James Michael Liston

James Michael Liston CMG (9 June 1881 – 8 July 1976) was the 7th Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand.

James Michael Liston was born in Dunedin on 9 June 1881, one of a family of five children of James Liston, a hotel-keeper, and his wife, Mary (née Sullivan). His parents were both born in Ireland. He was educated at Christian Brothers' School in Dunedin. At the age of 12 in 1893 he began his training for the priesthood at St Patrick's Seminary, Manly, Sydney. He later attended Holy Cross College, Clonliffe, Dublin (1897–1900) and then went on to the Irish College in Rome from which he graduated in 1903 with a doctorate of divinity. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Verdon in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin On 31 January 1904. Bishop Verdon was a very important figure in Liston's life. Verdon was a very "Roman" bishop. He always placed a strong emphasis on Roman models and on devotion to the Holy See. Liston was deeply influenced by Verdon, who encouraged his vocation, sponsored his studies and was Liston's bishop for the first 14 years of his priesthood. He regarded Verdon as his ultimate role model and throughout his career kept a photograph of Verdon on his desk "for guidance through reflection on his way, and for seeking his heavenly intercession". The next 16 years after ordination Liston spent teaching scripture and dogmatic theology at Holy Cross College, Mosgiel, the national seminary established by Verdon in 1900. He was Rector of the college from 1910. On 12 December 1920, Liston was consecrated as coadjutor Bishop of Auckland under Bishop Cleary, the sixth Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, in St Joseph's Cathedral.

In 1922 during a St Patrick's night address in the Auckland Town Hall, speaking on the Irish question, Liston queried the worth of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, praised the rebels of the Easter Rising of 1916 (allegedly stating they had been "murdered by foreign troops"), and reportedly predicted a successful fight for the complete freedom of Ireland. The subsequent furor ended only when Prime Minister William Massey's government announced that Liston was to be prosecuted for making seditious utterances. After a two-day trial in Auckland's Supreme Court in mid-May 1922, Liston was acquitted by an all-Protestant jury.

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