Girard0091

17 May 1841 — Bishop Jean-Baptiste- François Pompallier to Father Jean-Claude Colin, Bay of Islands

Translated by Mary Williamson, January 2020

Based on the document sent, APM OOc 418.1.

Four sheets of “Bath” paper, forming fifteen written pages, the sixteenth having the annotation of Poupinel and that of Courtais.

[p.16] [in Poupinel’s handwriting]

New Zealand / Bay of Islands 17 May 1841 / Bishop Pompallier.

[in the handwriting of Courtais]

Document belonging to the procure of the missions of Oceania — Lyon — / at Lyon. 5 December 1842 / Eugène Courtais / sm

[stamp, black ink]

[p.1]

Jesus Mary Joseph

Mission of the Assumption of Mary, New Zealand. 17 May 1841.

Bay of Islands,

To the Reverend Father Colin, Superior of the Society of Mary in Lyon, France.

My Very Reverend Father,

Pax X.

[1]

The delay in your letters, in your sending of helpers and in the sending of allocations from the Propagation of the Faith is a real disaster for this mission, a disaster so great that it is heading it towards ruin. Also the suffering that it causes me is greater than any that comes to me from other sources. All the perils that I have endured, all the weariness from apostolic works, all my concerns to protect my flock against the assault of heresy, against the incursion of passions and the traps of the devil, have not beaten down my strength as much as the terrible trial of the deprivation of support that divine providence has created in the church to give life to and conserve the work that I hold in my feeble hands, which is so vast and so dear that the lack of action (from whatever the cause might be) concerning the requests that I make of you, or the commissions that I present to you, is disastrous for this mission! For more than three years I have asked for printing presses to be bought with the funds of the Propagation of the Faith; also large images of the mysteries of our Lord and of the very Holy Virgin, or a portrait of our Holy Father the Pope, and I still have not received any of that at all.

[2]

I have sent notes on the main books that should make up the library for the missionaries that you send me; and I see that they bring, at great expense, many books that, although very good in themselves, are almost no use to them here, whilst they do not bring those and especially that one which, in my current circumstances, is indispensable to them, as for example, a commentary on the holy writings of Minochius. How afflicted I still am following the lack of helpers and of support during the first 17 months in New Zealand, of the continuous anxiety of finding myself (with more numerous missionaries and more onerous burdens, for example than that of a very expensive ship) in the same difficulties and privations having, according to a letter from you and a notification from the association of the Propagation of the Faith, bought, ten months ago, a schooner, which absorbed almost all my funds. Counting then on very prompt help to maintain the means necessary for the works of this mission, I was obliged, because of hardship and the delay in your communications, to borrow, four months ago, about twenty thousand francs from the bank in Kororareka at a rate of ten percent. And was extremely happy to be able to find a source of borrowing, otherwise the mission would be broke, I would have to be dispossessed; from there, loss of confidence, of consideration, humiliation for our blessed ministry and triumph for heresy, which maligns me ceaselessly. Nevertheless, alas, at the end of this month the term for the loan notes expires and if the people and help that I await from day to day have not arrived by 1 June, they will have the right, (even if they do not do it) to take over my property and make me submit to all the consequences that I have just spoken about.

[3]

That is not all, the shortage of helpers, as I have only received two, Father Pezant and Father Tripe, in a year and a half or at least 17 months, that is to say from 10 December 1839 till today, 17 May 1841 and still I do not know how much time will pass without receiving what I am waiting for, this shortage, I tell you, is the cause of the loss of perhaps more than 8000 souls, who had at first turned towards the Catholic faith according to my predictions, and who, wearied and vexed from awaiting the results of my promises, that is to say, the sending of some priests to nurture them, have succumbed to the temptations of heresy, to the calumnies that it pours out and in the end they have reasoned thus: it is better to have protestant ministers than have nothing at all, since the Bishop of the mother church has not kept his word.

[4]

I have had the wonderful pleasure of covering, in person, all of New Zealand, that is to say, almost all the places that are inhabited on the two main islands, the one called Teikanomawi and the other te Waipounamu. The people in general have been docile but full of confidence and affection for the vicar of the successor of Saint Peter, who brought them the good news. But alas! It was impossible for him, with nine priests who work with him, to be, as I say, simultaneously everywhere in the country. But heresy, more fortunate, is everywhere, with more that 22 stations of missionaries spread in an orderly fashion in all the areas where we are and in all the areas where we are not.

