Biography
Jean-Baptiste Pompallier is Notable.
Bishop Jean-Baptise Pompallier, Vicar Apostolic of Western Oceania, established the Catholic Church throughout New Zealand. His printing press in Kororareka (Russell), enabled the first Bible to be printed in Te Reo Māori. With some Māori Rangitira, he made a request to Governor Hobson which the Governor Hobson affirmed as:"'
the several faiths (beliefs) of England, of the Wesleyans, of Rome, and also Maori custom shall alike be protected.
Birth and Family
Born on December 11, 1801 in Lyon, Rhône, France, Jean-Baptiste François Pompallier' was the third son born to Pierre Pompallier (abt.1778-abt.1802) and Françoise Pompallier, in a devout Catholic family. [1] After his father, Pierre Pompellier, died nearly eight and a half months after his birth, his mother, Françoise Pompallier (34) married Jean Marie Solichon, a Lyons silk manufacturer in 1809. [2]
Education
Jean-Baptiste François Pompellier was educated at the local seminary, where he received the education of a gentleman and demonstrated both a keen intellect and a deep commitment to his faith. Then, for a time, he served as an officer of dragoons and is also said to have worked in the silk trade, possibly with his stepfather, Jean Marie Solichon, a Lyons silk manufacturer, until he entered the Lyons seminary in 1825.
Ordination
Jean-Baptiste Pompallier was ordained as a priest in the Society of Mary (Marists) 13 June 1829. He spent several years serving in various parishes in France, during which time he developed a strong interest in missionary work. In 1834, Père Pompallier was appointed as the Vicar Apostolic of Western Oceania, a vast region that included New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. Chosen by Rome as first vicar apostolic of Western Oceania, Père Pompallier S M was consecrated titular bishop of Maronea on 30 June 1836.
Emmigration and Missionaries
On January 13, 1838, Bishop Pompallier SM arrived in New Zealand, landing at Hokianga Harbour. He was accompanied by a group of Marist missionaries, including Fathers Antoine Garin and Étienne Séon. Jean-Baptiste Pompallier's mission was to establish a Catholic presence in New Zealand and to convert the indigenous Māori people to Christianity
Bishop of Auckland
In 1848, Bishop Jean-Batiste Pompallier SM was appointed as the Bishop of Auckland, a position he held until his death in 1871. He quickly set about establishing the Catholic Church in New Zealand. He founded the first Catholic mission at Hokianga, and soon after, he established missions at other locations, including Auckland and Wellington. Bishop Pompallier also ordained the first Māori priest, Father Ignatius Hokianga, in 1839.
His work in New Zealand falls into three well-defined periods, each ending with a visit to Europe.
- The first period 1838-1849 was the Marist period, from 1838 to 1850;
- The second period, the 1850s, saw him based in Auckland, with secular clergy and Sisters of Mercy;
- The third was the New Zealand wars period, from 1860 to 1869.
First period 1838-1849: Along with the help of English and Irish Catholics and Māori converts, all essential in founding the mission, and, as none of the missionaries knew English or Māori when they left France, Bishop Pompallier SM was quick to learn both. The Superior of his Marist Congregation, Fr Colin, was generous in sending out personnel for the new mission, and this, together with the money that arrived from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and his funding organisation, enabled the bishop to establish mission stations at Hokianga in 1838; Kororāreka, his headquarters, in 1839; Whangaroa, Kaipara, Tauranga and Akaroa in 1840; Matamata, Ōpōtiki and Maketū in 1841; Auckland in 1842; Wellington in 1843; and Ōtaki, Rotorua, Rangiaowhia and Whakatāne in 1844. In the course of setting up these missions, Bishop Pompallier SM made four voyages down the east coasts of the North and South Islands, reaching as far as Otago Harbour and tramping long distances inland.
Printing Press One of Bishop Pompallier's most significant contributions to the Catholic Church in New Zealand was the introduction of a printing press. In 1838, he established a printing press at the Hokianga mission, which allowed him to print religious materials, including the Bible, in the Māori Te Reo /language. This was a groundbreaking achievement, as it enabled the Māori people to read and understand the Bible in their own language. It was from theur understanding of Kawanatanga / Governorship in the Bible that they understood Kawanatanga/Governership in the second article of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Māori version.The printing press also played a crucial role in the development of the Māori language, as it helped to standardize the language and create a written form of Māori.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the "fourth article Bishop Pompallier SM was respected by Māori, British and European alike because of the way in which he viewed and dealt with cultural abd spiritual differences. William Hobson invited Bishop Pompallier SM to witness the proceedings at Waitangi. The Bishop was determined to make sure that legal discrimination against Catholics, which had stopped in England only in 1829, would not happen in the new colony of Aotearoa New Zealand.
