New Zealand to host indigenous Catholic gathering

New Zealand will host Church representatives from Australia, Canada and the United States in early March at the second international gathering focused on enhancing ministry to indigenous Catholics.

The first International Conference on Catholic Indigenous was held in the United States in 2023. The initiative was established to allow for dialogue, consultation and collaboration between representatives of Catholic indigenous organisations, bishops and others entrusted with the pastoral care of indigenous people.

Loraine Elliott and Bishop Steve Lowe are co-chairs of the upcoming gathering, which will be held in Auckland. Mrs Elliott said it is a privilege to host the event.

�New Zealand is the smallest of the four member nations, but we are pleased to welcome delegates to a country whose formal Catholic presence is almost 200 years old,� she said.

�While we will have a chance to speak to our own history as M?ori Catholics and as Catholic M?ori, our emphasis is on how the shared experience across our four countries can shape ongoing ministry efforts.�

Bishop Lowe pointed to St John Paul II�s address to M?ori in 1986 as providing a blueprint for indigenous ministry that remains relevant.

The Holy Father said to M?ori: �Treasure your culture, let the Gospel of Christ continue to penetrate and permeate it confirming your sense of identity as a unique part of God�s household. It is as M?ori that the Lord calls you; it is as M?ori that you belong to the Church, the one Body of Christ.�

�Forty years on, our challenge is how as Church we present the Gospel to M?ori and how Katorika M?ori can enrich the Church here in our land,� Bishop Steve said.

�Sharing our experiences and hearing the experience of indigenous from other countries enriches our journeying together.�

Among other aspirations for the fledgling group is to become a voice for matters relevant to the life, needs and contributions of indigenous Catholic communities.

Manuel Beazley, who chairs Te R?p? M?ori, an advisory group to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, said that voice has been growing within the Church�s halls of power.

�I was fortunate to be one of a number of First Nations peoples to participate in the Synod on Synodality, which ensured that our unique voice and our unique understanding formed part of the Church�s ongoing work to find ways to walk together as the Body of Christ,� he said.

�Our ICCI gathering will carry forward those conversations in a focused way and in ways we hope can augment current initiatives to minister well to indigenous Catholics.�

About 50 delegates from the four countries are expected to attend the gathering, along with two officials from the Vatican�s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.