My people grew up in the area dominated by Aorangi, the "Cloud Piercer", Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. The river that has been a source of life and nourishment for our family is Waitaki, the "Crying Waters" of Te Waipounamu. Te Waipounamu, the Greenstone Waters, is one of the Maori names for the South Island of New Zealand. The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, which I translate as World of Never-ending Light. The person I look to and seek to identify with is Jesus Christ.
My background is European - Scottish, Dalmation, English and Irish though my parents were born in New Zealand.
I was born in Timaru, New Zealand, 12th July 1929 and until I was three we lived on a sheep-run.on the slopes of Fox's Peak, at the beginning of the McKenzie country. During the depression my father moved off the sheep run to a 200 acre farm just out of Pleasant Point. There was a beautiful view of the mountains from the kitchen window and on a clear night, especially in the winter, the stars were a myriad of brilliant lights in the sky.
I started school at the local convent. One of the few things I remember is hiding in the toilet block to escape from the Reading class which I hated. After a very short time at Saint Joseph's, I was sent to boarding school, Saint Thomas's, a love-hate situation, and in my last year there more hate than love, which is best forgotten. My time at secondary school, another boarding school, Saint Pat's Silverstream, was a very happy time. The school had space, including some hill country across the Hutt river. I joined the Dominican Order, in Australia, in 1948 and was ordained a priest in 1954.
I started off with parish work and preaching and began to appreciate the huge open spaces of inland New South Wales. The next move was to Canberra and University Chaplaincy (1958-65). That opened me up to people of other cultures, particularly to Moslems and Hindhus of Pakistan, India and Indonesia.
Returning to New Zealand at the beginning of 1966 I was involved in chaplaincy work - Auckland Teachers Colleges (1966-68) and Otago University (1969-72), and lecturing in Theology. The return to New Zealand meant also the experience of Maori Culture and the experience of the depth of racism in this country, for all our show of being a nation where all was well between the different races. In 1973 I returned to Auckland to work with the Maori people. and my Dominican brothers thought it would be important for me to do some Maori Studies at Auckland University. So I completed a B.A., M.A. and finally a PhD. in Anthropology (Maori Studies) 1974-86. In 1989 Father Henare Tate, a Maori, and myself started a Maori Theology Course at Auckland University.
During all these years, from 1973 till now, I have had a lot of contact with Maori people both in the cities and in rural areas and have been involved with three specific social justice issues, the Bastion Point land issue, the Maori claim to the Wanganui river and the continuing struggle for full recognition of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.
Towards the end of 1993 my ability to speak started to weaken until now when I cannot speak at all. For a while I was only able to swallow raw oysters and Baileys Irish Cream, but now, nothing. This is due to Progressive Bulbar Palsy, a type of Motor Neuron (ALS) disease. It is a terminal disease and there is no known cure. This has been an extraordinarily rich time for me.
First there was the realisation of my own weakness and the sufferings I had caused others, and with this realization the experience of God's absolutely gratuitous mercy. "Which of the two would love his benefactor most? I suppose the one to whom he forgave most" (Luke 7:42-3).
Then there was the experience, while I lay in hospital, unable to talk or to eat, of the love of people - of the nurses, of the doctors and of all who came to see me. This experience continues as part of my daily life.
Finally there is the experience of the love of Jesus. In the words of the Maori ritual chant for the person dying: