FIRST MAORI NUNS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 292, 10 December 1936, Page 5

FIRST MAORI NUNS.

NOVITIATE OPENED. CEREMONY AT WHANGAROA. A further instance of the progress ljeiiirr made bv the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominion is the opening of the first novitiate for Maori girls at Waitaruke, on a beautiful site overlooking the Whangaroa Harbour. The ceremony was performed by his . Lordship, Dr. *J. M. Liston, and was accompanied by much Maori oratory by the chief representatives of Maori | tribes in the district. A large number of visiting priests and sisters and the public attended. The novitiate, a fine new building complete with a chapel, dormitories and quarters for the sisters, was designed by Mr. George Tole, of Auckland, and erected by Mr. F. Stokes. It is complete with every modern convenience. The Rev. Father Alink, superior of j the mission, said the occasion marked the jubilee of the arrival of the Mill , Hill Fathers in New Zealand. . 1 After Mass had been celebrated a con- 1 Urination service was held, many candi- 1 dates being presented. The guests were < lavishly entertained at lunch in the traditional Maori custom, after which a procession was formed and marched up , the liil 1 to the novitiate, where the building was solemnly blessed by Bishop Liston and formally poened by the Rev. Father Becker. The Mother Superior, Rev. Mother Franeesca, with the sisters and novices, then entered into occupation.