THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 13, 2 April 1908, Page 12

THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS

(Coatributed.) AUCKLAND. , "" (Continued.) •At the end of the month the , little schooner set sail for Maoriland, and in ten days Hokianca was reached It was an unfortunate landing-place; beine really the headquarters of the Methodist Mission a settler lent to the Bishop a house at Totara, and immediately set about building another for him. Meanwhile the Methodist and the Anglican Missions, which had considered the " island their property, were not well pleased with the arrival of a mission staff from " the Church of Kome. Trouble was hinted at from the beginning, but the newcomers were brave. r > JL BB £ r<Ml1 1(te ~" Th ierry, a Frenchman, and avowedly anticatnoluc, wrote a proclamation in which he set forth on account of the French nation, the fact that every religion had a right of en-try, for the islands were not British, and therefore English Protestants might not ' justly insist upon the exclusion of any religious teaclw " ing but that of their Church. They* appealed to their humanity before they should involve the Maoris- in acts of bloodshed. He published also the fact of the receipt of an official letter from Paris asking for hiajielp to and protection of the new Bishop. Things were troublesome at ttie ajraa&y cs < ta;biiis i hed stations thfct Bishop Pompallier determined to try his persuasions upon a tribe that had fiercely withstood all attempts at conversion. The Whiriaakis, about 400 strong!, listened to the prelate, and entreated him to stay among them. But he had other mission stations to establish, and the Maori language to learn. So, much against^ their will, he- left them. The feeling against him was"" as strong as ever, and, fearinp, for his life, some settlers of his 1 own faith implored him to leave the country. His answer was to give orders for the erection of a. mission-house. * " ' Just at this time the Bishop learnt that the - French warship ' Heroine~*~~was expected 1 to land at the Bay of Islands. He therefore ; travelled' to that part, and being received with honor on board, he was able

to make so favorable an imprestion upon the Maoris that foe decided to make the settlement of Korarareka

Ms headquarters. Accordingly, hoswii'ttes being now somewhat in abeyance with the arrival of the sloop, the undaunted cleric returned to Hokianga • and celebrated the opening of his new house by- a discharge of musketry, which was followed by Mass. Leaving his companion, Father Servant, to continue regular services, the Bishop travelled among the Maoris,^ins<tructing " them., and in his leisure translating the ' Pater,' 'Aye,' and ' Creeds,' and composing a" Canticle dealing with the perfections of God. Kadpara was visited among other places,- and the natives there showed rmuch desirei for the priest to remain, r \ - . . 4 When at length two years after_ his arrival in New Zealand' a reinforcement of priests arrived the Mission station at the Bay of Islands was opened. Here the Bishop resided, much to the sorrow of his friends at Hokianga, where were 1500"catechumens and sixty bap-, tised people. In a short time more priest® arrived, and the old monastery must have been well filled. It is hard to realise that the broad passages -and cool rooms were once the scene of monastic labors. But work was not confined- to th~e Immediate vicinity. Frequent journeys were made to Hokianga, Kafpara, Whangaroa, Te Kawiuui, and other "places. -Whangaroa became another station, • and here the Catholics "received a hearty welcome. Land was given, them freely, and a house and church were built.' ', Bishop Pompallier Visits the Eternal City. •' One of my grand Vicars, Father Viard,' states Bishop Pompallier in his diary,- ' was consecrated Bishop -to be my coadjutor, according to the request I Kad made to the Holy See n past , correspondence.' Theni, after ten years- of laboring and travelling, the first Bishop undertook a voyage to Rome to render an account of his stewardship to the Sovereign Pontiff. ' I started fiorro New Zealand,, which I left in the enjoyment " of peace and under the delegated pastorate of Monsagnor Viard, my coadjutor,' he writes. 'My departure took place at Banks' Peninsula, the- 16th April, 1846, on the French corvette ' nhin,' Captain Berard, who gave me a free passage, as also to a priest amd servant who accompanied me. I landed at Toulon, on the 28th" August, and was in Rome on the 14th September, 1846,. I hastened to pay my homage of veneration -in this holy city to the Sovereign Pontiff, giving to his Holiness and the Sacred 'Congregation of the Propaganda all the knowledge I possessed of the Catholic religion in Western Oceania..' In 1850 Bishop Pompallier returned from Europe, bringing with' him a _numiber of Irish and French priests, and the first contingent of that great Order, the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Mother Cecilia (Maher), who was the first to volunteer for this remote and' arduous missionary field, and seven other Sisiters, set out from their convent of St. Leo in Oarlow in August, 1849, accompanied by Bishop Pompallier, who was exceedingly delighted with his little missionary band. As was subsequently recorded, they, proved 1 themselves, true apostles to both the Europeans and the Natives -in Auckland- and throughout the whole diocese. , When missions were forsaken, and when difficulties arose,, such as seldom have befallen a eolonial~ diocese, St. Mary'sConvent of Mercy in Auckland proved a true fortress of the faith', and preserved and handed on to the faithful of the. diocese the .traditions of piety and the blessings of religion. On the 7th of April the- travellers sighted Auckland." The Bishop, with extended hands, blessed his diocese, and at an early hour next morning went privately ashore. On the 9th the Sisters, in one boat, and the clergy in another, bade adieu to the~ ship J - All the citizens, Catholics, and noo^Cathf olics alike, came to the beach to welcome them. In processional order - the whole party wended their way to St. Patrick's, now recognised, as the Cathedral, where an' impressive service of thanksgiving was held^ From then onward, as the arrival of~ one stop succeeded another, the congregation increased, notably by the addition of Irish immigrants. In December,'. 1881, the Catholic population of Auckland was 2404. The. numerical superiority of the Catholic population jn Auckland, compared with the other provinces, was owing to the military forces sent from England for protection against the turbulent Natives. The terrible wars that raged- throughout the Auckland province in 1860 and following years brougnt ruin to all the missions among the Maoris. Under the burden of ever-increasing ftefctf on the diocese, with difficulties' multiplying every .day, and encompassed with evils which he could not remedy, the venerable Bishop's health -way. -He desired to end his days in his beloved France— a country which yet retained an affection and reverence for toe Church. On February. 18, 18618, a man-of-war, flying th© tri-color, having been, sent to the waters of the wal-

temata for the purpose, conveyed to the land of his birth the pious, venerable, and beloved Bishop Pompallier, who soon after resigned his episcopal <qharge. "On resigning the cftocese of- Auckland, he was. promoted, by the Holy See to the titular Archbishopric of Airaria, which he retained until his death. He resided for the most part at Puteaux, near Paris. During the Vatican Council he administered Confirmation ana Holy Orders in several dioceses of France at "the invitation of the various Bishops who were then in Rome. The. illustrious prelate passed to his eternal reward on December 20, 1870. (To be Continued.) '