Archbishop of York Visits New Zealand

The Archbishop of York at Taranaki Cathedral

This began with a powhiri (Maori welcome) in front of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell. The Archbishop went on to preach at Evensong on the theme of crisis.

The Archbishop's visit has taken him to Taranaki in New Plymouth where at the end of his first week, he celebrated the inauguration of St Mary's Pro Cathedral to full cathedral status. 

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He was joined by former governor-general Bishop Sir Paul Reeves at Owae Marae (a major marae) in Waitara. The Archbishop's speech gave out a strong message about working towards reconciliation of land issues. He also spoke about the importance of holding justice and love together.

During his time at Owae Marae, the Archbishop was briefed on some of the history and in particular the significance of the approaching anniversary of the Pekapeka block incident in Waitara which sparked the land wars in Taranaki.

The Archbishop of York takes part in Q&A's with Taranaki senior school pupils

He also visited Parihaka Marae where he was welcomed by around 50 people, including many children. Parihaka has extraordinary significance in the history of New Zealand. The Archbishop enjoyed not only the welcome and the singing but the Hongi (the Maori welcome of rubbing noses). When faced with children all lined up, the Archbishop said "The only way to do it was kneeling."

"It doesn't matter how good, how great you are, you are all on the same level. That kind of levelling is amazing."

The first week of the visit gave the Archbishop the opportunity to meet with community leaders, youth and church leaders at a variety of events.

The Archbishop was guest speaker at the annual Regional Leaders Forum hosted by the Bishop of Taranaki and the Bishop's Action Foundation. The focus of the forum was bringing regional leaders in business, education, industry, local and central government politics together to think and talk together about the challenges and opportunity of leadership.

Following a visit to New Plymouth Prison, the Archbishop joined representatives from nine Taranaki secondary schools. The senior students had the opportunity to showcase their talent before taking part in a question and answer session with the Archbishop. The questions ranged from global warming to perceived inconsistencies between the Old and New Testaments. 

The culmination of the week's events was the dedication of St Mary's Cathedral and the installation of the first Dean of Taranaki. The Archbishop gave the sermon to a packed congregation and said:

"The unity of this spiritual building is vitally important. If we are divided we can't join in Christ's working of making all people God's friends."

During his second week in New Zealand, the Archbishop visited the Diocese of Christchurch. The Archbishop was given a Maori welcome when he arrived in Christchurch and met a cross-section of the community as well as church members. The Archbishop spoke about the interface of the Church and community when it comes to social change.

The Archbishop made time to be interviewed by Kim Hill for Radio New Zealand. In this interview he spoke about his time in Uganda, his role as Archbishop of York, the idea of a multicultural society and the situation in Zimbabwe.

The Archbishop addressed the Diocesan Conference. He spoke of his experiences of when the Church has been an effective agent of social change, and also spoke about how each person can be a force for good and an agent for change in the local situation.

His last day was spent visiting a marae at Te Wai Pounamu where he was welcomed by the Head of the Maori Anglican Church in the South Island, Bishop John Gray.

* All photographs courtesy of Rob Tucker and reproduced with kind permission.  All rights reserved.