With the support of many Maori leaders, Bishop Pompallier SM asked Govenor Hobson a question about the rights and freedoms of the religions in New Zealand and that clause be added to theTreaty, which would guarantee the right of religious freedom for all and of free and equal and protection for Maori and other religious customs. Hobson agreed.
The governor says the several faiths of England, of the Wesleyans, of Rome, and also Māori custom, shall be alike protected by him”. 'This clause is named by many as the fourth Article.
However, the clause is not found printed on most copies of Te Titiriti o Waitangi.
[3]
Challenges and Conflicts (1840-1846) Bishop Pompallier's mission was not without its challenges. Although the mission had grown rapidly, Pompallier SM was a poor administrator, over-reaching himself financially and having to borrow. This created tensions between bishop and missionaries, which in turn led to a split with the Marist Congregation, all exacerbated by the difficulties of communication.
Break with the Marist Congregation By 1846, when Bishop Pompallier SM was able to make his mandatory visit to Rome, it was obvious to the Marists and the Church authorities in Europe, that there must be a parting of the ways between Pompallier and the Marists. Bishop Pompallier SM set out in April 1846, leaving Bishop P. J. Viard, who had been consecrated as his assistant bishop on 4 January, to look after the New Zealand mission. Bishop Pompallier's absence was to last four years. During that time Rome divided the mission into two dioceses: Auckland, staffed by secular clergy with Bishop Pompallier in charge, and Wellington, staffed by Marists with Bishop Viard in charge.
In New Zealand, Bishop Pompallier faced opposition from Protestant missionaries, who were already established in New Zealand, and from some Māori leaders, who were sceptical of the Catholic Church. Additionally, he struggled with the language barrier, as he did not speak Māori fluently. Despite these challenges, Pompallier persevered, and his mission began to bear fruit.
the second period, the 1850s. Bishop Pompallier travelled extensively in Europe and on 8 April 1850, he sailed from Antwerp with two priests, ten seminarians and eight Irish Sisters of Mercy, arriving in Auckland on 8 April 1850. Bishop Viard, who had seen to the building of the stone St Patrick's Cathedral and the two-storeyed, stone St Mary's College at Takapuna, which was a boarding school for Māori boys and a day school for local children and in addition, Bishop Pompallier was visiting all the mission stations, Bishop Viard left for Wellington, leaving four Marists on loan for a year
The 1850s, saw him based in Auckland, with secular clergy and Sisters of Mercy in Takapuna. As Bishop, Jean-Baptiste Pompallier continued to work tirelessly to establish the Catholic Church in New Zealand. He founded several schools, hospitals. On 17 July 1851, Bishop Pompallier became a naturalised British subject. This was recorded for all time in the statute books of France, the country of his birth, Aotearos New Zealand his adopted nation.
Bishop Pompallier's immediate concern was to finish the training of his clergy which had begun in Europe and continued during the voyage to New Zealand. Until a seminary was built, the bishop trained his priests in the new St Mary's College building, which was also a boarding school for Māori boys and a day school for local children. In 1853 the seminary and boarding school were transferred to Freeman's Bay, next to a 40 acre property which Bishop Pompallier had acquired.
After the young priests were ordained, they were appointed to the stations left vacant by the Marists. Bishop Pompallier remained in Auckland, struggling to set up effective financial administration. He kept in touch with the outlying clergy by frequent letters and had constant contact with the Māori, who regularly visited Auckland to trade. But it was not enough. Pompallier did not visit the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua districts to build on the foundations already laid.
