Fred Holden 2025©
Up-Close photo of the shards making up the mosaic - Image via Fred Holden 2025©
Image via Catholic Parish of Wellington South (Enhanced 2025)
Close up of Mosaic, showing the 3D design - Image via Fred Holden 2025©
Foyer Window of St Francis de Sales
Foyer Window of St Francis de Sales
The foyer window is 8.5344 metres long and 3.048 metres high. This large will is the comminating feature in the entrance of the church.
The window portrays St Francis de Sales, the learned Bishop and Doctor of the Church and Patron Saint of Journalists, seated at a desk with a quill in his hand.
Five panels will depict St Francis de Sales Bishops symbols and a sixth one his name.
The whole window is enlivened by sweeping swathes of brightly coloured clusters of polyester rosin. The window is the first use of this modern material in church art on such a scale in New Zealand.
It was designed by Mr L Taylor of Hampton Ltd, Christchurch and at the time cost £400. It was donated to the church by Mrs B Tompson, the late Housekeeper of Island Bay Presbytery.
Source: SFdeS 1965 Sacred Vessels & Church Appointments
Church Bell
Church Bell
The Church Bell from the church on The Parade was renovated and re-hung in the upper portion of the church tower at the rear of the church.
A new deeper-toned bell was cast to go in the lower portion of the tower. It was made of approved bell metal. It measures 72.39 cm across the mouth and weighs 228.11 kg, Because of the weight of the bells at such a height, were fixed and only the tongues move.
The bells were made by Cable William Ltd, Wellington costing £300.
Source: SFdeS 1965 Sacred Vessels & Church Appointments
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
The design brief to Mr P Leeming of Hampton Ltd, Christchurch, was that the main effect sought for the Stations was clarity. Even the Roman Numerals such as VIII, IX and XIV etc, have been changed to 8, 9 and 14 etc, for easier reading.
The figures are 0.762 mm (2 foot 6 inches) high, clearly outlined and painted on concrete, semi-modern in style, and blocked out three inches from the wall.
The Stations are spaced evenly on the back half of the side walls of the church.
Each Station cost £25.
Source: SFdeS 1965 Sacred Vessels & Church Appointments
The Catholic Streetscape of Island Bay
The Catholic Streetscape of Island Bay
Colin Feslier
Colin Feslier
First published in Ngā Ākau ki te Tonga Southern Bays number 8 2012/2013
First published in Ngā Ākau ki te Tonga Southern Bays number 8 2012/2013
The Catholic Church in Island, Houghton and Owhiro Bays has been an independent parish since 1920, but has centred on three separate church buildings. Several other Catholic institutions have given this religion a local visibility not apparent in many other parts of New Zealand, and which belies its status as a religion with proportionately few adherents in a country where most who profess a religion are Protestant. The loss of the most prominent of these buildings – Erskine College - highlights the importance of this heritage to the area, and brings to mind much that is already lost. Southern Bays Historical Society life member Patricia Hutchison wrote a parish history in 1990, with an update several years later. The information in ths brief article is drawn from those histories and some observations of the author.
Detail from postcard c 1912 – taken from hill west of Derwent St, looking north east over the site of the present supermarket in Medway Street and toward 75 The Parade, where the original Catholic Church (now St Sava’s) can be seen in its then-prominent position above the new suburb of Island Bay. The photographic effect makes 75 the Parade seem closer than it is to the shops.
75 The Parade in 1980; Pohutukawa trees showing the impact of some determined silviculture.
The Catholic Church’s first church in the Southern Bays opened in 1906, at 75 The Parade. It was one of five Mass centres served by the Society of Mary priests based at St Anne’s in Newtown. The Marists supported the Catholics of Island Bay from Newtown until diocesan priests took over St Anne’s in 1920. The Marists were to continue at Island Bay until 1988. Their first local base was the still-standing large presbytery built at the back of 175 the Parade, fronting Clyde St.
