Tui Cadigan asks if Māori katorika have given up on the Church or has the Church given up on Catholic Māori.

How easy is it to identify Māori in your local Catholic parish or diocesan organisation? Even being a baptised Catholic for more than 70 years and with 30 years of continuous involvement with Te Rūnanga o te Hāhi Katorika o Aotearoa, I find the search like doing a "Where’s Wally?" puzzle. I know Māori are there somewhere but I find no obvious signs of their presence, and I am hugely concerned by our invisibility as a people in the Catholic Church. Am I the only person left wondering where have all the Māori gone?

There have been historic signs of hope. I think of the place of Pihopa Pompallier at the 1840 signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and his insistence on the inclusion of the fourth article protecting all faiths. And the ordination of the first Māori priest, Wiremu Te Āwhitu in 1944, and the appointment of Pihopa Takuira Mariu as Assistant Bishop to Hamilton in 1988.

I think, too, of the establishing of Te Rūnanga as an advisory body for the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC) and the development of a Māori theological perspective led by Pā Henare Tate in the 1990s and taught through the University of Auckland. The work of Te Rūnanga in producing Te Kaupapa o te Iwi Māori (The Māori Pastoral Care Plan) meant Māori expectations were high!

When Pihopa Takuira passed away in 2005, Pā Tate was the face of the Church for Māori until his death on 1 April 2017.

Today, there are a number of Māori deacons, but their place in the hierarchical structure means the mana and voice of Tangata Whenua is diminished.

Church Lags in Māori Leadership

It is disturbing to see the Church lagging behind other sectors of society in establishing Māori leadership roles.

Māori women and men hold positions in governance, education, health, the arts, on local bodies and community boards. Yet I wonder how many Māori are in paid employment across the six Catholic dioceses? Other cultures are represented, even new migrants with minimal English. Why are Māori absent?

Two dioceses have an appointed Vicar for Māori and another has a person who is seen to act in the role. Currently the NZCBC is restructuring Te Rūnanga o Te Hāhi Katorika o Aotearoa to trial a new model with a number of Māori sitting at the NZCBC table to contribute a Māori perspective to discussions. Those who will begin the process are of similar age, mainly academically qualified and all from Northern Iwi. Time alone will show the impact.

However, where I want to see a shift is in parishes, Catholic Education offices, theological institutions, school boards and the Nathanial Centre. These organisations have a powerful voice in Catholic communities and society generally. These are the places that can change the face of the Church.

Māori Need to Be Visible

I don’t see the value in one Māori on a board or merely changing a group’s letterhead and name into te reo. Those are superficial gestures that call for no actual change in their functioning. Change has to be at a deeper level.

Only when the controlling group in the Church begins to feel less comfortable, less controlling and less certain the norm is set by them, will we begin to have a real relationship. Our proportionately young Māori population has the potential to shift this balance.

As a University student in the 1990s I wrote a paper that asked questions about what I saw happening in the education sector. Māori could study from Te Kōhanga Reo/pre-school to Māori Studies at University level and yet there was no parallel faith-based strand being developed by the Church to accompany it.

Now, 30 years later, there is real growth in academia and across society more generally — Māori achievement is evident everywhere. Why not in the Church?

Māori are a deeply spiritual people but their faith aspirations have not been developed within the Catholic Church. Younger Māori are walking away because they see no place in the Church for them.

Parishes seem to lack relationship with mana whenua, and te reo in liturgy rarely happens except in a few unique parishes who have made a commitment to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi by using te reo at Eucharist.

It is not impossible to get Māori to engage but it requires energy and the presence of a Māori face to draw them in.

Pandemic Created Opportunities

The pandemic provided opportunities for meaningful engagement. I found it uplifting during Lockdown to see many online karakia (prayer), regular evenings with hīmene (hymns) and Scripture reflections from an iwi perspective were shared to nourish the spirit and provide whakawhānaungatanga to the whānau.

It was surprising how many different groups across the motu (country) led or paticipated in online worship. I learned new hīmene led by pakeke (adults), rangatahi (young people) and tamariki (children).

Online activity like this reaches not only our people here but many overseas also. Why isn’t this medium being used by the Church to draw in those who crave support and to identify those individuals with talents that might link in others?

Some groups said the Rosary, often with very young people taking the lead. One husband and wife from the Far North led karakia with hīmene morning and evening for weeks which was ideal for busy people. The use of te reo and hīmene were the drawcards that kept people tuning in. But then the restrictions were over and these online activities ceased.

I would like to think all people are engaged in their local faith communities again, but I doubt it. Māori katorika need to do some serious soul-searching as to what the responsibilities and rights demand of them as baptised Catholics. New Zealanders, including Māori, have become very vocal about their rights but are not as loud when it comes to responsibilities.

Church to Hui with Māori

The Church definitely has issues to face as an institution. These include: the huge issue of abuse and the need to actively seek a just response to the Royal Commission’s findings; appropriate support of an ageing clergy; and embracing the aspirations of Vatican II through activating the role of the lay faithful.

It is not an acceptable solution to reduce the number of parishes, sell off surplus properties and import clergy from overseas who have scant knowledge of the Aotearoa context,

Te Tiriti o Waitangi, or relationship with mana whenua. Pope Francis has spoken and written against clericalism in the Church yet I still hear clergy defending it.

I am aware that the experiences of Māori in the Synod on Synodality are missing. That there is no mention of the feedback from Māori in the New Zealand National Synod synethesis document shows that the voice of Māori was absorbed and then lost.

There is no benefit to Māori from apologies, wonderfully crafted statements on Te Tiriti principles, or more pilgrimages. How should the Church progress Katorika Māori/Catholic Māori concerns? Our process is hui, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples offers a lead to the brave and the just.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 267 November 2022: 6-7