[5]

A Bishop and some priests continually on the field of battle cannot write as often and as lengthily as they would wish. Nevertheless, how numerous are the letters that we have sent! As well, surrounded by heresy here, situated in regions at the ends of the earth, it is easy to imagine that our letters might suffer delays, get lost or be intercepted. Not to decide in Lyon to send us helpers and our allocations [from the Propagation] of the Faith, the only resource that we have here to subsist, that is to obviously expose the mission and all the missionaries to perhaps lose their lives in the most deplorable misery. Alas, my Reverend Father, I say this with inexpressible pain, before the divine master, for whom I judge myself a very happy christian to have been chosen to support so many tribulations and so much suffering, the greatest blow which has struck our work in this mission comes from the absence of your correspondence with me.

[6]

Here in New Zealand, as I have already said many times in my preceding letters, there is no base to call on for resources to assist the clergy: The natives live nude; the Europeans are mainly Protestant; the Catholics are poor and finding things difficult in a country where industry is in its infancy. The charity of the faithful of the older churches, and the Propagation of the Faith, are our only resources in New Zealand; in the tropics the missions are not so costly.

[7]

It is essential, my Reverend Father, that the assistance of the faithful be sent to me regularly, either by new missionaries sent twice a year, or every six months, who will deposit their funds in secure banks, to draw out in triplicate the interest and bring it with them to be remitted to me here in the bank of Kororareka or in some other bank in Sydney, whatever you may wish. Or if you do not have any people ready, have the funds remitted to a secure English bank and send me without delay the receipts in triplicate by three different channels.

[8]

But it is not just a question of funds, but also of your letters, which can meet the same fate as ours in their travels. It would be better to send us, every six months, (in the circumstances where you might not have any people ready) a member of the congregation as messenger to come and find us, bringing the receipts for the funds deposited in Europe, with which we would be able to draw on the banks in this country, and to bring us all the letters and commissions . After which, if necessary, he would set out again forthwith for Lyon: This would be an exercise in economy and a saving for the mission instead of successive journeys of this type.

[9]

I also believe that every year or two it would be good if a person from the mission left to be with you. I think that as soon as new people would arrive I could send you one of the current missionaries from the mission.

[10]

As for news that I have for you from the mission, it is quite satisfactory for the areas that we are in at present; but we are not working in half the areas that I was to cover before sending out missionaries; and in all these areas the mission is languishing, we go out in bits and pieces and if we wait three months more before placing a priest, the church will have lost a fine harvest that I had gathered like sheaves, but that the workers would not have gathered into the barns of the father of the family. Heresy and corruption will have made the saddest of ravages. It is a miracle how this mission can still hold up.

[11]

Duperron (former Brother of Mary) has been struck by the hand of the Lord. On the day of the celebration of the Immaculate Conception, he was hunting some distance from Kororareka. In a certain position, where his two arms were leant on the barrel of his rifle, it fired and pierced both his arms; he immediately headed to the home of the gentleman in Kororareka where he was in service after having quit the house of the Lord, but the distance to cover was rather long and he had lost a lot of blood by the time he arrived. Then he died a few days later, having not wished to make his confession, the poor wretch! His body is in the cemetery and may his soul be before God!

[12]

Another misfortune for this mission comes from some occult impulse or from some private idea of the priests who are attached to me in this mission; I have noticed from the beginning, when I left France, and especially since I left Valparaiso, that on many occasions there is a certain apprehension of spirit which, in my rapport with them, makes them seem as if on guard, as if everything that I have to say to them or must request for their apostolic work, is going to be a blow to the rights of the congregation or in general; I have been made to feel on many occasions that they would rather have a religious superior and not have any further dealings with me except through this religious worker, or at least not have to obey me except for things within the pastoral ministry, with, however, this continual watch over whether my orders are in accord with the rules and the spirit of the rules. These sorts of measures make a Bishop, in the midst of his clergy, seem like an extra volume of theology in the library, that one can consult and follow as long as reason and conscience can see all the reasons and all the motives that are put forward to be adopted. Grand illusion, disastrous illusion. Books supply principles and sentiments, but a legitimate authority gives the orders, carries out the admonitions, the reprimands, that are the application of the principles for the circumstances, according to the happenings and the people, which requires some human beings, not an intrinsic rationale, but a cordial docility in Jesus Christ. To wish to obey, to be convinced of this obligation, to have the determination, but to be always examining the superior and his motives, that is to lack the very soul of obedience, that is to say, that cordial docility; that is to wish to obey only one’s reasoning and oneself; that is practical protestantism, just as those who place themselves too much in their own hands carry out practical pelagianism, even though neither the ones nor the others would wish, for all the world, to indulge in these two heresies.

