Cathechesis: The True Vine W Y D I O A N R U L T S C H E Cathechesis: The True Vine How the Church was first presented in New Zealand

New Zealand Futuna Wallis Bp Pompallier Fr Catherin Servant Fr Peter Chanel Br Marie-Nizier Delorme Fr Pierre Bataillon Fr Claude Bret Br Michel Colombon Br Xavier-Joseph Luzy

On Wednesday, the 10th of January, 1838, we arrived at the entrance of the Hokianga River … after a pleasant passage of 12 days. We went about 18 leagues up this big river into the interior of the country in the schooner. … We landed at an Irish timber merchant’s, who was a Catholic, and who had been legitimately married at Sydney. He had been living in New Zealand for 10 years He wished to give to me the best of his wooden houses, and undertook to build one for me at a reasonable price at any spot I might choose in the country. The one he offered me consisted of four small rooms and a garret. While waiting for him to build the other, I converted the principal room of this one into a sort of temporary chapel, erecting in it my missionary altar, and on the following Saturday, for the first time, the blood of Jesus Christ flowed in this island at the sacrifice of the Mass, which I celebrated, and which had probably never before been celebrated in New Zealand. What vows for salvation were offered to God on that day, consecrated to Mary, and which crowned the octave of the Epiphany! I confided this Mission to the most Holy Virgin under the name of the Assumption. Australian Irish Totara Point Motuti Purakau Rawene

Pompallier’s “missionary altar”

Auckland Diocesan Archives Marian Nee Archivist Pompallier Diocesan Centre Auckland

The True Vine a visual aid used by Bishop Pompallier and the Marist missionaries in the 1840s It is a sophisticated presentation of their understanding of the Church and shows the emphases they are communicating in their mission

Whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty. Galilee Bethlehem Nazareth St Anne St Joseph foster father of J.C. I am the true vine Whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty. Those who do not bear fruit will be cut away The Holy Virgin

1841, Instructions for the Work of the Mission, Jean-Baptiste Pompallier, 42. Thus J.C. is the founder and king of His Church and St. Peter and his successors are the governors of that same Church. Compare this with a tribal chief who is absent: he leaves behind a chief who leads the people and even other chiefs in his name.

The Trunk of the Vine 300 Caius Felix I Sixtus II Lucius I Fabian Pontian Callistus I Marcellinus Eutychian Dionysius Stephen Cornelis Anterus Urban I 200 Victor I Soter Pius I Telesphorus Zephyrinus Eleuterus Anicetus Hyginus Alexander Clement Linus 100 Sixtus I Evaristus Cletus St Peter in Rome The Trunk of the Vine

Clement XIII Clement XII Innocent XIII Pius VII Clement XIV [265th] Benedict XVI (2005—) John Paul II (1978-2005) John Paul I (1978) Paul VI (1963-78) Blessed John XXIII (1958-63) Pius XII (1939-58) Pius XI (1922-39) Benedict XV (1914-22) St. Pius X (1903-14) Leo XIII (1878-1903) Gregory XVI 1831-46 Leo XII Pius IX 1846-78 Pius VIII 1800 Pius VI Clement XIII Clement XII Innocent XIII Pius VII Clement XIV Benedict XIV Benedict XIII 1700

A Marist Missionary in New Zealand 1843-1846 by Fr J. A. M A Marist Missionary in New Zealand 1843-1846 by Fr J.A.M. Chouvet, 70-71. [Part of the account of a debate between Fr Chouvet and Reverend Mr J.H. Awilson, a missionary of the Anglican Church, at Opotiki, in October 1844.] We unrolled in front of the natives a big chart which has as a title The Tree of the Church. Then we showed them on this chart the establishment of the Church by our Lord Jesus Christ, the choice that the divine master made of Saint Peter as leader or pope, and the uninterrupted government of this same Church by the successors of Saint Peter down to Gregory XVI, who was then reigning.

A Marist Missionary in New Zealand 1843-1846 by Fr J. A. M A Marist Missionary in New Zealand 1843-1846 by Fr J.A.M. Chouvet, 70-71. We called this tree the ladder of the Catholics, by means of which they could go back to Saint Peter, and consequently, to Jesus Christ, the originator and object of our faith. I read out loud the names of all the popes written on this chart. This reading charmed the natives who are very fond of genealogical recitals, and vie with each other as to who can recite the greatest number of known ancestors’ names.

A Marist Missionary in New Zealand 1843-1846 by Fr J. A. M A Marist Missionary in New Zealand 1843-1846 by Fr J.A.M. Chouvet, 70-71. This long list of about two hundred and fifty Popes was listened to with unfaltering patience, or rather, with extraordinary curiosity. The natives had never heard such a long, and, in their eyes, such a glorious genealogy, even though it was of the spiritual order.

Alongside the trunk Handwritten beside Chalcedoine is 600. According to Pope St Leo there were 600 bishops at Chalcedon in 451 AD Handwritten beside Nicée is 318. The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD was a gathering of 318 bishops Councils: Jerusalem Nicaea Chalcedon 150 200 Constantinople Ephesus Constantinople

20 May 1842. Brother Pierre-Marie to Brother Francois 20 May 1842. Brother Pierre-Marie to Brother Francois. Bay of Islands, Kororareka. (LO 34) Despite all the horror these wretches try to inspire in these poor people, Monsignor and the Fathers are held in high regard. Everywhere he goes, they flock to him in crowds; the word Epikopo is held in veneration throughout Oceania. Councils: Jerusalem Nicaea Chalcedon Constantinople Ephesus Constantinople

The branches of the Vine Smyrna St Polycarp Gaul (France) Scythia St Andrew High Asia St Philip Vivarais (Languedoc) St Andeolus Asia Minor Marseille St Victor Mission of the Apostles Athens St Denis the Areopagite Antioch St Theophilus St Ignatius Mesopotamia St Bartholomew Bethany: Lazarus, Martha, Mary (Magdalene) Jerusalem St James the Elder Judea Holy Innocents Asia Minor St John

The True Vine

The top branches of the Vine Mangareva or Gambier Islands Eastern (Oceania) Western (Oceania) Oceania America

Pompallier’s Mission Field 1836 The Vicariate Apostolic of Western Oceania

of the Faith. of the Roman Catholic Church Teaching made clear of the Roman Catholic Church which is the bollard and landing place of the Faith. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Matt 16:19 Kororareka : 1842.

1 November 1843. Brother Emery to Brother Francois. Bay of Islands 1 November 1843. Brother Emery to Brother Francois. Bay of Islands. (LO 42) The Catholic religion changes a person’s character, so you can tell the Catholic natives from the Protestants simply on sight. The Protestants look savage, sad, dour, and serious, while the Catholics appear gentle, happy, and friendly.