THE FIRST MAORI BISHOP

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 527, 3 December 1928, Page 8

THE FIRST MAORI BISHOP

THE consecration ceremony at Napier yesterday which endowed * the Rev. F. A. Bennett with the office of Bishop of Aotearoa, a picturesque and impressive event in itself, has still greater significance; for it removes the last disability on the Maori people. Many years have passed since the Maoris were given civil equality with the pakeha, and in the Dominion’s brief history events have shown how valuable the alliance was. In a warstricken world the Maori soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder with the forces of the Empire in combat against a common foe. In political life the Maori has won favour through tact and oratory, and even far from the clamour of the public way he is wellbeloved for his generous, valiant, poetic nature. By freakish anomaly, the church, which was the first organisation to establish contact with the Maori, was the last to remove the final barrier. Until the appointment of Bishop Bennett, episcopal office was the only one closed to the Maori in New Zealand. With the removal of this disability, Maori equality with the pakeha has been made absolute. The race that has been rich in leaders, of many kinds, in the past, now has an inspiring leader with full understanding of the temperament, tradition, and psychology of the race, to lead it forward to the fulfilment of its spiritual destiny. While Maori and pakeha alike can feel gratitude and pride in the creation of the bishopric of Aotearoa, thought must be given to the events of the past. It is only in the triumphs over adversity that things of permanent value are accomplished, and accepting this principle as inevitable, it would seem that the ecclesiastical advance made is for the good of all. It is almost 114 years, to the day, since Samuel Marsden first preached the Gospel to the Maoris, and there were many anxious years of struggle before any appreciable progress was made. Within a-quarter of a century Christianity was accepted nominally by the Maoris. But days of black adversity were to come when the scourge of war cursed the land. The difficulty of the missionaries was to reconcile guns and Gospel. With the passage of time those angry wounds have healed, and one sign of forgiveness and understanding was yesterday’s ceremony at Napier.