The 1850s, saw him based in Auckland, with secular clergy and Sisters of Mercy across the Road at 7 New Street, Ponsonby, Auckland in 1863, as well as in Takapuna. As Bishop, Jean-Baptiste Pompallier continued to work tirelessly to establish the Catholic Church in New Zealand. He founded several schools, hospitals. On 17 July 1851, Bishop Pompallier became a naturalised British subject. This was recorded for all time in the statute books of France, the country of his birth, Aotearos New Zealand his adopted nation.
the third period. In June 1859 Pompallier again sailed for Europe, returning on 30 December 1860. Accompanying him were eight Franciscans, eight seminarians, and four Frenchwomen who were intended to be the first members of a new order, the Sisters of the Holy Family. The party included his nephew Antoine, and his niece Lucie, as well as Suzanne Aubert. In 1863 Sisters of Mercy established a Convent and St Mary's High School in New Street, Ponsonby, Auckland across the road from Bishop Pompalliers Residence and Diocesan Offices.
The bishop, with his usual high hopes for the future, refused to acknowledge the threat to the country presented by the wars of the 1860s. A British citizen since 1850, he tried to maintain the kind of neutrality that he had attempted to adopt at the Treaty of Waitangi discussions 20 years earlier.
His mana among Māori remained high but, in spite of his letters and efforts, he had to watch helplessly as Māori Catholics had drifted away because of what was being inflicted on Māori by British soldiers and some settlers during the Land Wars. The Māori seminarians, catechists and religious, who he had been fostering, returned to their people.
Death and Burial
Bishop Pompallier's later years were marked by declining health and a series of controversies with the Catholic hierarchy. In 1868, old and ill, he returned to France where he had travelled for medical treatment. He resigned on 23 March 1869 and was made honorary Archbishop of Amasia. Jean-Baptiste died in Puteaux, a suburb of Paris, December 21, 1871 ten days after his birthday. He was 73 years old.
Exhumation
Decades later, in the 21st Century, having gained permission of the Pompallier family and French bishops, Bishop Pompallier's remains were later exhumed and returned to New Zealand. On 30 December 2000 a group of 37 pilgrims embarked on the hikoi (journey), led by the tenth successor to Pompallier, Bishop Patrick Dunn, and Auckland priest, Pa Henare Tate.
The pilgrimage group was made up of kaumatua and kuia from the Hokianga, Marist priests and brothers, the daughters of Our Lady of Compassion (DOLC), more often known as Sisters of Compassion, Sisters of Mercy (RSM) and others with a connection to the kaupapa. Visits were made to Rome where the pilgrims met with Pope John Paul II and to Lyon, The home of Bishop Pompallier and others associated with the Catholic mission in the Pacific and New Zealand, such as Mother Suzanne Aubert.
On 9 January 2001 the pilgrims gathered at Puteaux Cemetery in Paris where Pompallier’s remains were exhumed. Following this was a solemn procession of the coffin, which wascovered by a korowai (Maori cloak), through the opened great doors of Notre Dame de Paris. The remains of the bishop were returned to New Zealand in 2002 and after being taken on a hikoi around New Zealand were reinterred under the altar of St Mary's Church in Motuti in the Hokianga.
Legacy
Today, Pompallier is remembered as a pioneering figure in the history of the Catholic Church in New Zealand, and his legacy continues to inspire Catholics and Protestants alike. His introduction of the printing press and the Bible in Māori remains a significant contribution to the development of the Māori language and culture.
Bishop Pompallier produced 54 printed works, ranging from small pamphlets to sizeable books, in French, English and Māori. His early works included prayer books or catechisms, the first appearing in 1839 (8 pages), the second in 1842 (96 pages) and the third in 1847 (570 pages). His manuscript 'Instructions pour les travaux de la mission', dated 29 January 1841, is an enlightened document for its time in its attitude to Māori customs. He also left behind more than 600 letters, and these, more than anything else, tell the real story of the man who founded the Catholic church in New Zealand.
Research Notes
- The small town of Puteaux (Latitude and longitude coordinates: 48.884998, 2.238900) is one of the suburbs of Paris and a part of the region of the Île-de-France, the central part of the country. It can be found about 8 miles west of the city centre, near a larger community of Nanterre.
Sources
- ↑ E. R. Simmons. 'Pompallier, Jean Baptiste François', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated November, 2010. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Teara Pompallier, Jean- Baptiste (accessed 31 January 2025)
- ↑ My Heritage Pompellier (accessed 31 January 2025)
- ↑ Hokianga Trust Pompallier History (accessed 3 February 2025)
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