Antoine Marie Garin

Antoine Marie Garin

First "Provincial" of the Oceania Missions, 1841-1843

Antoine Marie Garin was born on 23 July 1810 at St Rambert-en-Bugey, Ain in the diocese of Belley, and ordained a diocesan priest on 19 October 1834. For three years he worked in the parish of Chalamont before applying to join the Society of Mary in order to go on the foreign missions. He was professed on 21 November 1840 and the following month left for Oceania, arriving in the Bay of Islands (New Zealand) on 14 June 1841.

Six weeks after Garin’s arrival, Jean-Baptiste Epalle reported to Colin that Garin has been selected to act as provincial superior. He had been nominated "Provincial" by Pompallier and so was religious superior of the missionaries. With Epalle, Garin had revised a rule, but a few months later was requesting from Colin a rule for a Provincial. He reported back to Colin on the state and the needs of the missionaries. Pompallier moved Garin into active ministry during 1843, where Garin threw himself with great zeal into working with Māori in Northland and, later with Europeans settlers.

He looked after the Mangakahia mission station from September 1843. This area also covered Kaipara, on the west coast and he would travel frequently to Whangarei on the east coast. In a letter he wrote in April 1846, he described himself as, variously, "a carpenter, a wheelwright, a gardener, a tailor, a mason, a bookbinder, a chemist, a farmer, a vinedresser, and a doctor"! In January 1848, he moved to Howick, near Auckland, as chaplain to the Fencibles, with communities also at Panmure and Otahuhu. Although he did not relish ministering to the Irish he grew very fond of them over the next two years, and it was with deep mutual regret that he left there in 1850 because of the dispute with Bishop Pompallier and the division of New Zealand into two dioceses.

Bishop Viard, the Vicar Apostolic of the Diocese of Wellington, posted Garin to Nelson. He immediately began to minister to the young town and the whole surrounding countryside, a huge area. The town had a small chapel which was built in 1847 by Fr Jeremiah O'Reily OFM Cap, who had resided in Wellington since 1843. It was an overwhelming task, but fortunately he had the help of Br Claude-Marie Bertrand who was with Garin in Nelson from the start. Claude-Marie taught in the Nelson school, as Archbishop Francis Redwood was to later acknowledge. Garin recognised that Claude-Marie was an integral element of his mission, remarking on several occasions to their superiors that it was Claude-Marie who cared for the boarders, prepared the church for services and led the church music. Garin was a priest on his own until July 1851 when, fortunately, he was given his first assistant, Delphin Moreau. Garin’s travels to all his parishioners took him over hundreds of miles every year over extremely difficult terrain.

Garin had a great concern for education and opened his first school in 1850. It quickly achieved a reputation for excellence and in 1867 Garin succeeded in obtaining Government aid for Catholic schools. His other concern was for young orphans. He opened his first orphanage in 1872 and in later years opened another, so having one for boys and one for girls.

He was a strong defender of the faith against religious bigotry, often disarming his opponents by his language, dignity and sincerity. He defended the right of the Sisters of the Mission to wear their religious habit when they arrived in Nelson in 1862. In 1863 he spent some time in the Redwoods' home recuperating from serious illness which almost killed him. For the rest of his life, he was to be in poor health. Despite his growing weakness he remained undaunted and struggled on, determined to be a good example to the young missionaries.

On 19 October 1884 Garin celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his priesthood. Among those honouring him that day was Dr Francis Redwood, Bishop of Wellington and former pupil of Garin in his younger missionary days. The last five years of his life were difficult as he came to terms with his failing health. The Apostle of Nelson and first Marist religious superior of the Missions, Antoine Marie Garin, died on 14 April 1889.

Addendum

ANTOINE MARIE GARIN: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF THE INTERCULTURAL DYNAMIC IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY NEW ZEALAND

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in French in the University of Canterbury by Giselle Larcombe. University of Canterbury 2009

This edited extract (pp.182-189) is used with permission by Giselle Larcombe (2025).

