Service Honoured
Shirley Page (centre left) with her children, Fr Richard Laurenson (centre back) and Bishop Steve Lowe (back, right).
WRITTEN BY:
Cynthia Piper
READ TIME:
3 mins
Nearly forty years of service in the Catholic Church was honoured on 8 August when Shirley Page received the Benemerenti Medal from Bishop Steve Lowe.
The papal award was a complete surprise for Shirley who wondered why Bishop Steve and Fr Richard Laurenson turned up at her daughter’s home where Shirley was celebrating her ninetieth birthday. Shirley was heard to ask, “What’s he [the bishop] doing here?”
After nearly 40 years of service, Shirley’s knowledge of tribunal procedures, her understanding of the many situations in which people find themselves and her ability to lend a sympathetic and encouraging ear is a great loss to the Hamilton and New Zealand marriage tribunal.
Shirley was born, went to school, married, and raised her children in Hamilton. She is a life member of Rotary, was very active on the St Peter Chanel Catholic School Parent Teacher Association and served on the local kindergarten committee. Shirley is a member of the Art Society and the Hamilton Patchwork Guild.
Initially employed by her parish priest to keep the parish books in 1979, Shirley became the notary and record keeper for the diocesan marriage tribunal when Monsignor Duggan became the judicial vicar of the tribunal in the diocese. As the notary and record keeper Shirley liaised with auditors and applicants and kept pre-nuptial records. She worked in the tribunal office until she retired in December 2020 aged 89.
Shirley’s knowledge of tribunal procedures, her understanding of the many situations in which people find themselves and her ability to lend a sympathetic and encouraging ear is a great loss to the Hamilton and New Zealand marriage tribunal.
Reflecting on this very special role Shirley said that although the procedure in the marriage tribunal is the same, more recent changes mean the process is not quite as rigid as it once was. When cases were sent to Australia for judgment the process took a great deal longer. Now cases can be judged in New Zealand. Improvements in technology also made contacting people and recording and transcribing information a great deal easier.
Shirley’s experience and understanding of the situations in which people find themselves helped when encouraging people to go through the process. Those wanting to examine their marriages can go through a priest, but they can also approach the tribunal office directly. They often needed encouragement “because it is very traumatic to suddenly tell their story … it seemed to be my job to sort of encourage them and suggest they take a step back and just take it step by step. The biggest hurdle is the first interview because that is naturally hard. You are going over your life history and that can be quite traumatic. But once people get that over it can be quite therapeutic. I remember one woman who said she had a stiff whisky before she came. Most people have never really considered why things went wrong but after discussing their marriage they quite often go away relieved.”
Even though some cases can be complicated and difficult this important process makes such a big difference to so many other people’s lives by having someone actually listen to the whole story of the marriage which helps them to move on. For nearly forty years Shirley gently advised and guided people through the marriage tribunal process, listened to their stories, and shared their joy when they were able to subsequently marry in the Church. It was indeed a job very well done.
Established in the eighteenth century the Benemerenti Medal is a papal honour originally awarded to soldiers in the papal army. Since 1925 it has been awarded as a mark of recognition to people in service of the Church, civil and military, lay and clergy alike.
