John Atcherley Dew

John Atcherley Dew (born 5 May 1948) is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wellington, and the metropolitan of New Zealand.

Born in Waipawa, he attended St. Joseph's Primary School, Waipukurau and St Joseph's College, Masterton. His tertiary education was at Holy Name Seminary, Christchurch (Philosophy) and at Holy Cross College, Mosgiel (Theology). He was ordained priest at Waipukurau by Cardinal Reginald Delargey in May 1976. He served as a priest in St Joseph's Parish, Upper Hutt 1976–79; Diocese of Rarotonga, 1980–82; Archdiocesan Youth Ministry 1983–87; Cook Islands Maori Community 1983–87 and then on the staff of Holy Cross College, Mosgiel, 1988-91. He studied Spirituality at the Institute of St. Anselm, Kent, United Kingdom, 1991-92. He returned to New Zealand where he was the parish priest at St. Anne's Parish, Newtown 1993–95.

He was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop for the Wellington Archdiocese on 31 May 1995, aged 47. He is currently secretary of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference. He is Conference Deputy for: the National Committee for Professional Standards, Finance, Moderator of the Tribunal, Military Ordinariate and the National Council for Young Catholics. He was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Wellington on 24 May 2004 and succeeded Cardinal Williams as Archbishop of Wellington on 21 March 2005.

Dew achieved some prominence at the Bishops' Synod on the Eucharist at the Vatican in October 2005 when he advocated divorced and remarried Catholics being able to receive the Eucharist. He said that bishops have “a pastoral duty and an obligation before God to discuss and debate the question.” He urged the assembly to reconsider the Church ban, referring to it as a "source of scandal", adding "Our Church would be enriched if we were able to invite dedicated Catholics, currently excluded from the Eucharist, to return to the Lord's Table."

On Tuesday, September 18, 2012, Archbishop Dew was named by Pope Benedict XVI to serve as one of the papally-appointed Synod Fathers for the upcoming October 2012 Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.

As of September 2012, Archbishop Dew serves as President of the Federation of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO).

• Archbishop John Atcherley Dew, Catholic Hierarchy website (retrieved 12 February 2011)