One of the recommendations\u00a0from last year\u2019s Synod was that\u00a0the \u201cArchdiocese deepens its\u00a0understanding of Te Ao M\u0101ori\u00a0and embraces biculturalism as an\u00a0integral part of all its activities and\u00a0decisions.\u201d
\nAs a Parish, we are seeking to do\u00a0this by improving the use of Te Reo\u00a0in our Masses. This article by Msgr\u00a0Gerard Burns will give us a better\u00a0understanding of the reasons why\u00a0we use Te Reo M\u0101ori in our liturgies.<\/p>\n
by Msgr Gerard Burns<\/em><\/p>\n New Zealand society is changing in ways we don\u2019t always notice when we are amidst them. I recently heard a Kiwi who had lived in England\u00a0for 10 years saying she needed a dictionary now if she read a New\u00a0Zealand newspaper. Why? Because there were so many M\u0101ori words\u00a0that had entered the vocabulary no longer being translated.<\/p>\n What are some examples of these words? Tangi, kaum\u0101tua,\u00a0mokopuna, hui, rangatira, kai, wh\u0101nau, mahi, wharenui, etc. Attitudes\u00a0are changing and language knowledge is changing.<\/p>\n Our own observations tell us New Zealand is becoming more ethnically\u00a0diverse. The last 30 years have also seen a fuller development of what\u00a0was begun with the Treaty of Waitangi. New Zealand\u2019s system of\u00a0government was established on a recognition of the M\u0101ori as the first\u00a0peoples of the country.<\/p>\n Although the Treaty was ignored for more than 100 years by\u00a0parliaments, government departments and judiciary its consequences\u00a0have gradually been unfolding. Part of this has been the recognition of\u00a0te reo M\u0101ori as an official language of New Zealand.<\/p>\n So the new official publication of the revised English translation of\u00a0the Mass contains the Mass prayers in M\u0101ori and English. Priests are\u00a0encouraged to make use of both. All this is different from the 1980s\u00a0when there was an uproar over a telephone operator greeting callers\u00a0with a simple \u2018Kia ora\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018Kia ora\u2019 is also a beautiful phrase. I like to translate it as \u2018May you have\u00a0life\u2019, a wonderful thing to wish anyone. Using the M\u0101ori translations of\u00a0Mass prayers acknowledges the first language of this land, recognises\u00a0those with M\u0101ori whakapapa, and signals a respect for other languages\u00a0than the dominant English.<\/p>\n It also picks up the encouragement of our country\u2019s bishops over the\u00a0last 30 years. The anthropological studies of Fr Gerald Arbuckle SM in\u00a0the 1970s (such as The Church in a Multicultural Society, 1976) showed\u00a0the need for recognition of Maori especially and of new migrants.\u00a0The Bishops\u2019 statement for the 150th anniversary of the Treaty, \u20181990 A Commemoration Year \u2013 He Tau Whakamaharatanga m\u014d Aotearoa<\/a>\u2019 outlines their response.<\/p>\n The Bishops remind us of our heritage from the original Catholic mission\u00a0to Aotearoa. Bishop Pompallier and his early companions came to\u00a0work among Maori. Pompallier also made a significant contribution at\u00a0Waitangi when the Treaty was signed. To use Maori language, songs\u00a0and symbols appropriately in liturgy is to pick up that heritage.<\/p>\n These matters can spark questions. One senior parishioner used to chide\u00a0me when I did the final blessing of the Mass in M\u0101ori. She said: \u2018Why are\u00a0you doing that when we don\u2019t have any M\u0101ori in our congregation?\u2019\u00a0My response was twofold: \u2018How do you know? We don\u2019t necessarily\u00a0know everyone\u2019s lineage here! Besides, as M\u0101ori is an official language\u00a0in the country we can use it in public.\u2019<\/p>\n Of course this is not to exclude other languages or cultures. The\u00a0recognition and participation of all is important, not just in terms of\u00a0language and song but also through participation in the ministries and\u00a0life of the parish generally.<\/p>\n This is not always easy but there are several examples of good practice\u00a0around the Archdiocese that can help us in the process.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the recommendations\u00a0from last year\u2019s Synod was that\u00a0the \u201cArchdiocese deepens its\u00a0understanding of Te Ao M\u0101ori\u00a0and embraces biculturalism as an\u00a0integral part of all its activities and\u00a0decisions.\u201d As a Parish, we Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3802"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3808,"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3802\/revisions\/3808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellingtonsouthcatholic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}