The portrait was due to be sold on September 11.

Due to the current Delta variant of Covid and the resulting lockdowns the auction is postponed until Saturday October 9th.

The portrait image went online on September 1, and is a part of an extensive collection of historic New Zealand artworks.

Source: NZCatholic

The show is at Pompallier Mission, the Heritage New Zealand property in the Bay of Islands. Continue reading

Local groups and soloists will perform traditional festive favourites as well as modern Christmas songs as part of the show, which takes place on Saturday December 20 at 6pm.

"Carols @ Pompallier is an annual fixture for the Russell community and is a great way for the community to re-connect and kick off the festive season," says the Manager of Pompallier Mission, Scott Elliffe, who will be celebrating his first Christmas in the Bay of Islands this year. Continue Reading

Many have already commented on the man, his life and his works and I have read reflections and tributes online that tell the story of a man who commanded enormous respect. But at the church service I learnt quite a bit more.

Although much of his work contains a religious element, I had no idea how deeply he held the Catholic faith.

His real name is Hone Papita, which is a translation of John Baptiste, and he was named after Jean Baptiste Pompallier. This is, of course, the Bishop Pompallier who was basically the first Catholic missionary to set foot in New Zealand and became the first Catholic Bishop of Auckland.

His presence in Northland from 1838 onwards meant that several of the Maori villages of the far north took on the Catholic faith. Mitimiti was one of those villages. I had intended to visit the village when we were on holiday in the Hokianga simply because I knew of it from Ralph's work but what I know now is that the village is also full of religious symbolism. The graveyard is called Hione or Zion and the church is Hato Hemi or St James. These stand alongside a traditional marae and perhaps give an insight into the way that Ralph perceived the world.

Certainly the Roman Catholic service conducted for Ralph was highly ritualised and full of symbolism itself. Most of us present were not Catholic but the religious proceedings were clearly requested by Ralph before he passed away.

During the eulogies he was described more than once as being his own man and being a man of integrity who used his talents to fight issues of racism, inequality and threats to the environment.

Quite possibly, the church has played its part in cementing his convictions about doing the right thing. Continue reading

Sources

• Tahu Potiki in The Press
• Image: Commonwealth Study Conferences Australia

Article and photo reproduced with permission.

Tahu Potiki is a columnist for The Christchurch Press.

In his CathBlog Michael Visontay points out that over 150 years ago, under the leadership of Bishop Pompallier, a printing press was established in Russell, New Zealand. The Church "embraced new media with a zeal and passion that breathed new life into a whole culture, and transformed the lives of thousands of people".

• Read Michael Visontay's blog.
• Image:Bay of Islands Attractions

Michael Visontay is editor in chief of CathNews Australia.

The book is a series of essays by a number of eminent authors, including Fr Michael O'Meeghan SM, Brother Edward Clisby FSM, Anne Salmond, Henare Tate and Jessie Munro. It presents very human stories of conflict, ambition, struggle, success and failure, shedding new light on Maori-Pakeha relations at the time of Treaty-making at Waitangi and of the founding of the New Zealand we know today

The photograph show the Collector's Edition, hand bound in leather with gold tooling. A limited number of the collector's edition have been printed. These copies are hand bound in leather with gold tooling and hand made harakeke (flax) end papers. This acknowledges the original vision of creating beautiful books in the spirit of the New Zealand's only surviving pioneer printery at Pompallier Mission.

These are stories centered on the enduring French and Catholic influence in Kororareka Russell and the Bay of Islands, specifically the work of Bishop Pompallier and of the Marist missionaries whose South Seas headquarters and printery were then here.

Kate Martin, editor of the book and manager of the NZ Historic Places Trust property Pompallier Mission, said she was delighted to have published more on the work of the first Marist Priests and Brothers in New Zealand. "So little has been known about those pioneer French Catholic missionaries and their real contribution to forming our country", she said.

The timing of this book launch could not be more appropriate as the Russell townsfolk have so much fun re-enacting "The Hell Hole of the Pacific". That sensational reputation has long tended to mask another, more compelling narrative. Illustrating some of the commercial, religious and political rivalry amongst Maori hapu and between Western nations at the time, The French Place in the Bay of Islands highlights that narrative and makes persuasive reading for all.

These are stories centered on the enduring French and Catholic influence in Kororareka Russell and the Bay of Islands, specifically the work of Bishop Pompallier and of the Marist missionaries whose South Seas headquarters and printery were then here.