His father had migrated to New Zealand from China in the late 30s and ran a fruit shop with Barry's grandfather. He brought his wife and an infant Barry over from Hong Kong in the 1950s.

They rejected Sue out of fear for their grandchildren. What would Asian-Jewish-European children look like? And where would they fit in?

Sue's Jewish grandfather had fled Europe before World War II to the corner of earth farthest from Hitler's Germany. She understood what it meant to be different.

She liked all the things that made Barry Chinese: the language, the food and the culture.

"I had awareness of difference, so it was shocking to be road-blocked with our relationship like that. It was about cultural difference," Sue said.

Then, one day, before the couple left for their OE, Barry's mother told him that when they returned they would accept Sue into the family.

But with more than 10 per cent of New Zealand identifying with more than one ethnic group, the grandparents were right. Sue and Barry's children have had to negotiate difficult issues of identity growing up in New Zealand.

Their eldest daughter, Nicky, who is "very obviously Eurasian", has struggled with her ethnic identity.

"She has never managed to not be Chinese. She has wanted to be white, but she can't get away from looking and feeling Chinese," said Barry.

Nicky is engaged to the son of Taiwanese migrants.

Sue and Barry's youngest son, Richard, has taken a very traditional Chinese girlfriend - a real surprise to his parents.

"It speaks of the era that a 21-year-old grew up in and what was his playing field at primary school and his immersion with other cultures," Sue said. Continue reading

Sources

• Simon Day in The Dominion Post
• Image: Stuff

Simon Day is a reporter for Fairfax NZ

Professor Peter Lineham, who led the study, said the survey showed the mainstream Christian churches were "failing to connect" in areas of Auckland with a high concentration of ethnic minorities.

He said the Catholic Church continues to grow in New Zealand because it reflects more closely the changing nature of New Zealand's ethnic mix.

"The Catholic Church have got exactly the same problem of ageing Pakeha (as the Anglican Church), and they've lost a lot of ground among Pakeha, as Pakeha become more and more non-religious, but they've gained enormously from the new populations flooding into Auckland - Fillipinos, Koreans, Indians, Samoans and other Pacific peoples.

"That means that the Auckland Catholic Church is quite representative of Auckland. It's very striking," he said.

"Any religion that did not engage wider than the rich, white middle-class will certainly not be growing in a city with Auckland's demographics of today," Dr Lineham said.

Speaking on RNZ's The Panel, Auckland Catholic Diocese's spokesperson Lyndsay Freer said that because of its universal nature the Catholic Church transcends nationality. She said people from all around the world get a sense of being at home in the Catholic Church no matter what their nationality or ethnicity is.

Freer also said that the growth of the Catholic Church is a world-wide phenomenon. Catholics now account for 17.5% of the world's population.

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Radio New Zealand
• TVNZ
• Image: Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand