The Church in New Zealand

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 11, 25 March 1925, Page 19

The Church in New Zealand

THE CHURCH IN TARANAKI: A SKETCH PREPARED FOR THE JUBILEE OF THE PARISH OF HAWERA.

HAWERA (Continued).

The present Monsignor Power, who came to Hawera in May, 1898, is still parish priest. On the day of his arrival he was able to purchase and present to the parish a strip of land running from the reception room in the presbytery down to what is now Mr. Biggin’s section in Victoria Street. It-is fortunate for the parish that he was able to make this purchase, even though it was against the unanimous resolution of his Church committee, because it now enables the Sisters to get to the new school and play-ground in Little Regent Street without going by the public thoroughfare. The opposition from, the committe© arose from the fact that they thought the priest was being victimised. Only that afternoon the vendors had purchased*. the property of which this was part for £350, and they now gave the priest only two hours in which to buy it hack from them at £4OO, even refusing the option of . buying back only *»

the strip 'that was necessary. In addition to this there were very special reasons why the arrival of the new priest should have been awaited before the first sale was made. The committee were indignant at this, but though there was cause for their indignation, the repurchase of the land was imperative. The name of a parishioner was freely mentioned in this matter, but after an exhaustive enquiry I was able to exonerate him from blame.

From this on I shall find it easier to write in the first person singular, and in reminiscent mood. .. - On Monday, May the ninth, I made my 'first visit to the school, and to my horror found ninety-six. children and five teachers in a long, narrow room, Father Pertuis' church enlarged by Dean Grogan; it was about 70 feet long by 17 wide. The Gothic windows were very beautiful, but there was not a single pane of glass that could be opened. There was no provision whatever made for ventilation, and the place was stifling that mid-winter day. That night at ten o'clock when everything was still I broke the pane at the apex of every one of the windows; Next morning the Sisters came to me with the stones and the news of the disaster. I sympathised with them as best I could and. had the holes cleaned out and covered with perforated .zinc. This may be seen still on; a couple of the windows which we have preserved. I . also had a pane framed and hinged in the centre of each window. I often found these shut afterwards: one can get used to anything. After a few weeks the foundation stone was laid of a new school which was opened the following February and dedicated to' St. . Columba, the great Irish monk and founder if the schools of lona. '•' v ' I was evidently fated to have a busy time in Taranaki. On my/first Sunday I said Mass in Manaia at nine o'clock, and then set out -for Kaponga to say a second Mass there. How I got there it- would lie hard to tell, the mud and the ruts were beyond description; midway between Manaia and Kapuni I w#s dug out. by a friendly farmer. When I got to the hall in Kaponga I saw everywhere > around me the evidences of a dance that, had •been held the previous night. I preached on the Holy Sacrifice of the Ma«s and stated .rather ; strongly that it should

not be offered amid such, surroundings.'.. As a result Mr. Maurice Fitzgerald and niyself made out a plan of campaign,'' the ..good

Founder of the Parish of Hawera.

people were, as they are still, easy to rally, and the result was that before Christmas his Grace the Archbishop blessed the present fine church. The departure of Mr. Fitzgerald for Auckland has been a a reat loss to the Church in South Taranaki. On my \v.y back to Hawera for Vespers I called to Eltham for afternoon devotions, found a similar state of things there, and only a tow of the Catholics of the place to meet me. But amongst them was Frank McGovern, now of Remuera, one of the most sterling and generous Irish Catholics it has been my g od fortune to meet. Ho rallied the people, <-o successfully that on the 23rd October, the Feast of the Most Holy Redeemer, that is, within five months, the Archbishop was able to bless the first church, now the parish hall. This was built on a three-acre ~ H; «r.n, two of which had been given by an old fr.v-mu, the late George Brown of the Upper Hutt. The debt on the church when completed was under £7O, that on the church in Kaponga under £BO. That I had come amongst a fine people is proved by the fact that within eight months of my arrival three substantial buildings were erected and practically paid for. The people of Hawera were not idle during these months : Before I was three months in the parish, Miss Haughey, Mrs. Whittaker, and the late Mrs. Flynn had raised about £2OO towards the parish debt by entertainments. This was not the only t-me the priest and the parishioners were indebted to these good ladies for years they had been, and for years later continued to be amongst the best workers in the parish. Now the burning question was: What will they do at Manaia? A convent school was a necessity there. Yes, they would all like to have one, but was there not a debt of £l2O to be first removed? I suggested that this could be gradually wiped out by little monthly collections, which suggestion r was