[13]

As well, with each communication that is made, one brings a decision on a new rule that we did not have before, another brings another, often the same, with each person keeping it to themselves, without me knowing anything about it, neither from them nor from any written word from you, so that the usual provisional ruling has been dropped, while I believed that it was still being observed. So seeing in my letters from you, an organisation of religious superiority on these subjects, an overt and contrary course of management, I rapidly departed from this route. For two years, I have had a priest who watches over the management of the regulations and to be, in this role, the religious superior; nobody has made any objection. All I ask now is the carrying out of the obligation where one and all in the mission obey the vicar apostolic according to the brief that the Holy Father has given me and consequently, according to the fourth commandment of God, that is to say, one applies to this Christian obedience the qualities that it should have, gentle obedience. But although I am not exactly disobeyed, it is noticeable that my intentions, my wishes and my feelings are from a heart that others cannot understand, the letter of the law is followed but the spirit at the heart of obedience is not understood and so the way of doing things, the way of behaving in the mission, is sometimes very different from what the Bishop desires for the good of his flock and without the goodwill that should accompany his authority.

[14]

The principles that should be instilled in the noviciate should be these:

[15]

[1] That the novices all remain in general training for rules and personal perfection, but must all be under the vicar apostolic ( I mean in the mission) for rituals, the sacred ministry and the salvation of the flock for whom they have responsibility, as well as for themselves, at this point.

[16]

[2] That there is a great difference for the religious priests between being in the holy ministry of the everyday dioceses and being in an apostolic curacy in a mission amongst infidels. In the first case, the holy ministry is not, accurately speaking, that of the Holy See; the religious priests only find themselves as auxiliary troops beside and amidst an ordinary diocesan clergy: There, the bishop has his clergy, his flock is provided and he can do without the strictness required with the regulars, to let them work on their own perfection, without the holy ministry suffering noticeably. That is why the superiors in the orders can easily manage their trainees, send them away, call them back, almost as the fancy takes them, without needing to obtain formal consent from the bishop to recall them , even though they might need it for their introduction.

[17]

But it is not the same in the second case, or at least for this mission, according to the brief given to the vicar apostolic and according to the explanations given to him in Rome by the holy congregation of Propagation of the Faith. The religious priests here belong to the Holy See, in a ministry of the Holy See in the person of the vicar apostolic; here all the clergy of the Bishop are of this religious order themselves; he finds himself with all of them, in a special way, in the ship of Saint Peter; and it is necessary, as in a ship, a total obedience to the person who governs and a great togetherness, otherwise there is a risk of shipwreck. Once the mission is accepted, the general cannot reject it by withdrawing his men, or one of his men, without the consent of the person who assigned it, or if it is a question of changing some of the men, without the consent of the person who commands the ship and the battle, for it is only he who is on the spot that can judge the harm that a changing of personnel can cause to an expedition of this nature. The ministry and the responsibility of the vicar apostolic are nothing other than the presence of the Holy See in the place that he has been sent, as is shown even by the name that is given to him; this person is and is not of the congregation, he remains a member of it and at the same time he is the immediate subject of the Holy See; the religious priests of the same congregation who are his assistants as missionaries, also remain members of the congregation and are at the same time, in parallel, members of the Holy See in the person of the vicar apostolic: That is what explains the manner of speaking that was used to me in Rome at the Propagation. You and your missionaries, you are and are not part of the Congregation of Mary; and it was added that all the current foreign missions are on this footing, ever since the establishment of the Propagation of the Faith; as for the rest, there was nothing there to trouble consciences, to immediately obey the head superior of the church, that is not to start on a road of imperfection or especially of schism; for basically our Holy Father the Pope is certainly the superior of the church, the dioceses and the religious orders, the bishops and the generals.

[18]

Now, the spirit and the judicious and practical consequences of the state of things in this mission are not, in my opinion, private, nor the result of a willingness undertaken then stopped by myself, they are, I have the personal and obvious conviction, the result of the intentions and writings of pastoral jurisdiction that the Holy See has indicated to me and presented for these countries that are so remote. The Holy Father has spoken himself and in the Propagation; I am, despite my unworthiness, his vicar; I should, as is my personal duty, observe his orders and have them carried out in every way he wishes; His Holiness no doubt deserves on my behalf and from me personally on behalf of all my missionaries, as much perfection, Christian and clerical obedience, as all generals giving orders deserve from their subjects, perfection of Christian and religious obedience.

