MAORI BISHOP
LIMIT TO SCOPE SURPRISE TO MANY It came as a surprise for many to learn at the Maori Synod at Feilding that about half the Anglican Maoris in New Zealand had been virtually dispossessed of their appropriate pastoral care through the Bishop of Aoteroa, the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, not receiving invitations to enter the Auckland or the Waikato diocese. Though the Maori Bishop for the whole of New Zealand, Bishop Bennett is suffragan Bishop of Waiapu, and in the absence of an episcopal invitation, he may visit the Maori people in other dioceses only as another Maori, not as their bishop. Inquiries amongst both Maori and European members of the Anglican Church in Wellington indicated that the Maoris were puzzled and dissatisfied with the position. The opinion was expressed that a continuation of the present anomalous situation would weaken the position of the Anglican Church among Maoris of the two diocese mentioned.
In the opinion of one leading Maori member of the church, any step or any inaction which weakened the ties between the Maori and his Christian Church deprived him of the best moral impulse available to the Polynesian mind. To weaken the authority of the leader of their denomination would not strengthen that denomination among the Maori people. There was a possibility that lack of understanding might see the Anglican denomination lose strength to others.
Statistics showed that the Church of England has the greatest number of Maori worshippers, and is followed among the European Churches by the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Mormon and Presbyterian. Amongst the Maori Churches, Ratana was the strongest, though Ringatu is the older. Ringatu was founded by the famous rebel Te Kooti. It was strongest on the East Coast of the North Island and in the Bay of Plenty. The Ratana church was founded by Wirimu Tahu Ratana hear Wanganui, in 1919, and has followers all over New Zealand. The Mormon Church has many followers among Maoris.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19470526.2.7
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Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 33, 26 May 1947, Page 3
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327MAORI BISHOP Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 33, 26 May 1947, Page 3
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