Thomas Stafford Williams (20 March 1930 – 22 December 2023) was a New Zealand

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and the fifth

Archbishop of Wellington The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington (''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Vellingtonensis'') is the Metropolitan diocese, metropolitan archdiocese of New Zealand. Catholics number about 83,214 (2006 census). Parishes number 22 and the archdioc ...

from 1979 to 2005.

Early life and education

Williams was born in

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

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

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

;

St. Patrick's College, Wellington St Patrick's College is a Roman Catholic boys' secondary school in Wellington, New Zealand. History Founded by Archbishop Francis Redwood SM, St Patrick's opened on 1 June 1885 with nine day-boys and twelve boarders. The college represent ...

; and

St Kevin's College, Oamaru St Kevin's College (also called Redcastle) in Oamaru, New Zealand, is a Catholic, coeducational, integrated, boarding and day, secondary school. It was founded by the Christian Brothers in 1927 for boys and became a co-educational school in 1 ...

. He obtained a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree at

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, 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 ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. 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, is a pontifical university that was under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The university's mission is to ...

in Rome, where he obtained a

licentiate in theology Licentiate may refer to: * Licentiate (degree), a degree below a PhD granted by universities in some countries; may indicate a medical doctor qualification in the UK and other countries. * Licentiate (Pontifical Degree), second cycle of ecclesiast ...

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

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

s degree from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

Career

Early church career

Returning to Wellington, Williams 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 and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

(today the

Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia (; Samoan: ''Puleaga'' ''Fa'aAkiepikopo Samoa-Apia'') consists of the Independent State of Samoa. History In 1842, the Propaganda Fide created the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Oceania that include ...

), where he was parish priest for five years. He returned to New Zealand in 1963 and became parish priest at St. Patrick's in

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

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 and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Paci ...

, Samoa and returned to New Zealand in 1976 to the Holy Family Parish in

Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...

East. He celebrated the 60th year of his ordination in December 2019.

Archbishop of Wellington

Williams 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 (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on 2 February 1983. He was additionally appointed Military Ordinary in 1995. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by Royal warrant (documen ...

, New Zealand's highest civilian honour, in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours. Williams campaigned strongly against the passage of the law allowing

civil unions in New Zealand Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

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 A papal conclave was held on 18 and 19 April 2005 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul II, who had died on 2 April 2005. Of the 117 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Josep ...

that elected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

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

Coadjutor Archbishop The term "coadjutor" (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: * Coadjutor bishop ...

John Dew. In retirement, Williams lived at a retirement village in

Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the Wellington, New Zealand. The name is a Māori language, Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the flathead grey mullet, grey mullet". The area surrounding the town is notable fo ...

. He died there on 22 December 2023, at the age of 93.

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 2023 deaths 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 20th-century New Zealand Roman Catholic priests