[19]

The grounds that have made me withdraw from religious superiority have been reasons and actions that I am far from approving as a child of the Roman Catholic church; to give in writing a commission and to later see people carry out delegated decisions that I am not made aware of and which are contradictory to my direction here, to the directions that I give and that paralyse confidence and calm; without receiving any information by letter of what is verbally said to my inferiors who come to work under the delegator, it obviously causes confusion and division in people’s hearts, it makes a bishop and a superior suspect, it even makes them contemptible. Thus I have seen people arrive here having all my powers in their hands, completely self-sufficient, ignoring any consideration of me personally, showing contempt for the spiritual rules and arrangements that I have established from the beginning of the mission, not observing them at all, following other methods freshly brought from the noviciate and having these arrangements pass against the wishes of the bishop, the superior religious delegate, against even the leading pastor, the bishop and the members of his flock and of his collaborators. The works that I have carried out in these islands and that the Lord, in his mercy, has deigned to bless in such a prodigious manner, are a subject of upset for several who are employed in the mission, rather than grounds for gaining their confidence and their peace of mind. When I correct or reprimand someone, those who are concerned become silent, looking heavy hearted, looking upon themselves as innocent victims of prejudice against them rather than as being reprehensible. Those to whom they take their troubles, take their side fully and it would seem that this was a duty for almost all of them, to join together as a matter of honour against a poor bishop attacked by all the resources that hell has to offer. Such is the attitude that I have seen in several, in half of those that I have here in New Zealand. I have nevertheless more or less triumphed over it, but that has been by threatening to send them back to France at the first possible moment; then they have, with the exception of one, made humble apologies, so that they can now remain on the path of the apostolate if that pleases them.

[20]

The rumour has circulated amongst the priests here that all my clergy approved of neither my spiritual nor my temporal approach and nothing has been more pressing to some of the old hands than to hasten to repeat this in the ears of some new arrivals, to build their recent indifference towards me. I searched to find out whose tongues were inspired by some new holy spirit, but it seemed to be no one if not a priest named Comte, who apologised by asking me for a thousand pardons. Besides, I gave everybody to understand that I had absolutely no need to require the approval of my inferiors but indeed only their obedience and the need to carry out what I entrusted them with, not in the name of their general, but in the name of the Holy Father himself, who I represent where they are concerned.

[21]

What will become of this mission if the religious workers think that they only have to obey other religious workers, when God gives them superiors of the church to fulfil the sacred ministry? Alas! The previous suffering of many missions in the Indies will reappear, causing the loss of workers and of souls in these burgeoning churches of Oceania!

[22]

If the Marist priests coming to this mission do not understand the footing on which they find themselves here, if the congregation itself does not understand it clearly, the vicar apostolic here will not only have problems with the heresy of the Protestants, with the unfaithfulness and corruption of the libertines, but also with those they should be able to call their friends, their supporting arms, their eyes and their hearts, that is to say, they should march into battle with all these things ready in relation to Him.

[23]

At the noviciate they should so determinedly work towards this goal, that if you happened to hear of some fault committed by the vicar apostolic you should with prudence and from duty not speak about it to collaborators who are sent, but write immediately to the Holy See in the blessed congregation of the Propagation so that it alone can find a remedy, without paralysing the authority of the vicar apostolic.

[24]

But one thing that one should be very careful about, is to never accept as certain the reports of young priests, newly initiated into the sacred ministry, who are charged with working in places and in situations which do not make them aware of the general administration of the apostolic curacy; to wish, without the light of experience, to judge the princes of the church in their administration, of which they are not a part and that they are not in a position to know, will undoubtedly cause them to form relationships, which if they are believed will function badly, that he is angry, extremely angry, then the young priests coming to the mission, will not be inclined in practice to recognise a vicar apostolic except as a man to respect, as a person who one does not necessarily trust, from whom one only takes whatever suits his point of view, instead of thinking of him as the representative of the good shepherd for all his flock, as the master of the vineyard with competent authority, and with the skills that accompany it, the knowledge and prudence that is understood and, here in New Zealand, as the instrument who God has used to gather into his church, or his group of novices, most of the people who live in these two main islands! Alas! How distressed I am to see the amount of wood harvested rot on the spot, for lack of workers to gather it and work it! It would be better for me and for these people, for the Society to not entrust me with so much and to not take a step in advance, or at least to not conquer so much territory without soon having someone ready to occupy it! May the august virgin Mary, queen of the church, who we honour during this month and who showed herself so favourable towards the Society named for her and towards this mission, even from its inception, kindly wish to intercede for us! For nearly two years I have been greatly afflicted, but I have not spoken to you, up till now, of my troubles; it is only because at present I see the troubles of my vast flock and of several workers who toil there, that I have made up my mind to lay out the details that it was costing me too much to explain. And also I have not the time to tell you everything, I am overwhelmed with fatigue by the numerous letters that I have to write and with all the hellish harassments that I have to put up with. May the Lord be a thousand times blessed! With the crosses and the deep afflictions that he sends me, the joy and peace of my heart overflow, because he knows that it is for him and not for me that I suffer.

