"I’ve never stopped believing, not in God or in the values and ethics of Christianity." Jim Anderton (The Press, 2007).

In the early 1960s when Church youth groups flourished and offered huge social opportunities for young people to meet and develop their personalities and skills, Jim Anderton joined the Catholic Youth Movement (CYM) in Auckland. He often said afterwards that it was a crucial time for him and he was ever grateful for the opportunities that the CYM provided him in terms of its faith-based identity and spiritual guidance at this impressionable time in his life.

The CYM was the New Zealand model of the international youth movement, the Young Christian Workers (YCW), founded by the Belgian priest Joseph Cardijn in the 1920s. After World War II, the New Zealand bishops decided to introduce the movement here. To give it a distinctive New Zealand flavour, they called it the Catholic Youth Movement, not the YCW.

The Cardijn-inspired slogan see, judge and act adopted world-wide as the guiding mantra for youth development, had a huge influence on the young Jim Anderton, who became a Catholic at that time at the age of 18. It became the guiding principle of the many years of the social and political activism that followed, becoming part of his spiritual DNA.

Jim was a leader and charismatic personality and rose through the ranks in the CYM in Auckland. He became fulltime organiser and quickly made his mark both in the movement as an organiser and public leader. In those days he was greatly influenced by Auckland’s auxiliary bishop, Reginald Delargey, who had recently returned from Vatican II. Jim often later acknowledged the influence that "Reggie" had on his formation and he was always very appreciative of those years of his life when he was part of leadership teams that included leaders like Bill Harris, Jocelyn Franklin, Ian Shirley and Dorothy Coup (nee Fullerton).

At that time there was no national CYM team. National gatherings were held periodically for purposes of reflection, liaison and mutual support. Anne McCormack, the women's president in Christchurch, remembers being at a meeting with Jim at the Redemptorist Monastery in Christchurch in 1963. The meeting aimed to write a national CYM programme and plan the visit of Fr Joseph Cardijn the following year. The CYM chaplains present included Frs Terry Leslie from Auckland, Brian Carruthers from Wellington and Tom Cahill from Christchurch.

Anne recalls Jim as being "very passionate, opinionated, very determined and articulate as he pursued his goals. He was totally inspirational but at times quite hard to work because of his determination. I have always admired him from that time."

Ian Shirley, who succeeded Jim as organiser in Auckland in 1965, recalls: 

"Our association began when he was CYM organiser in Auckland. He was a superb organiser and I assisted him raising money from the pubs around Auckland promoting a weekly raffle to fund the youth movement and its activities. For leisure, we played squash until one of us dropped — that was Jim's style — and we also played indoor soccer at the YMCA with several youth movement chaplains. Jim had a young family at the time and after one of our lively discussions he asked me if I would like to take over his job by working full-time for the CYM. That's how I became the organiser for the CYM in Auckland."

Clearly, much of Jim Anderton’s early adult formation was through the CYM. Within a short time of leaving the Movement, he became an Auckland City councillor and Labour Party leader. He remained Catholic until his death and was buried at Waiheke Island after a Requiem Mass at his parish church, Sacred Heart Church in Addington, Christchurch. 

May Jim rest in peace.

 "I have many times said to people: 'If you want to understand the heart of the Catholic Church’s social justice teaching look to Jim Anderton – he gets the real guts of it.'"

John McAlpine, Auckland