New Zealand was originally part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Oceania, under Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier. His coadjutor from 4 January 1846 was Bishop Philippe Viard SM.
Catholics arrived in Port Nicholson with the New Zealand Company settlers from 1840. The Catholic faith was sustained through the efforts of Dr John Fitzgerald who arrived in Wellington on 31 January of that year. He led the Sunday prayers and organised Christian Doctrine classes. He was followed by the first resident priest, Fr. Jeremiah O’Reily (OFM Cap) in January 1843. On 6 August of that year the first small Catholic chapel was built and dedicated to St Mary. Meanwhile the Auckland-based French Marists travelled extensively throughout the country and Fr J.B. Comte SM established a permanent mission to local Māori in 1844. On 6 December 1847 the first Catholic school in Wellington opened at St Mary’s chapel.
In June 1848, Pope Pius IX decreed that New Zealand should be divided into two dioceses: Auckland, north of the 39th degree of latitude, under Pompallier; and Port Nicholson, consisting of the rest of New Zealand, under Viard. The boundary was from the top of Hawke’s Bay to just north of New Plymouth. All Marists were to follow Viard. Pompallier’s absence in Europe from 1846-50 delayed institution of the division until after his return on 8 April 1850. Bishop Viard arrived in Wellington on 1 May with the other Marists. He soon had the name of the diocese brought up to date as ‘Wellington’.
Both Viard and Pompallier remained Apostolic Administrators in the new dioceses, until 1860 when each became full diocesan bishops in their Sees.
The large Diocese of Wellington proved impractical for a single bishop to administer. In 1869 the Provinces of Otago and Southland were separated from Wellington as the Diocese of Dunedin; and in 1887 Canterbury and Westland became the Diocese of Christchurch. Also in that year, Wellington was erected as Archdiocese from which time all its bishops have been Metropolitan Archbishops.
From 1887 to 1980 the Archdiocese included the lower half of the North Island and Buller, Nelson and Marlborough in the South. In 1980 the new dioceses of Hamilton and Palmerston North were created. Palmerston North encompassed Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu and Taranaki, considerably reducing Wellington’s jurisdiction. The boundary of the Wellington Archdiocese was placed north of Levin and Masterton. From this time the Archdiocese of Wellington has encompassed Wellington, Kapiti and Wairarapa districts and the top of the South Island including Marlborough, Nelson, and Buller.
For five years from 1 Jan 1988, Tokelau was formally a parish of the Archdiocese [A Kiwi Cardinal’s Chronicles pp. 116-7].