Monsignor Thomas Power
Title:
Monsignor
First Name:
Thomas
Middle Names:
Adrian
Preferred Name:
Surname:
Power
Order:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Greymouth
Country of Birth:
New Zealand
Date of Ordination:
Place of Ordination:
Dunedin
Country of Ordination:
New Zealand
Ordination Diocese:
Christchurch
Seminary:
Holy Cross College, Mosgiel, New Zealand
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Christchurch
Country of Death:
New Zealand
Date of Burial:
Place of Burial:
Bromley, Christchurch
Country of Burial:
New Zealand
Find A Grave URL:
Biographical Notes
Gravestone: "Parish Priest of Beckenham."
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Monsignor Tom Power RIP, Inform: The Newsletter of the Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, September 2012, p 5, https://archives.chchcatholic.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Inform-90.pdf:
Only three Sundays before he died Monsignor Tom Power, aged 92, celebrated the Sunday Masses at St Peter’s parish, Beckenham even though the lack of circulation in his leg meant pain and difficulty in walking and standing. “His love of the Mass and his people meant that he wanted to do this for as long as he could. His witness was unforced and without histrionics or display and was utterly genuine,” said Bishop Barry at his Requiem Mass in St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral.
He was a classmate of Bishop Basil Meeking during seminary days and of Fr Brian Fenton, of the diocese of Dunedin who was present at his funeral, along with his surviving sister and two brothers.
“He was a person who was direct, incisive and without pretence … a straight shooter in every way,” said Bishop Barry. Msgr. Tom Power was born in 1920 into a family of seven in Greymouth where he was taught by the Marist Brothers. He began work with the Public Trust Office in Greymouth. He studied accountancy by correspondence. He spent 14 months in the army in New Zealand during World War II.
He studied Latin at St. Kevin’s College, Oamaru, then at Holy Cross College, Mosgiel. He was ordained to the priesthood on 26 July 1953 by Bishop Kavanagh of Dunedin in the absence of Bishop Joyce who was in Rome.
Ordained at 33 years of age, Msgr. Tom spent the next 59 years of his life in priestly ministry. He served in Ngahere, Burnham Military Camp, Ashburton, the Chatham Islands, St. Albans, Kaiapoi and finally at St Peter’s Parish Beckenham. He was Director of Catholic Schools for our Diocese, Chancellor for 15 years, and a member both of the Finance Council for the national seminary at Mosgiel and the Finance Committee of the Bishops’ Conference. In 1977 he was appointed a Prelate of Honour by his Holiness, Pope Paul VI.
“As we know, and as he made clear, he loved being a priest,” said Bishop Barry. One of his lasting contributions to priests was his role in the design of the Clergy Trust Fund in the late 1960s, which was an excellent local fruit of the work of the Second Vatican Council. He won unanimous support from his fellow priests for something completely new and radical and extremely creative.
“Grant we pray, almighty God, that Thomas Power, your servant and Priest, may behold with clarity for ever what he faithfully ministered here. Through Christ our Lord.”