the early church aotearoa new zealand. maori people had a rich spirituality and culture of their...
TRANSCRIPT
Maori people had a rich spirituality and culture of their own.Their religion recognised the close relationship between different aspects of the created world – people, land, sky, plants, animals.
Every part of creation is tapu because every part of creation is linked with the spiritual powers. All tapu comes originally from Io, the Supreme Being.
The highest expression of tapu is found in people.
Acknowledging the tapu of people is done by recognising their dignity as human beings created by God.
The arrival of the pakeha to Aotearoa brought Christian beliefs.
Maori people were introduced to Christianity first by whalers, sealers and traders in the early 1800’s.
Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier arrived in the Hokianga, Bay of Islands, in January 1838. He had come from Lyons, France.
He was 36, and spoke no Maori nor English, but soon learnt both.
He wrote and published three prayer books in Maori during his time in Aotearoa.
The Bishop’s base was in the Bay of Islands, where he and his Marist priests taught Maori the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Bishop Pompallier
Many Maori received the Good News and became teachers of the Word to others. They were called Catechists.
In 1837, Fr Peter Chanel, who was a friend of Bishop Pompallier, travelled from France to the islands of Futuna in the Pacific Ocean, to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Fr. Chanel’s task was very difficult and few people became Christians. In April 1841, he was clubbed to death by the chief out of fear that he would lose his power if people became Christians.
Bishop Pompallier called at Futuna that year and was asked to send another priest. By the end of 1844, every Futunan had become a Catholic.
Peter Chanel was made a saint in 1954 and is the patron saint of Oceania.
Bishop Pompellier made several trips back to France to raise money for the mission stations and to ask more missionaries to come.The Sisters of Mercy arrived in 1850.
Later, a woman named Suzanne Aubert arrived from France, and established the Sisters of Our Lady of Compassion.
She established a mission station on the Whanganui River at Jerusalem for Maori people and became fluent in the language.
She became highly respected amongst Maori for her understanding of Maori medicine which she used to treat and heal the sick, both in Maori villages and European settlements, as she travelled on foot from place to place.
She even manufactured and sold herbal remedies which she had developed. They were very popular, and Mother Mary Joseph, as she was known, became a well known and well loved figure throughout the North Island.
The Treaty – a binding relationship between Maori and the Crown, signed in 1840. The influence of Bishop Pompallier and other missionaries ensured that the Treaty protected religious freedom in Aotearoa.
New Zealand Bishops Pat Dunne and Max Mariu at Bishop Pompallier’s grave in Lyons, France.
In a special ceremony, they brought his remains “home” to Aotearoa in a hikoi of returning, to lie amongst the people he preached to.