Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier (1802 - 1871)

Jean Baptiste Pompallier was a good choice as the first Catholic bishop to the South Pacific. He arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand with a mission characterised by vision, sensitivity and flexibility. His strategy was simple. He believed in genuine respect for people, heritage and spirituality. He engaged the language, customs and culture with imagination.

Pompallier's missionary style was not to impose the Gospel, but to follow a process of dialogue between Gospel and Maori culture. He was quick to enter every aspect of local life and to realise that a powerful sacred sense of heritage fused the families and communities around the Hokianga. His vision of cultural revitalization through the power of the Gospel was ahead of its time.

An enduring relationship with northern Maori commenced in 1838, and was not lost when the diocese was re-located to Auckland. The bishop's legacy became clear when a modern generation of Catholic Maori wanted to keep his memory alive and honour him as the missionary who first brought the Gospel to their ancestors. He came, he faded away, but his remains were returned in pilgrimage in 2002 for final burial.

The pilgrimage from Paris to Motuti in the Hokianga was a spirit-led process with the potential to energize the ongoing mission of the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand. Bishop Pompallier now rests among the ancestors of faith, close to the church communities he founded. The return encourages Catholics to engage, challenge and renew the diversity of cultures in the land.

One way or another, every member of the local Church has been blessed in the person of Bishop Pompallier and the role he played in the founding mission.

In telling and re-telling the story of Jean Baptiste Pompallier's founding mission, each new generation will celebrates his mission and spiritual heritage.

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