A CATHOLIC QUEEN DOWNUNDER

 

I always said that if and when I visited Australia, I would also hit New Zealand.  What I did not know, till I got to Australia, is NZ is as far away from Australia as California is from New York.  Hence, I never got to NZ, but still news from there fascinates me. I recently found this- from the NZ Herald.

In a historic moment for New Zealand’s Māori, the 27-year-old and the youngest child of Kīngi Tūheitia, Ngā Wai hono I te pō, has been anointed as the new MAORI Queen and leader of the Kīngitanga movement.

 Ngā Wai hono i te pō becomes the eighth Māori monarch, continuing a direct lineage from the first Māori King.  She was annointed by Archbishop Don Tamihere.

The new queen’s grandmother, Māori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, requested before her death in 2006 that her granddaughter convert to Catholicism.

In a significant cultural and spiritual unity gesture, during the Tira Hoe Waka, the annual canoe journey down the Whanganui River, the Queen asked the bishop to baptise her granddaughter at Parakino (200 miles from Aukland).

The baptism was a symbolic act to “join the two Rivers” of Waikato and Whanganui, with hopefully the forging of a powerful bond between the Tainui Waka of Waikato and the Aotea and Takitimu Waka of Whanganui.  The baptism represented a unification of faiths, bridging the Kīngitanga movement and the Catholic Church.

 Pīhopa Mariu was of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, an important whakapapa to the Region. He followed up on the Māori Queen’s request and baptised Ngawai at Huntly. Hence, her name arose, ‘Ngāwai Hono ki Parikino’, the “Joining of the Rivers”.

 This act of spiritual diplomacy aimed to strengthen ties between two significant Māori communities, blending traditional Māori customs with Catholic practices.

 The late Queen’s initiative highlights the ongoing efforts of Māori leaders to foster unity and understanding across different iwi and religious traditions, continuing the legacy of cultural preservation and interfaith dialogue in New Zealand.

 NZ First MP Shane Jones commented on the appointment, saying “She will be the face of renewal” and suggesting she may “personify the aspirations” of Māori youth.

 As the only daughter and youngest child of Kīngi Tūheitia, she has been groomed for this role and is poised for what could be a long reign, carrying forward the legacy of the Kīngitanga movement.

 Te Tiriti o Waitangi lawyer Annette Sykes, who has spent her career fighting for the rights of Māori, said the new Queen represents the future she has been aiming for.

 “She’s inspiring, the revitalisation and reclamation of our language has been a 40 year journey for most of us and she epitomises that, it is her first language, she speaks it with ease. Political, economic and social wellbeing for our people is at the heart of what she wants and in many ways she is like her grandmother, who was adored by the nation.”