Bishop back among people he nurtured

By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK

Tears were shed and hugs exchanged as the remains of the country's first Catholic bishop arrived in Auckland yesterday.

The remains of Jean-Baptiste Francois Pompallier, the founder of New Zealand Catholicism, had been exhumed from a Parisian cemetery.

During an emotional powhiri at Whaiora Marae at Otara, members of the Catholic Church and Maori leaders celebrated the return of the bishop, who worked in New Zealand for more than 30 years during the 1800s.

Catholics had lobbied since the 1970s to have his remains returned to New Zealand, where he attended the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and insisted that all people had the right to spiritual freedom.

"There's very much a feeling that he belongs to us and belongs here in New Zealand," said Bishop Patrick Dunn, Bishop of Auckland.

"It's a great day."

The remains were brought on to the marae in a wooden casket decorated in Maori carvings at 4 pm yesterday.

About 300 people were there for the powhiri, and many filed into the meeting house to touch and kiss Pompallier's casket, as Maori elders wept.

A member of the Otara parish of St John the Evangelist, Ani Topia, said it was a great honour to be part of the welcoming ceremony at the marae. The Auckland woman first learned about Bishop Pompallier when she attended St Joseph's Convent.

"We had to know about him, whether we wanted to or not, thanks to the nuns. He's part of our faith."

Bishop Pompallier first arrived in Hokianga in 1838, after being made bishop to lead the Catholic mission to Western Oceania.

He set up mission stations at Hokianga, Russell, Mangakahia, Kaipara, Tauranga, Akaroa, Matamata, Opotiki, Maketu, Auckland, Otago, Wellington, Otaki, Rotorua, Rangiaowhia and Whakatane.

The bishop returned to France in 1868 and died near Paris in 1871.

His remains were exhumed in 1999 and returned to New Zealand after a Requiem Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris last week, attended by Bishop Dunn and the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Lustiger.

In April, his remains will be interred at Motuti, in north Hokianga.