[25]

It is very important for you, my Reverend Father, and for the congregation, to not give the missionaries that you send me ideas of conduct concerning my pastoral authority that contradict in one way or another the steps that the Holy See has taken for this mission, before having obtained the permission of the sacred congregation of the Propagation of the Faith. And if the permission is obtained, you must not fail to send me proofs of it in writing, for I am in this state of mind where I regard as invalid all verbal reports that my inferiors will quote to me of decisions of the Holy See which repeal or modify the instructions and explanations that I have received in Rome, in the past, in a formal manner from the Holy Father and the Propagation and of which I have the written copies in my hands. I must have written proof to repeal or modify these writings. It is not my will that I claim to carry out; I realise that the hand of the sovereign pontiff, who has sent me here can take the position away and, an even stronger fact, can repeal or modify the rules of jurisdiction that His Holiness had first adopted, and according to which he judges things suitable according to the circumstances. But I could never believe that the Holy See has had come to me, by verbal reports of my inferiors in the mission, the repeals and modifications that it judges suitable to make in the areas of jurisdiction that it has conferred on me. You see then my Reverend Father, the resultant consequences that will occur if my missionaries come and repeat to me here, on the spot, as has already happened, the general idea that I ought to do or that we should do, or that we should decide on, a certain point or a certain other area of administration in such and such a manner, because no doubt it was suitable to the Holy See and nothing is done without them: This is a new way of doing things against which I protest here with all my strength, by this means it puts the congregation in the place of the Propagation and my missionaries, the only clergy that I have, as the director or the governor of the bishop: That is to go against the authority which has been given to me, it is an anti-Catholic practice, and contrary to the forward direction of the church. The feeling that results from such a practice is unrest among the inferiors with regard, as missionaries, to the superior of their mission. When I have noticed this inclination, I have shown and should show, after reasoning and persuasion, all the firmness that the disastrous results of this behaviour inspires in me, when leading of my dear flock. I have been obliged to make it understood that there is, between my authority for the apostolic works and the Holy Father for whom I am only the vicar, only the sacred congregation of the Propagation, which is a legal entity with His Holiness, that no other member of the congregation, if it is not their bishop, has that authority, that neither the general nor the entire congregation, nor any member in particular, other than the simple servant that Jesus Christ, through his vicar on earth has chosen, is competent in things that concern me in this matter; that they are obliged (my missionaries) to leave all advice and even more so, all orders and all decisions contrary to mine here on the spot, when they have come from anywhere other than the Propagation and in writing; that all that I see here on the spot, that might damage the mission, becomes the object of something I must personally defend and all that I see that should be necessary or greatly useful to us becomes the subject of an order. These reasons and other similar ones have lead back those who have been able to absorb them and have brought them back into the warm Catholic union, I think. As for the others, I do not really know what they think. What I see very clearly is that amongst these ones I do not see workers who will be successful in their labours; Alas! It has been unfortunate that some people coming straight from a religious noviciate might have been imbued with the mindset with which they come. Without any experience in apostolic work and without the gentle cordiality towards he who God has appointed to direct these labours with his workers, they do not flourish, they deprive themselves of the great blessings that God attaches to the carrying out of the fourth commandment of God concerning his flock and concerning the priests in relation to the first pastor, their bishop.

[26]

Here are some of the decisions that have been brought to me from Lyon, that is to say, from the congregation and even from the general:

[27]

[1] That I had not done well in the past in consulting the Holy See on this point: if they are to be observed for the missionaries, catechists and the older faithful of the church on the missions grounds, the churches general disciplines of abstinence and fasting, the novices are only bound by the instructions of the mission in a particular discipline which is much less strict in these matters.

