Thoughts after 10 years restoring the ‘Old Girl’

By The Very Rev, Jay Ruka, Dean of Taranaki Cathedral Church
Taranaki Daily News Opinion Piece - 30 January, 2026 

OPINION: This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the closing of Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary. Strangely, Fred Dagg's Kiwiana ode, We Don't Know How Lucky We Are, springs to mind as I contemplate the closure. I admit this is an unexpected tune to sing over the disrepair of our beloved 'Old-Girl' - because what could be lucky about the church sitting dormant for a decade? But if you consider how our Cathedral and town rest in harboured safety amidst a world afflicted with warfare, militarism and political vitriol, then whistling lips of luckiness are befitting in this haven, in the far corner of the earth. Taranaki is bliss.

Even though I wasn't born here, my tribal roots brought me back to my ancestral home. I was surprised to find myself working at St Mary's because why would I work for the church that opposed my people? As Dean of the Cathedral, I've wrestled with that question, sifted through stories, and sought a way to reconcile Māori and Western differences. I've come to see it as a privilege to work in a space that helps address historical conflicts and cultural dissonance, fostering healing and understanding within our community. St Mary's remains at the centre of this effort, and ten years on, we're looking forward to her return.

In 2016, St Mary's earthquake assessment found that the building met only 16% of today's building standards. Since then, we've planned to secure the funds to restore the Cathedral to a high standard, with the budget steadily increasing to over $20m. We've found that amount unachievable.

However, last year the government announced new regulations to remove the percentage benchmark. The new regulations focus on a “tiered risk mitigation”, with the highest tier targeting “unreinforced masonry and heavy-material buildings 3 storeys or higher,” and those next to footpaths or State Highways. Unfortunately, the unreinforced Cathedral is metres from the footpath on State Highway 45!

We also engaged RCP as new project managers. They've worked on the Christchurch Cathedral and the masonry rebuild of the Christchurch Art Centre, and they are confident they can find savings within a rescaled project. We've asked them for a simpler plan that complies, makes the building safe, satisfies current law, and anticipates the new one.

I'm grateful for the timing of the new law change. It makes our task more achievable. I am also thankful for the providence that our Cathedral has been closed. It is the impetus that has enabled St Mary's to act on Sir Paul Reeves's 2010 challenge: "The future of St Mary's is dealing with its past." It is the crisis of closure that has helped us come to terms with our past. Repairing the Cathedral has made us take those words seriously. We are seeing a slow, beautiful transformation that might not have happened unless the Cathedral had closed.

Likewise, it is with providence that Te Whare Hononga was built first. It is helping to heal our relationship with Ngāti Te Whiti and Te Ātiawa because, for us, a remediated Cathedral first looks like remediated people. For that reason, we have reconnected with Cornwall, Devon, and the UK, the landscape of those who built St Mary's. This is why we wrote 'Nadelik Lowen' on our Christmas sign: 'Merry Christmas' in Cornish, the indigenous language of our settler forebears. Last year, I visited the UK, spending time at Truro and Coventry Cathedrals and Westminster Abbey. All I spoke with were profoundly moved by the reconciliation we are committed to, inspired by our journey of cultural healing and understanding.

It’s a tough road to find understanding. The globe is festering with politics too scared or stubborn to build a collective society of difference. But Taranaki is called to an alternative story; we are called to peace and to finding solutions, where opposites attract, energising a force for good. Whether Taranaki Cathedral reopens in two years or another ten, it is the road of peace we are unapologetically walking.

Please visit here to find information about our project, including details of the money spent. We also have a new video exhibition, filmed by Katie Wolfe, of our parishioners processing closure and change. The mini documentaries can be viewed in Hatherly Hall, next to the Cathedral doors, where you can look through to see the beginning of St. Mary's restoration.