WelCom May 2020:
Deacon Danny Karatea-Goddard
Photo: WelCom
With the support of the Māori Apostolate of the Diocese of Palmerston North and subtribe of Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore of Te Hiiri marae, I was ordained deacon on the weekend of Pentecost 2014 by Bishop Charles Drennan. My family and I were received back into the Archdiocese of Wellington in February 2017. Though the Archdiocese had voted at the
1998 Synod some 22 years ago not to have the permanent deaconate [in favour of a lay pastoral leadership programme], I was received as a deacon with full faculties.
I remember an Ōtaki kuia, Kiripuwai Te Aomārere, asking me to come and assist in the blessing of a new building in Ōtaki. Cardinal John Dew and the Papal Nuncio were to be present. At the time my wife Maru and I were katekita (catechist) and I was diffident. I said sheepishly to Aunty, ‘Aah, I think you should ask a priest to do this because of the mana and tapu of the occasion’. Kiripuwai immediately replied and said, ‘Why can’t you do it? What’s the difference between you and a priest?’, I replied, ‘Priestly Ordination’.
So what is a deacon and what is the role of a deacon? There are two types of deacon. One being Transitional, those being celibate men who have studied in the Seminary and on the journey to becoming a priest. The other being Permanent Deacons, like myself who will remain deacons.
All deacons have a serving role in a Mass through preparing the table and proclaiming the Gospel and at times the homily.
Ordained Deacons have faculties to baptise, officiate at weddings, bury the dead and offer blessings. Like many of you the service of the poor, needy, vulnerable, many whom are Māori is a major focus of ministry.
Being called to the deaconate is a ministry like all the ministries you and I have been called to through baptism. I understand Pope Francis is discussing the ordination of women into the diaconate and this overjoys me. Aunty would say, ‘Get on with it!’
Well, aunty Kiripuawai got what she wanted, as we all know, we all listen to our mothers as our Mother was the first to say ‘Yes’.
Nā whāea te kī, ‘Kia horo!’
Rīkona Danny Karatea-Goddard
Nā runga anō i te tautoko o Te Āpōtorohanga Māori o te Rohe Pīhopa o te Papaioea me te hapū o Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore ki marae o Te Hiiri i whakawahia ahau hei rīkona e Pīhopa Tiare Drennan i te wīkene o Penekota i te tau 2014. I whakataungia tōku whānau ki te Rohe Pīhopa Matua o te Ūpoko o te Ika hei te marama o Hui-tanguru, 2017. Ahakoa, kāre te Rohe Pīhopa Matua e whakaae ana ki te kura Rīkonatanga ki tā te pōti a – Synod i ngā tau 22 ki muri, ka riro tonu i a ahau te whakaae ki ngā mana hākarameta whakahaere tō te rīkona.
Ka hoki ngā mahara ki tētehi kuia nō Ōtaki, ko Kiripuwai Te Aomārere, na ka tonoa ahau e ia ki te tautoko i te whakatapunga o tētehi wharehōu ki Ōtaki. Ko te tikanga ka tae atu a Katinara Hoani Tomairangi me te Kanohi o te Pāpā ki Aotearoa. I taua wā he katekita māua ko tōku hoa rangatira a Maru, na he mea rangirua taku whakautu ki te whāea, ‘Ā, nā te mana me te tapu o taua rā, tērā pea me tono atu koe ki tētehi pirihi’. He tere te whakautu a Kiripuwai, ‘He aha te take kāre e taea e koe te kawe? He aha kē te rerekētanga a te pirihi ki ā koe?, na ka whakautu ahau, ‘ko te Whakawahi’.
He aha te mahi a te rīkona? E rua ngā momo rīkona. Ko tētehi te mea Whakawhiti, arā ngā tamatāne takakau kua ako ki te Wānanga Pirihi, ā, kei te hīkoi rātou i te ara o te pirihitanga. Tuarua mai, he rīkona pēnei i ahau, arā he rīkona ka noho hei rīkona mō Ake Tonu Atu.
He mahi tō te rīkona i ngā Miha, arā ko te whakarite i te āta, ko te kauwhau i te Rongo Pai, ā, i ētehi wā ko te tuku kauwhau.
He mana tō ngā Rīkona kua whakawahia ki te whakairi, tūhono i ngā mārena, ki te tanu tūpāpaku, ā, ki te tuku whakapainga. He ōrite tonu a tātou mahi whakapono, arā te manaaki i te hunga pōhara, rawakore, anō ko ngāi Māori te tokomaha o rātou, nā he matua kaupapa me aro atu.
He ōrite te karanga ki te rīkonatanga ki ngā mahi minita katoa, nō o roto o te pūtake o ō tātou iriiringa. Ki taku mōhio, kei te kōrerorero a Pāpā Werahiko mō te rīkonatanga mō te hunga wāhine, ā, e harikoa ana tōku ngākau.
Ka kī atu a whaea, ‘Kia horo!’
Hēoi, i whakamanahia te tono a whāea Kiripuwai, e mōhio ana tātou, me whakarongo tātou ki ō tātou māmā nō te mea ko to tātou Whāea te mea tuatahi ki te mea atu, ‘Ae’.
Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention
During the month of May 2020, Pope Francis’ Universal Prayer Intention is – For Deacons: We pray that deacons, faithful in their service to the Word and the poor, may be an invigorating symbol for the entire Church.