Williams, Thomas Stafford

He received primary and secondary education in a number of Catholic schools in New Zealand. He graduated from the Economics Department of Queen Victoria University in Wellington, and worked as an accountant for some time. During his studies at the university, he took an active part in the activities of the Catholic youth movement and in 1954 , in the end, he entered the National Seminary in Dunedin . In 1956, the future Cardinal Williams left to continue his studies in Rome , at the Pontifical Urban University , where he received a degree in theology . There, in Rome, on December 20, 1959 he was ordained a priest by Cardinal Gregoire-Pierre Agadzhanyan , who was at that time heading the Holy Congregation for the Propaganda of the Faith . In 1961 - 1962 he studied at the University College Dublin ( Ireland ), where he received a degree in social sciences.

Returning to his homeland, in 1963 - 1965 he worked as a priest in the parish of St. Patrick in Palmerston North . Then, for four years ( 1966 - 1970 ), he served as Director of Research at the Catholic Reference Center in Wellington. In the early 1970s, he left as a missionary in Western Samoa , where, among other things, he founded the College of Paul VI in Leulumoeg . In 1976, Williams was again in New Zealand, until 1979 he was a priest in the parish of the Holy Family, one of the most multinational in the country, in Porirua , 20 km north of the New Zealand capital.

On October 30, 1979, Pope John Paul II was appointed Archbishop of Wellington, ordained to the rank of December 20, 1979 (on the 20th anniversary of his consecration as priest), titular Bishop Akeloo, Secondary Bishop of Wellington and Military Vicar of New Zealand Owen Noel Snedden. From 1983 to 1991, he simultaneously chaired the Episcopal Conference of New Zealand. Founder and first chairman ( 1990 - 1998 ) of the Federation of Conferences of Catholic Bishops of Oceania .

He was elevated to the rank of Cardinal by Pope John Paul II at the age of 52 years old on the Consistory on February 2, 1983 . Cardinal priest with the title of church Gesù Divin Maestro alla Pineta Sacchetti .

New Zealand Military Ordinary from June 1, 1995 to April 1, 2005 . Member of the Council of Cardinals on the study of organizational and economic problems of the Holy See since March 10, 2001 .

He participated in protest campaigns against the adoption of the law on the legalization of civil unions in New Zealand (for same-sex and same-sex couples) and against the spread of gambling establishments in the country.

He left the Archbishop's Department in Wellington on March 21, 2005 , as is customary in the Catholic Church, upon reaching the age of 75.

Cavalier of the Order of New Zealand, the country's highest state award ( June 5, 2000 ).

Member of the 2005 Conclave, who elected Pope Benedict XVI .

On March 20, 2010, Cardinal Williams turned 80 and lost the right to participate in the Conclaves .

• In his own words: a tribute to Cardinal Thomas Williams . ISBN 0-86469-476-8

• Biography on the site of the conference of the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand ;
• Archdiocese of Wellington .