agreed to alter some discussion. However, the time not being ripe for a big appeal — it was the wrong season —we began to raise a fund by a series of social gatherings. These were very successful, all the people, Catholic and non-Catholic," being eager to meet the new priest. But to my horror, the man in the ticket office, instead of handing the. money to me for the new venture, paid it into the bank against the old overdraft. Nevertheless, within a year we had the Sisters of St. Joseph established in a neat conven" 1 with a fine school that has served its purpose for twenty years. On the evening of their arrival the Sisters got a notable reception from the people of the Waimate Plains without distinction of creed or class. Indeed, it was a non-Catholic, Mr. William Wells, that first suggested that I should bring the Sisters to Manaia, and to this day non-Catholics vie with Catholics in proclaiming what a blessing they are to *he district. The chief organisers of this work were Messrs. Michael Franklin and the late Philip McCarthy, who had been for years, the very life of religion in Manaia. They had valiant had valiant helpers in Mesdames Joss, McCarthy, Hodgson, Hughes, Beck, Shanahan, Launders, and Knight; the brothers McPhillips, though ten miles distant, were as eager and busy as any, as were also Mr. Ned Long and his . wife. Hawera, anxious to give a helping hand, sent Mrs. Bernard McCarthy and Miss Power, who, joining forces with Mrs. McVicar, made her stall the most successful at the convent bazaar. About this time the Catholics at Eltham, Kaponga, and Manaia raised about £7O for J the purchase of a second horse and gig for Jr parish work, I had brought my own with me i from Hawkes Bay but seeing that the people had so much to do in the various districts, I purchased this second horse and gig but of my. own funds, and returned , the money raised to the various Church treasurers—Messrs. McGovern, Fitzgerald, and McCarthy.

It was at this time I first thought of having branches of the Hibernian Society at Hawera and Manaia, and often since have I had reason to be thankful for their exigence in the parish. A few days after I had mooted the matter I received a letter from representatives of the various Friendly Societies in one of these towns, suggesting that all the societies should be permitted to hold a parade in the Catholic church on any Sunday convenient to me. After a little thought, however, it occurred to me that to' receive these officially would be to show "hat in my opinion one benefit society would be as good as another for Catholics. As this would injure my own nroject of establishing the Hibernians I declined the offer of the parade. I wish all these societies well, our. I believe in always spreading the nianiV «.f religion over our young Catholic men. We established two fine branches that are stilt flourishing, each of which has given and continues to give good service to the Church. I must ever take a founder's delight in tjieir success. 1 desire to see them grow in'numbers and in influence, for I know how great a power they are for good wherever they flourish and keep loyal to the Church and her parish authorities. May their proud green banner ever wave; may its motto. Faith and Fatherland, thrill the hearts of those who march beneath it, and may their march lead them safely to the true Fatherland in the fair and fragrant fields, seen now by faith, but to be seen in vision hereafter. The two branches have been . well served by their officers, to whom their success must be mainly attributed. The following are the successive presidents and secretaries of the Hawera branch: Presidents —Mr. Bernard McCarthy, the Rev. Father O'Dwyer, Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Geo. H. Ryan, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. P. O'Connor, Mr. A. Cameron, Mr. M. J. Kyne, Mr. Ernest Thurston, Mr. J. Fennel], Mr. J. La very, Mr. G. Villars, Mr. Ben Seaver, Mr. John Cox. , Secretaries Mr. L. 0. Hooker, Mr. P. O'Connor, Mr. Ernest Thurston. The people are not yet permitted to rest; perhaps they are not willing to rest, knowing that they will have rest enough in the grave, and in shrouds that will have no pockets. It is the year 1901 and Frank McGovern has changed his residence from Eltham to Hawera. After Mass one Sunday he inarched some twenty men to the presbytery, ordered me into breakfast, and then in my absence, but not beyond my hearing, began to address the assembly. He could be scathing and sarcastic at times, and he was then. I wish I could give all his words, but these remain in my memory: "Is this shanty the best residence you can give your priest ? What are you doing with your money? You spend too much of it in hotels, as I know; some of you can drop fifty pounds on a racecourse without a murmur. Get this ramshackle out of here and replace it by a decent house within six months." -And they did. They were not so bad as he had thought, and only needed some straight talking. If we had Frank McGovern with us in this year of grace 1925, it is not a sanctuary but a complete new church we should be offering to God as our jubilee gift. Our parish is wealthier now,

A former prominent parishioner of Hawera.

but it needs a layman with the gift of direct and pieicing speech. Should this meet Frank McGovern’s eye, he might, in spite of his patriarchal age, be temp to come back to ills for a rear or so.

I am writing fc.rveute calamo, so that it is possible, but not probable, that I may. make a slight but unimportant error in dates. At the beginning of 1904 I suggested the building of a church at Okaiawa. This at once aroused a storm of opposition, not in Okaiawa, but in the district around Manaia. The Catholics there were excellent, but many of them thought that a pastor held a parish as a farmer holds a farm, to niawe money out of it; and they foresaw that to divide one congregation into two would mean a heavy financial loss to the priest. \ was called upon to justify, and did justly my project before the Administrator of the diocese. The Archbishop had gone to Europe to be present at the golden jubilee of the definition of the Immaculate Conception. I found a guide, philosopher, and friend in Mr. Tom Walsh, now of Argyle Street, Hawera. We laid the foundation on the day of the jubilee', December the eighth, ]H,I, and the Archbishop, returned from Rome two days before, came up and blessed it on Palm Sunday, 1905. The only assistance the Okaiawa people gob came from Hawera, but this was considerable. (To be continued.*)