Marists leave Hamilton

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Hamilton Bishop Stephen Lowe declared 2019 a “fallow year” in terms of Māori mission and pastoral care as he bade farewell to Marist Fathers David Rawiri Gledhill and David Moore, who will soon take up new appointments in Otaki and Wairoa.

Frs Gledhill and Moore will be leaving the diocese by the end of January.

“Needless to say, an enormous debt of gratitude is owed them for their dedicated priestly mission and ministry, particularly among the Catholic Māori people and communities throughout the diocese. We pray God’s blessings upon them and wish them well on the journey ahead,” Bishop Lowe said in a letter to members of the diocese last month.

Bishop Lowe also took this time to remember “with deep gratitude and admiration” the late Pa Hemi Hekeira, SM, who, with Pa Rawiri, had “inspired, served, nurtured and deepened the faith and life of generations of Catholic Māori”.

With the departure of the Marists, mission and pastoral care of Catholic Māori now falls to the diocese.

“To help facilitate this transition, it has been envisaged that 2019 be set down as a ‘fallow year’. In this way we can respect this time of change and to use it to our advantage as we look to and plan for the future,” Bishop Lowe said.

He asked Vicar for Māori Pa Gerard Paterson to go to the various parishes and communities/whanau around the diocese and establish connections with them.

“In the same way, the ‘fallow year’ will be for Pa Gerard a helpful preparation for when he takes on his new assignment within the Maori Pastorate in 2020, and will enable details and practicalities to grow and emerge,” Bishop Lowe added.

Bishop Lowe said practical ways are being looked at to support the whanau that had been ministered to by the Marist Fathers.

“While there is much to be done and to learn, a reflective focus and pace ahead better serves our purposes at this time. Also vital is the ongoing support and participation of each and all as we move along, for ours is a shared endeavour and mission,” he said.

Bishop Lowe also thanked the Society of Mary, which was the first to bring the Faith to the diocese.

“It is fitting, too, that we acknowledge and thank the Society of Mary whose charism and missionary spirit has been present since the early growth of the Church in our diocese,” he said. “They were the first to bring the Catholic Faith to the diocese and the fruit of their labours are our own Pa Wiremu Te Awhitu and Pihopa Takuira Mariu.”

Bishop Lowe asked his parishioners to “continue to ‘ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest’ throughout the coming year and beyond”.

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Rowena Orejana

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