Pompallier - the return journey (Hikoi)

Pat Lythe reports on the return journey
of the remains of Bishop Pompallier to New Zealand.

Thirty-seven pilgrims left Aotearoa-New Zealand on the 30st December embarking on a spiritual journey of  incredible power and significance.

The highlight of the first stage in Rome was the audience with the Pope when the haka rang out in the papal chamber and the group was privileged to surround the Holy Father for a group photo.  Rome also saw a visit to the Church of the Immaculate Conception where Pompallier's ordination as bishop was commemorated in karanga, karakia, stories and hymns.

Second Stage: Lyon in France

The second stage in Lyon saw each one of us uncover or discover important connections as we retold the stories and retraced the steps of so many of our important tupuna (ancestors) in the faith - Pompallier of course, but also Suzanne Aubert, Sts Marcellin Champagnat and Peter Chanel, John Claude Colin, Fr Epalle and the founders of the SMSM's and Sisters of the Missions.

All these respective founders came from Lyons in the nineteenth century and were connected with the mission in the Pacific and New Zealand. At each significant stop - simple country birthplace, parish church, great Cathedrals - the wairua of the occasion was marked by multi-lingual liturgies and rituals of acknowledgement, and the pilgrims were received with overwhelming joy, participation and hospitality from the locals.  We visited many churches, St Nizier, the Cathedral of St Jean, Notre Dame de Fourviere, where a scroll containing the names of all the missionaries who were sent out from Lyon are inscribed, including of course, Pompallier. We also visited the places where the Marist community in the early 1800’s trained and talked together and planned their incredible missions.

Third Stage: Paris

On to Paris for the fulfilment of the kaupapa of the hikoi - the uplifting of the remains of Bishop Pompallier in the frosty dawn at Puteaux cemetery. This unique ceremony of incredible dignity touched us all to the depths of our being. Then came the solemn procession of the coffin covered by a korowai through the opened great doors of Notre Dame de Paris: his lying in state all day at a side chapel which became a marae for the occasion as we kept vigil, praying and singing: until he was borne in the entrance procession for the final poignant and joyful evening Mass, celebrated by Cardinal Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris, Bishop Baldelli the Apostolic Nuncio in France and Bishop Pat Dunn who preached in fluent French and English. The hymns were all in Maori, Mo Maria at the end being the first time a Maori hymn to Our Lady has seen sung in the 900 year old history of the great church.

Led by the 10th successor to Pompallier, the poly-lingual Bishop Pat who celebrated Mass in four languages, by Pa Tate whose dream has been fulfilled, and supported by Fr Jean-Yves Riocreux of France, were the pilgrim kaumatua and kuia from the Hokianga, members of the Marist family, priest and brothers, Compassion and Mercy sisters and others who are linked in some way to this kaupapa.  All have been profoundly moved by this journey in which the history of our faith has been lived and recovered.