[28]

I say [1] that if I have done wrong in consulting the Holy See about this, much more harm has been done in repeating my mistake to young priests who are sent here and who so greatly need to learn by experience and from the guidance of the bishop whose care they are in.

[29]

[2] That it is quite untrue that I have done wrong in consulting the Holy See; one never does wrong by consulting one’s superior, who only wishes well to those he has sent you to help. Besides, if it was known that, not having been able to consult the Holy See for more than a year, I had not made any differentiation between the long-standing faithful of the church and our neophytes where abstinence and fasting were concerned, according to the particular discipline for the latter; and that having in my well observed decision taken it upon myself to decide provisionally in the way that I have done. It was written to me on behalf of the Holy Father himself, that it was not necessary to continue, that the neophytes should have, themselves alone, the privilege that was accorded to them and that the long-standing faithful of the church, coming to reside from European nations should observe the general discipline of the church.

[30]

[2] It was decided by the general congregation when I left France, that all the letters of the missionaries from the mission should be sent unsealed to the general, except those that would be addressed to him. Although this is an item of the rules or of the religious statutes about which I realise that I am incompetent, nevertheless leaving aside all religious jurisdiction, if the vicar apostolic in residence senses some danger or grave inconvenience to the mission, or freedom to convey news according to personal opinion and to expose this to general publicity via the Propagation of the Faith, he has sufficient authority to order that no news about the mission should be given to Europe in writing or letters, unless these writings or these letters have been checked by a prudent priest of the mission, permitted by the bishop to do this.

[31]

But what has happened? Having circulated my position on this subject to my missionaries, one has written four letters to his parents without obeying my orders, for the sole reason that he made a general decision that he did not want to tell me about and according to which he was permitted from now on to send sealed letters to his parents; and also for the reason that, according to this theologian who is on mission here, he did not speak about the sacred ministry of the mission, but of the country and the workings of the mission. Firstly, it causes confusion and disorder to make decisions contrary to the decisions published earlier to our inferiors without informing, by letter, the superior to whom they are entrusted. Secondly, it is underhand to shirk the orders of the authority that one unjustly considers suspect.

[32]

[3] I continually hear that in the mission one is entirely dependent on the general, that he has the right to withdraw a person or some people from the mission when it suits him and have them recalled to France and that he is resolved to do this soon. On this subject I am obliged to say that is mistaken, having regard to the instructions that the Holy See has given me and I defend, under threat of grave censure, those who would receive an order of this type, to leave the mission, unless the letter that would ask it was accompanied by a permission, in writing from the sacred congregation of the Propagation and that it was shown, or else referred to me by the general to see if the thing is possible, in which case my duty is to refuse. Once the mission is accepted by the congregation, it should not have the right to harm it.

[33]

[4] A missionary owes to the Holy See, in the person of the vicar apostolic, his ecclesiastical superior, his time, his person, his strengths, whilst observing the spiritual requirements of his religious obligations; but I have hardly had a priest established as a religious superior to all the others, than everyone seems to no longer wish to obey anyone but him in every respect, even concerning the pastoral ministry. Alas! It must be said that as the result of a religious noviciate for clerics, I no longer know what the obedience of the clergy is towards their ecclesiastical superior. At least if, before behaving thus, care had been taken to obtain from the Holy See special privileges, which repealed or modified what he had confirmed formerly concerning the ecclesiastical superiority of the vicar apostolic and following this he had been shown, before doing anything, the rules that had been established for the new conduct, I would be completely satisfied, my responsibility would no longer weigh upon me and all the difficulties which could result from this would no longer be attributed to me before the sovereign judge on the day on which I faced a terrible accounting for the members and the collaborators in my flock!

[34]

