RATANA CULT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16233, 6 January 1927, Page 10

RATANA CULT

POSITION IN WAIAPU

A CRISIS PREDICTED

The Bishop of Waiapu, in his address to his Synod, made some importantreferences to the Ratana cult as observed in his diocese. In two settlements in the Tauranga districts the Church people had gone over to Ratana wholly, but these two were exceptional 'wises, states the Church: News.

. All along the East Coast among the Ngatiporou and in the part of Bay of Plenty ministered to by Canon Pahewa, the Church people are untouched by Ratana's Influence, and there is little evidence of his influence in the Rolorua district.. In .other places where the Ratana movement has affected the Maori there is a strong body of Church people standing firm,, and there is marked evidence that ■ disaffection ti£ some has been the means of stiffening up and drawing together our Church people.

USE OF CHURCHES. > Efforts have been made by Ratanists! to obtain the use of our churches for their worship, but the Bishop lias resisted this on the sound ground that they had been built for worship according to Anglican rites only. This has had the desired effect, and the. Auckland Court 'case lias checked the organised'attempt to seize and use the chtujehes. None of the Maori, clergy of, the Diocese has joined the movement, j ; but a fair number of the licensed lay readers have done so-—mostly elderly men. "Many.: followers.-uf..Ratana have |. poured their money into his so-called \. 'hank.' There are many sad cases where they have parted with every available ,' penny. The boast that while the Angli-!, can Church is always asking for money from its members, Ratana and his followers ask for nothing, is both absurd ' and untrue." '•■■-'- j 1 Ratana holds thousands of pounds of; the people's money. "Many Maoris, > some personally known to me,'' said tlie ( ' Bishop, "realising the fallacy of their ] action, are asking for their money back, j but this is, of course, refused. The ; money is being.spent, most of it is al- < ready spent." The Bishop declares that , the movement is weakening and Ratana's j actions are prejudicing his ma.ua. "There is no religion left in the move- ( brent," 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." j STILL HOFEFUL. On the other hand, the Ratamstc' while admitting that a crisis • is preparing in the movement, are confident that | they will emerge from it stronger than j ever. A Christchurch newspaper corres- j pondent at Wanganui indicates that they j admit that the power which established

Ratana's prestige among the Maoris, his "faith-healing, is departing from him,! but they point out that Ratana anticipated this. The question is whether his mana will Withstand the shack of failure. A general assembly of the movement was gathering as avo went to press, and the daily papers no doubt will be giving reports thereof. The newspaper correspondent reported that whereas "at one time nearly every denomination claimed to have something in common with Ratana's teachings, now that the movement ha 6 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 Ratana 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 Scrip-

tural teaching. Ratana, for instance, has added inexplicably, the angels to the baptismal formula, of our Lord. And surely- the fast that the "denominations" can say nothing too bad of the movement is ominous. Meanwhile, the great apostasy of Ratana is raising for itself a great concrete shrine in bis village up the Wanganui to hold 1000 people.