New Zealand's Catholic chaplains embrace Antarctica's adventures

Published: 2007-12-12

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (CNS) -- Not many changes from his last trip to Antarctica, reported a priest from New Zealand: The ice runway is nearer to the base, it's colder than 10 below zero, but the sky is blue, he added. "I'm watching a DVD -- I was up last night with someone who was not well," Father John Harrison of the Diocese of Dunedin said in a telephone interview from Antarctica's McMurdo Station. The U.S.-run station has Antarctica's only church, the Chapel of the Snows, and this year marks the 50th anniversary of Catholic priests working there alongside Protestant ministers. The Diocese of Christchurch has supplied chaplains to Antarctica for 40 years. Today, chaplains serving there come from plentiful applicants around New Zealand and are funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. They need good health, adaptability, ecumenical experience and an ability to get out among the workers. Most priests say they love the stimulation Antarctica offers.

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