Provincial, 1841-1843

Garin’s Authority as Provincial

On 31 July 1841, six weeks after the arrival of the fifth group of missionaries in Kororareka, Jean-Baptiste Épalle reported to Colin that Garin had been selected to stay in Kororareka to act as provincial superior, taking over from Épalle. Pompallier had chosen between Garin and Michel Borjon, both of whom had two years of experience as seminary teachers at Meximieux and Belley respectively though Borjon had been the spiritual director – essentially the role of provincial superior – on Garin’s voyage. However, it was Borjon who was sent to the Maketu mission that Garin had expected to serve. Although Garin was to do some evangelizing work, if time allowed, his provincial duties were to be his first priority and he was not given responsibility for a mission station, and thus his original vision of missionary work in New Zealand was relinquished in deference to his bishop’s orders. He pointed this out to Colin two months later, adding that:

However, thanks to the ability the good God has given me to yield serenely to the will of my Superiors, I am happy in my position, my soul is not tempted by it to be anxious; rather even I may have to fear going into [this role] with too much eagerness.

Coterminous with Garin’s appointment, Pompallier named three pro-vicars in New Zealand: Philippe Viard, who was to accompany the bishop on his travels; Claude-André Baty, who was to be based in Auckland and deal with the English authorities; and Épalle, who was to be based at Kororareka and replace the bishop in his absence as well as tending to the procure.

While Épalle said of Garin’s appointment as provincial,

Everything seems to be settling down on a good footing and seems to me to be in good hands.

The fact that Pompallier made the appointments was indicative of the misunderstandings that were arising between the Bishop and Colin, exacerbated by the time it took for letters to travel between France and Oceania. As noted, before Pompallier’s departure for New Zealand, Colin had asked him to act as the religious superior of the original group.

Confusion then appears to have arisen over who had the right to appoint a religious superior or provincial from among the Marist missionaries. Pompallier showed Garin letters in which he was given express permission to appoint a provincial by Victor Poupinel, who was Colin’s secretary and the procurator for the Marist Pacific missions, but at the same time Pompallier claimed that only Colin had the right to change the provincial. Less than two months later Garin was advised by Pompallier that only Colin had the power to both appoint and to change the provincial.

Despite this, Pompallier appears to have selected first Petit, then Épalle, and finally Garin, without any prior consultation with the Marist Superior. From the very beginning Garin found himself caught up in the problems that were developing between his ecclesiastical and religious superiors. Achieving harmony on the missions had been a constant source of concern for Propaganda Fide ever since its foundation in 1622. As late as 19 December 1839 a meeting of cardinals was held to discuss issues arising from the relationship of missionaries to vicars apostolic and to diocesan bishops. As John Hosie notes, Pompallier and Colin were becoming entangled in ‘a centuries-old dispute’ between the ecclesiastical or mission superior on the one hand, and the religious superior on the other.

What was fundamentally at issue was their respective authority over the missionaries. According to Hosie, church law, based on monarchical authority, was particularly strong in the nineteenth century, and presumed that proper authority in any dispute lay with the religious in charge (p. 24). In the mission this was Pompallier, and not Colin. Because of the complete authority that vicars apostolic were granted, Pompallier could disregard Colin’s wishes over how missionaries were appointed; Colin was concerned that the Marists, who were having problems with Pompallier, could be locked into his vicariate and unable to be transferred back to France (p. 25). In Pompallier and Colin’s case, the situation had been complicated further by the fact that Colin had designated Pompallier as religious superior for the Oceania missionaries. Pompallier explained to Colin at the end of 1841 that he had decided to delegate the role of religious superior to a Marist missionary because Colin was resolved to ‘ exclude from the congregation those whom the Holy See raises to the episcopate'; and being delegated as religious superior had left Pompallier ‘in a position where the most skillful spiritual master could never govern' .

There was, then, considerable doubt over whether Pompallier had the authority to appoint Garin as provincial. Interestingly, Colin made a formal request to Rome on 21 June 1842 to establish in New Zealand a provincial to represent the superior general of the Society, and he took the step in late 1841 of sending Marist Visitor Jean Forest as his ‘second self’ to visit the Oceania missions and assess the religious life of the missionaries and how they were observing the Marist rule. Pompallier would eventually appoint Forest to take over the role of provincial from Garin.

