Father Pierre Le Pretre of the Society of Mary was ordained a priest at Lyon, France, in 1884, and came to New Zealand in the same year. He was first stationed at Jerusalem near Whanganui, where he learned te reo Māori, and was later in charge of the Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa Māori districts. He built the Māori church at Te Ore Ore, near Masterton, and came to Wairoa as its first resident parish priest in 1894. With Le Pretre is Mr Morrell (or Morera), the son of a French whaler and Erihapeti Kino. Morrell had earlier been baptised by Bishop Pompallier. This photograph was taken at Wairoa, probably around the beginning of the 20th century. Photo: Society of Mary – Marist Archives PSC 1971. [Morera is a tupuna (ancestor) the of current St Joseph’s School principal, Leonie McEwan.]