Thomas Stafford Williams (born 20 March 1930) is a cardinal in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and before his retirement in 2005 was the fifth Archbishop of Wellington.

Early life and education

Williams was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, New Zealand and educated at Holy Cross Primary School, Seatoun; SS Peter and Paul School, Lower Hutt;

St. Patrick's College, Wellington St Patrick's College is a Roman Catholic boys' secondary school in New Zealand. History Founded by Archbishop Francis Redwood Society of Mary (Marists), SM, St Patrick's opened on 1 June 1885 with nine day pupil, day-boys and twelve boarders. ...

; and

St Kevin's College, Oamaru ('To Do and To Teach') , established = 6 February 1927; years ago , type = Integrated co-educational secondary , affiliations = Roman Catholic, Christian Brothers, Dominican Sisters , founder ...

. He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree at Victoria University, Wellington, and worked for some years as an accountant. During his studies, he was deeply involved in the Catholic Youth Movement (YCW) and for a period worked full-time for the movement. In 1954 he commenced studies for the priesthood at the National Seminary, Holy Cross College, Mosgiel,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. In 1956 he was sent to the

Pontifical Urban University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian,; it, Pontificia Università Urbaniana. is a pontifical university under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People ...

in Rome, where he obtained a

licentiate in theology The Licentiate in Theology or (in Britain) Licence in Theology (LTh or, in Australia, ThL) is a non-degree qualification in theology awarded in Canada and previously awarded in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. A qualification simil ...

and was ordained a priest on 20 December 1959. Later he received a

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

s degree from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

Priesthood

Returning to Wellington, he served as assistant pastor and as Director of Studies at the Catholic Enquiry Centre. He left that post when he volunteered to serve as a missionary in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

(today the Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia), where he was parish priest for 5 years. He returned to New Zealand in 1963 and became parish priest at St. Patrick's in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

for two years. This was followed by four years as Director of the Catholic Enquiry Centre in Wellington. In 1971 he moved to

Leulumoega Leulumoega Tuai is a village situated on the northwest coast Upolu island in Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two mai ...

, Samoa and returned to New Zealand in 1976 to the Holy Family Parish in Porirua East. He celebrated the 60th year of his ordinantion in December 2019.

Church leader

He became Archbishop of Wellington on 20 December 1979 – his 20th anniversary of priestly ordination – following the death of

Reginald Cardinal Delargey Reginald John Delargey (10 December 1914 – 29 January 1979) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, and later Cardinal, Archbishop of Wellington and Metropolitan of New Zealand. His title was Cardinal-Priest of ''Immacolata al Tiburtino''. ...

. His principal

consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches ...

was Owen Snedden, long-term Auxiliary Bishop of Wellington. Williams was created Cardinal-Priest of the titular church of Jesus the Divine Teacher at Pineta Sacchetti by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on 2 February 1983. He was additionally appointed

Military Ordinary A military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church, of the Latin or an Eastern church, responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation. Until 1986, they were called "military ...

in 1995. He was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest civilian honour, in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Moral campaigns

He campaigned strongly against the passage of the law allowing civil unions in New Zealand saying it would turn New Zealand into a ''"moral wasteland"''. He also campaigned against the expansion of casinos.

Conclave and retirement

Williams was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

. He resigned as Archbishop of Wellington on 21 March 2005 having reached the age of 75 years and was succeeded by the then

Coadjutor Archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coad ...

, John Dew.

Selected works

*''In his own words: a tribute to Cardinal Thomas Williams''.

References

External links

*
Thomas Stafford Cardinal Williams profile at Catholic Hierarchy websiteNZ Catholic Bishops Conference bio of Thomas Stafford Cardinal Williams

Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Thomas 1930 births Living people People educated at St. Patrick's College, Wellington People educated at St Kevin's College, Oamaru Holy Cross College, New Zealand alumni Members of the Order of New Zealand Chaplains of the Order of St John New Zealand cardinals Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Roman Catholic archbishops of Wellington Pontifical Urban University alumni Alumni of University College Dublin New Zealand Roman Catholic archbishops