RATANA IN COURT.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 7 January 1927, Page 5

RATANA IN COURT.

TWO FINES INFLICTED. DROVE CAE WHILE INTOXICATED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WANGANUI, January .7.' Katana was, charged with driving a motor car without a license in Wanganui, and was fined £l. For driving a car while ho was in a state of intoxication in Eidgwav Street, he was fined The defendant, through Se-gt. Lopdeli, asked to hgve his name suppressed, out the application was refused by Mr J. S. Barton, S.M, A CRISIS THREATENING, WILL MAN A STAND SHOCK OF FAILUREf “The Bishop of Waiapu in his address to his Synod made some important references to the Ratana cult,” states the “Church News” (Christchurch). He said: — “Many followers of Ratana have poured their money into his so-called ‘bank.’ There are many sad cases where they have partial with every available penny. The boast that while the Anglican Church is always^ asking for money from its members, Ratana and his followers ask for nothing, is both absurd and untrue. Ratana holds thousands of pounds of Ihe people’s money. ‘Many ■Maoris, some personally known to me,’ said the Bishop, ‘realising the fallacy of their action, are asking for their money back, but Ibis is, of course, refused. The money is being spent, most of it is already spent.’ The Bishop declares that the movement is weakening and Katana’s actions are prejudicing his mana. ‘There is no religion loft in the movement,’ said a thoughtful educated Maori to the Bishop. ‘There is the form of service, but the talk is of lands and money and what they can get.’ “On the other hand, the Ratanists, while admitting that a crisis is preparing in the movement, arc confident that they will emerge from ir stronger than ever. A Christchurch newspaper correspondent at Wanganui indicates tiial they admit that the power which established Rarana’s prestige among the Maoris, his ‘faith-healing,’ is departing from him, -but they point out that Ra-

,i.;i anticipated {his The question is whether his man;; will withstand the shock of failure. The newspaper correspondent reported that whereas ‘at one time nearly every denomination claimed to have something in common with Kalana’s teachings? now that the movement has reached to such large dimensions, they can say nothing too bad of it.’ It is rather an amusing way of putting it. The truth is that Katana borrowed something from several existing ‘denominations’ to form his ‘creed,’ but has departed from the rule common to Christian churches, namely, that nothing shall be added to Scriptural teaching. Katana, for instance, has added inexplicably, the angels to the baptismal formula of our Lord. And surely the fact that the ‘denominations’ can sav nothing too bad of the movement is ominous. Meanwhile, the great apostasy of Katana, is raising for_ itself n great concrete shrine in his village up the Wanganui, to hold 1000 people.”