January 30, 2015
God speaks in te reo
A leading Maori Catholic says maintaining enough priests who can deliver the Mass in Maori is a critical issue for the church.
Danny Karatea-Goddard from Te Runanga o Te Hahi Katorika ki Aotearoa says the issue raised by Christchurch Bishop Barry Jones is timely.
He says as the number of priests decline in the orders which historically ran the Maori missions, diocesan priests are expected to pick up the role, but many are too old to easily learn a new language.
Mr Karatea-Goddard grew up hearing the Mass in Maori, and it’s something he wants his children to also experience.
"When God talks to me he talks in te reo. The Maori Mass was the only Mass I knew and certainly in the central North Island, Ngapuhi, around the Bay of Plenty, all those areas where you have high density Maori populations, all those communities would only know the Maori Mass. If they were to go to an English Mass they might feel a bit lost," he says.
Mr Karatea-Goddard says as the Maori renaissance continues, churches need to support the efforts of Maori to retain language and culture.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH DANNY KARATEA GODDARD CLICK ON THE LINK
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MjU4OTA=
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