The original church building and presbytery is still there, and is now the home of the Serbian Orthodox church of St Sava. By coincidence the outside of the church is painted blue and white, colours closely associated with its Marist founders. When it was first built the church was visible right up the valley from the south and from the north as people approached the suburb. It was, however, quickly obscured by houses as the community grew. Today it stands behind a fine avenue of pohutukawa, and large gates. Inside, as an orthodox church, it lacks the pews typical of western churches, but retains a large ‘bishop’s chair’ which was part of the furnishings of the original church, heavily carved and featuring the traditional emblem of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There are now many icons on display, their bright colours well seen in the brightness from the original north and south-facing rows of tall windows. Its polished wooden floor appears to come from the same stock of matai which has floored many of the homes of Island Bay. The church was enlongated somewhat in 1940 but in form is basically the same as it was when first opened 106 years ago.
Further down the valley towards the sea is the site of what was for a time a second Catholic church in Island Bay: the Humber St hall. This hall was built in 1907 as a private venture to rent out for events. It was purchased by the Catholic parish in 1920, and leased out until 1931, when it became The Church of the Holy Name of Jesus. It was a ‘second’ church, and the church on The Parade continued as the main parish church. It was, however, popular as a larger venue for weddings and with those Catholics who lived towards the sea, including many of the Italian members of the congrregation, as there was less need to trudge along The Parade against the northerly or, worse, back again against the southerly. Its use as a church was ended by the earthquake of 1942, and it was sold for private storage use. It remains a shell of its once-grand self, and is ‘red-stickered’ as a result of the latest round of earthquake concerns. There is no campaign to ‘save’ it. (See Southern Bays No. 3 2007 Not really the Town Hall) After the closure of Holy Name, all services were held again in the original Church at 75 The Parade.
Turnbull Library Ref: 1/2-056702-F Wedding of Luigi Noaro and Maria Barnao, early June, Humber Street, Island Bay,
The McMenamin homestead
The most prominent Catholic building is of course the present St Francis de Sales Church, with its modernist bell-tower visible as soon as Island Bay is approached from the north. It was built in 1966 on the site of the elegant old McMenamin homestead on the corner of Clyde and Mersey streets, which had been bought by the Church in 1946, and run as a refugee home, housing young Polish refugees. (See Southern Bays No 3 2007).
It is constructed in ferro-cement, across the road from the now-demolished Methodist church, which was the first in New Zealand to use that method. The church has a striking, fan-shaped design, converging towards a central altar, behind which a 130,000-piece mosaic of the crucifixion is lit from above by skylights. On the rear wall, facing north to Mersey Street, there is a modernist window depicting St Francis de Sales. It is not in stained glass, but in polyester resin. The Italian link is established by the use of Italian marble for the altars. Two statues are also Italian, and a statue of St Anthony and the smaller of the two bells in the tower are from the old church on The Parade. There is a huge contrast between this Church, reflecting the values and style of the church of the late 1900s, with the traditionalist values seen in the Erskine chapel. After the church was completed a home for priests (a presbytery) was built alongside, and joined to the church by a covered way. This allowed the old Clyde Street presbytery to be sold along with the old church to the Serbian Orthodox Church. In recent years, a statue of St Francis de Sales has been erected in front of the church.
Images Above via: Fred Holden 2025©
Our eponymous places and their people
Our eponymous places and their people
Colin Feslier
Colin Feslier
St Francis de Sales church and school are named for Francis de Sales (1567–1622), a Bishop of Geneva.
He is the patron Saint, named by the Pope in 1923, of journalists and writers.
A large number of his pithy aphorisms are still quoted today:
“Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.”
“Reputation is rarely proportioned to virtue.”
To find out more about St Francis de Sales Church, visit us on our open days, or contact the Parish Office at office@wellingtonsouthcatholic.org
To find out more about St Francis de Sales Church, visit us on our open days, or contact the Parish Office at office@wellingtonsouthcatholic.org
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