This is where we are up to in the mission, in the management of my responsibilities in my area of jurisdiction: I have a pro-vicar in the tropics to represent me in those islands and he is at the same time special priest to the mission on Futuna. Another priest of the mission is on Wallis, another in the Bay of Islands where I reside, another in Hokianga, another in Whangaroa, another in Tauranga, and finally another in Akaroa; they all work in areas where I have worked myself and even, according to the plan that God has had me conceive, I have preceded them all before establishing them there, with the only exception being those in Akaroa, who I closely follow and where I worked for more than two and a half months, with them and for them. It is through these priests that I direct the whole mission, as well as often carrying out with them the work of a simple missionary. May it please God that each one of his workers has the arm, the eye and the heart of his bishop. This is what is beginning to happen, a little by force, a little by example for some of them: Although I see in them generally the willingness to create good, they were not as well-informed about their ecclesiastical duties as they should have been, as set down in the rules established by the Holy See for this mission; nor did they have any experience of missions, although several had been in the ordinary pastoral ministry and that, for them, is not a fault to reproach them with; one cannot be experienced in something one has not practiced. The only difficulty has been to understand things in one way from the congregation or in general and in another way from the vicar apostolic. From the beginning of the mission I predicted these things. It is why I willingly accepted your delegation of superiority, with respect to the rules in this mission, as the Holy Father had placed on my weak shoulders his delegation for ecclesiastical superiority. Would it be easier to achieve success in our works by separating them into two things for the same person. I reply that in my opinion no, if the general is not afraid to do to the vicar apostolic, for the good of the regulations, what the vicar apostolic is not afraid to do today to the general, in this long letter, about the obedience to the Holy See in what concerns pastoral authority. If the general is afraid to act thus with the vicar apostolic, it would be better that a provincial be established but that he be established only for this single rule and to watch over the perfection of the religious workers. For that, it would be good if the religious superior had no other spiritual powers, for if he was overcome with apostolic zeal, it would be more or less necessary to speak to the Holy Spirit (if one can speak thus of stopping him) for fear that these works, which are so absorbing, would not divert him from his important religious functions and that the evangelised flock would not have to think that there were two pastors to lead them, the bishop on the one hand and the provincial on the other: This, with the childlike people that these savages are, could have grave consequences for their confidence, their docility and the blessed affection that they owe in the way of salvation to the bishops that the church will send them in succession through the Holy Father.

[35]

These are, my Reverend Father, the lengthy details that I would not have told you if the interests of these souls did not demand it. My aim was not to grieve you, although all this is of a nature to do so; my aim is to go with you along a completely different route than the one that you have pursued as have your children with me, it is the route in the full light of day and not that which is secret, in everything that concerns my relationships of obedience to my superiors. Tell me your intentions in writing, your salutary admonitions, no matter how mortifying they might be, but tell me personally, do not tell those who do not need to know, so that they ignore me to the detriment of order, calmness and unity in this mission. According to this long letter, it is clear the that there are two matters in one, either the line that I hold to is not right, or else yours and that of your council is not. Firstly, in speaking of the council, I must speak frankly, That the entire council thinks only of finding the means to successfully carry out whatever the Holy See demands or proposes in the person of the vicar apostolic; it is only the same Holy See in the civil person of the Propagation who can reject or modify what is demanded or proposed by the vicar apostolic for the salvation of the flock, whose direction is exclusively conferred upon him, even though it might be an area to be sorted out by the congregation, which is committed to this at the feet of the vicar of Jesus Christ on earth. Thus when the vicar apostolic asks for people at a certain time and if this is possible, that one does not wait for other letters of confirmation for those leaving or before leaving that the congregation can and should provide. The blessings of providence will accompany these people as they have accompanied the preceding ones.

[36]

If the vicar apostolic indicates that the subjects have the qualities required, one should certainly try to choose them and instruct them appropriately. For this mission they need men that are Marists or deeply religious, they need scholars, they need apostles; any Marist may not be all those things and nevertheless be what his name indicates, but any missionary for this mission should be all those things, that is to say, have all the clerical virtues, which make the priest, in the heart of the society, respected, treated with consideration and loved, then he needs to be an apostle, a special vocation that not every religious worker is gifted with, but that is indispensable for coming here. If the terrible disillusionment of a certain congregation happened to pass on to an influential member of the Society of Mary the idea of sending off to the mission someone that is not going well elsewhere, that they wish to get rid of, that would be to wish to ruin the mission.

[37]

One could even send me some non-religious priests, outside of the congregation, it they have the qualities of priests, not mediocre in virtues, in acquired science, in judgement, in prudence, in energetic character, in piety: They should be of an open nature, affable, manly, even-tempered and cheerful. These men that are called patriarchs in the seminaries, who are not very intellectual, and have qualms, cannot carry out our work, where much has to be done without great enthusiasm and be “patet”. Cheerful, positive characters, who know how to entertain as well as enlighten in their interactions with their fellowmen, do marvellously well here in New Zealand where one must exercise much civility, but a judicious civility, for the Europeans and the gentlemen, the Protestants consider that as having almost all the merit of an ecclesiastic. To be of a judicious politeness, to have what is considered the behaviour of an educated person, that is to gain their esteem, their confidence, their affection and consequently the good results that flow from that for their personal salvation.

