The efforts of a local Catholic Father to acknowledge the long relationship between Maori and Pakeha within the Catholic faith have also created a special bond with the leader of another faith group.
Yesterday, Mormon Bishop Jared Riwai-Couch, his wife Melanie, and Chairman of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu (the local Maori tribe) Mark Solomon, together presented two Maori cloaks to Father John Craddock and the Sacred Heart Parish in Addington, Christchurch. The presentation was overseen by Most Reverend Barry Jones DD, Bishop of Christchurch
The purpose of the event was to acknowledge the 175th anniversary of the arrival in Aotearoa/New Zealand of Marist missionaries from the Catholic faith.
Bishops in the Momon faith are not paid for their service and will usually have their own employment during the week. Bishop Riwai-Couch's work includes designing and making Maori cloaks and he says he was privileged to be commissioned with this special responsibility to design the two cloaks for the Sacred Heart Church.