That in mid-1843 Forest advised Colin to appoint the provincial himself, and to give that person clear direction on the limits of Pompallier’s power over the missionaries, plainly demonstrates the confusion that reigned over the role of provincial and the administration of the mission as a whole at this time. In fact, the formal ' ' ‘Règles du provincial dans les missions étrangères’, which outlined the responsibilities of a provincial to the Marist Society, Marist superior, vicar apostolic, and missionaries, in addition to the terms of nomination of a provincial and the basis of his authority, were not written by Colin until 1845.

Garin’s appointment as provincial was therefore a clear reflection of the troubles that were emerging between Colin and Pompallier. One can only imagine with what dismay Colin received the news ' ' ‘ I thank you most sincerely, my most reverend father, for sending us the reverend Father Garin. He has become our provincial father'. Not only had Garin been chosen by Pompallier without consulting Colin, but Garin was not a seasoned Marist, having made his profession on the day of his departure for Oceania.

Being Provincial

Garin thus found himself based at the Bay of Islands at the Marists’ central headquarters as provincial, with the support of a superior in Épalle, and the companionship of a number of Marist priests, brothers, novices and laymen who worked at various times at the station, including Petit Jean and Jean-François Yvert. The French mission headquarters with its beach frontage and conglomeration of brightly painted buildings was prominent in Kororareka, as suggested by the description that Vicar General of Sydney William Ullathorne gave of the town following a December 1840 visit to Pompallier. According to Ullathorne,

The town at that time consisted of a native pah, a small British settlement, and the French Mission […] [The priests’] residence was of wood, and their little wooden church, bright with green paint, stood adjoining: small as it was, it had its font, confessional and all appointments complete.’

In addition to acting as the base for the provincial, the Kororareka headquarters functioned as a mission station and parish under the care of Petit Jean, a supply base under Épalle as provicar and procurator, and a residence for Marists who newly arrived, between mission stations, or completing their novitiate.

According to the instructions that Pompallier gave Forest in 1843, the main tasks of the provincial were spiritual direction, visits and retreats, meaning that he was essentially Colin’s representative in Oceania. Although it does not appear that Garin had such explicit guidance from Pompallier, given that he asked Colin in early 1842 to send him a rule that explained his responsibilities as provincial, his central preoccupations were the same as Forest’s. Garin gave Yvert and another novice, Brother Pierre Marie (Pierre) Pérénon, daily philosophy lessons and a weekly theology lesson, and on Sundays held a class and spiritual meeting to explain the rule. Notably, he held the first ever retreat for the New Zealand missionaries in November 1841, following what he had learned at past retreats at Belley and Meximieux. The fact that he was the first provincial to organize a retreat suggests his diligence in the role and understanding of the issues facing the missionaries: the lack of communal life afforded on the missions had been one of the grievances presented to Colin by Servant in his 1840 letter on the state of the vicariate.

In France, annual retreats were an important part of Colin’s approach to his role as superior general, as he believed they allowed confrères to acquire and maintain the same Marist spirit. Garin’s retreat followed Colin’s model meticulously, including the confirmation of vows, and though the brothers were also forced to work on the building for the printing press throughout the retreat, Garin endeavored to involve them by relating their tasks to those of the holy family. Unfortunately, the demands of the mission were such that the retreat could only be attended by the priests, brothers and novices based at the Hokianga and Kororareka missions and also had to be held in Pompallier’s absence. While Garin’s role in administration set him apart from his contemporaries by allowing him to continue living in a Marist community and to assume leadership in certain areas, his correspondence as provincial constitutes another way in which his early experience on the mission considerably reflected the difficulties that were faced by the Marists.

ANOTHER USEFUL REFERENCE ON GARIN

John V. Broadbent. 'Garin, Antoine Marie', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, [1] (accessed 13 August 2025).

Notes

Pompallier

Delegated Religious Superiors 1836-1898

Forest