In an article about Cardinal Williams, Vatican reporter National Catholic Reporter, John Allen Jr., wrote: “Despite his modest style, Cardinal Williams is no fool. He has thought carefully for a quarter of a century about the distinctive contribution of Catholicism in Oceania, so Williams has in mind not only people like himself, but also indigenous populations such as the Maori of New Zealand, as well as the cultures of Samoa. , the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Fiji. All of this makes Williams a passionate defender of his local church, which has sometimes meant defending it when he believes that Rome has not sufficiently understood its challenges and its promises.
When the local media NZ Catholic Asked how he would like to be remembered, Cardinal Williams noted: “I don’t expect to be remembered much, but… I would like to be remembered as a dedicated servant.”
Currently in New Zealand there are 4,471,000 inhabitants, of which 558,000 are Catholics, that is, 12.5% of the population, according to statistics published by the Holy See.