Using te reo during communion can be more inclusive

The Catholic Church across New Zealand has made a grave mistake in its approach to Maori, and the use of the teleo during communion allows us to be more inclusive in our daily lives as well.

Comments on the Diocesan Communion can be found in the following article by Peter Cullinan, Bishop Emeritus of Palmerston North. Tui Motu.

Giving an example of the church’s mistakes, Cullinane notes that the lack of training of parish priests ministering to the Māori, coupled with the church’s delegation of the “Māori mission” to a group of experts, Most Māori ensure that they do not feel ‘at home’ at our parish church celebrations. Eucharist.

He says a sense of inclusivity cannot be fostered by running Maori and European churches side by side.

“Our national church owes a great deal to the monastic orders entrusted with the Maori Mission,” he wrote.

Cullinan specifically mentions the Society of Mary, the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy, the Milhill Missionaries, and Our Lady of Missions.

“Their work continues to bear fruit and changes in pastoral practices must protect the right of Maori people to continue to experience church life and worship in a natural way.”

Nevertheless, running a Māori mission alongside a parish had serious unintended side effects, Cullinan says.

He writes that it is against that background that introducing te reo to parish communion seems like a small gesture.

“Of course, it would be mere mementoism if it did not follow all the methods required by Māori rights and respect for Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the wider society.”

Our Eucharist celebrations are meant to nourish our daily lives, notes Cullinane.

“Communication includes rejecting racial prejudice and discrimination wherever it occurs.

“Thus, the use of teleo in parish communion should stimulate our desire for hospitality, listening, a sense of community, and inclusiveness as we have spoken of in the Synod Journey. is.”

He suggests the next step is to experience communion at a marae and recognize the warm and welcoming Maori way of doing things.

“In this way, people can know how properly they belong to the gathering stage of gathering for the Eucharist.

“Respecting the rights of home people is just the first step in reaching out to the many others who suffer from inequality in our society…

“That includes support for other ethnic groups that may fall victim to racial prejudice.

Not addressing prejudice and not helping those who are disadvantaged by their personal, social or economic conditions proves the claim of the Second Vatican Council.

“The division between the faith many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious mistakes of our time,” writes Cullinan.

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