[38]

But let us go back, another word to be said, before coming to the dilemma ahead. If the vicar apostolic demands regular despatch of the allocation of funds, of presses, etc. etc. etc. that are allocated to him, ah! one should take great care to carry it all out! May a later letter not make the preceding ones forgotten. One must extract from the longest letters with news the notes concerning things to be carried out. Let there be no person, whether of the congregation or from outside, even bishops or archbishops who can halt, by their advice, the demands of the vicar apostolic, who in my person, recognises himself as inferior to them, but also as having the blessings for this mission, which they are not in a position to have, even if they have them for their dioceses on a level, no doubt superior to mine. To each one his direction, to each one his blessings, So I regard as useless, as incompetent, as disastrous for the salvation of souls in my mission, everything in your administration that had to do with my works, everything that will nullify the demands that I make, the notes that I send; I exclude from that, it goes without saying, the sacred congregation of the Propagation, which is superior to a vicar apostolic and which can reject or modify his actions. There is what I had in my heart concerning the council.

[39]

Let us then return to the dilemma which we left higher up:

[40]

[1] If the direction that I have held to and that I still hold to is not right and even if it is right deep down but not right as to the form especially in this long letter, I beg forgiveness and a thousand pardons, my Reverend Father and I ask you to regard as invalid anything I have said that is bad form, just retain the basics. I beg you to believe that it is extremely painful to see souls being lost, the workers not making progress either for themselves or for others, that has led me to overlook the affections, the proprieties, so that one can see very clearly the causes of the unhappiness and the great hardships present and that will be even greater in the future for this mission, if the balance and the spirit of the workers remained as in the past for the majority and as in the present for yet others.

[41]

If I have said many things in this long letter, know that I am pleased with one thing, at least with my frankness, for my goal is to head towards the light and not into the shadows with the church and her authority. My feeling is that all of my letter should be sent to the Propagation; nevertheless I do not ask it of you, for me it is what I would like, for such is my opinion from my own point of view, either I am worth something or I am worth nothing, or I am worth very little; now I am very comfortable that my superiors know me just as I am, ready to receive their opinions and their judgements if they have any to give me: That is what is helpful for salvation.

[42]

If, Reverend and very dear Father, you recognise that your line of action and that of the congregation is faulty where I am concerned, and if one has noted, concerning the vicar apostolic and this mission, the wrongs that are causing the unhappiness, I beg you on the blood of Jesus Christ, find a remedy for the pain of these souls, turn back to Mary the mother of goodness and power, so that all might go forward in the future. If I am right, I ask neither apologies, nor sympathy, God knows that it is not myself that I am concerned with, but the wellbeing of his glory and of his dear souls; I have sacrificed everything, family and homeland for them and I am ready to cause pain to everyone if necessary to prevent the loss of one single one of those numerous people who are entrusted to me.

[43]

Alas! very dear Father, if you do not recognise the causes of our problems with salvation, I am not saying from the point of view of the willingness and that of the congregation, but from the point of view of lack of knowledge and of fully understanding the church’s workings and of the main authority which is the Holy See, I beseech you again, through the loving virgin who we honour as the mother of God, queen of the church and our gentle mother, I beseech you with all the dignity that God has given me, with the responsibility and authority of this mission, send this current and entire letter, without the delay of three days of reflexion, to His Eminence the principal cardinal of the sacred congregation of the Propagation of the Faith.

[44]

For three and a half years I have been in this mission and it has been three years of suffering for me, more on the side of correspondence and the spirit of the workers than the side of heresy, of unfaithfulness and of the devil. Pass over my troubles, but do not pass over the loss of souls, even though we are far from wishing to lose them and though nevertheless by our own fault, or by involuntary lack of action, they are in fact lost and their loss will point to our charity and our zealousness at God’s tribunal.

[45]

Let it be clearly held in mind, the mission cannot proceed as it has been proceeding without reaching its ruin or at least languishing, with all sorts of miseries. Oh blessed holy martyrs of Lyon, oh glorious apostles of the city of Mary, have pity on one of the poor children of your establishment and of the vast flock that he must conduct to you in Heaven!

[46]

Send us, my Reverend Father, as many people as you can, all the resources that you can find. Move heaven and earth to regain our losses, to expand here the kingdom of God; for his glory, for the good of the Society of Mary, for the salvation of many souls. So be it! So be it! I have the honour of being, with these sentiments,

Very Reverend and very dear Father,

your very humble and very obedient servant,

Jean-Baptiste François Pompallier, Bishop of Maronea

and vicar apostolic of Western Oceania.

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