Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 1, 1 January 1985 — Pope Supports Native Rights; Bishop Ferrario Cites Church Responsibility Toward Hawaiians [ARTICLE]

Pope Supports Native Rights; Bishop Ferrario Cites Church Responsibility Toward Hawaiians

Pope J ohn Paul 1 1 has issued a strong condemnation of cultural, physical and religious oppression of native peoples and has proclaimed the right of aboriginal people to self-determination. The Pope's message, video-taped for residents of Fort Simpson in Canada's Northwest Territories, was reported by the bi-weekly native newspaper of British Columbia "Kahtou". Ka WaiOlaOOHA isgrateful to "Kahtou" for permission to reproduce the striking cover photograph taken during the Pope's visit to Vancouver last September. A portion of the Pope's remarks excerpted from "Kahtou" are reproduced below. Although the PontifTs speech was directed to the lndian and Eskimo people of Canada, many of his thoughts have direct relevance to native Hawaiians. In you I greet . . . descendants of the first inhabitants of this land, who have lived here for centuries upon centuries. To greet you is to render respectful homage to the beginnings of human society in this vast region of North Amenea. To greet you is to recall with reverence God's plan and providence as they have unfolded in your history and brought you to this day . . . Atthesametimemycomingamongyou looks back to your past in order to proclaim your dignity and support your destiny. My presence in your midst today is intended to be another expression of the deep interest and solicitude whieh the church wishes to show for the native people of the New World. In 1 537, in a document entitled Pastorale Officium, my predecessor Paul III proclaimed the rights of the native peoples of those times . . . At the same time my presence marks yet another phase in the long relationship that many of you have had with the church . . . Missionaries from Europe . . . have dedicated their lives to bringing the gospel message to the aboriginal peop!es of Canada. I know of the gratitude that you yourselves, the Indian and Inuit peoples have towards the missionaries who have lived and died among you . . . Whatever faults and imperfections they had, whatever mistakes were made, together with whatever harm involuntarily resulted, they are now at pains to repair . . . It is clear from the historical record that over the centuries your peoples have been repeatedly the victims of injustice by newcomers who, in their blindness, often saw all your culture as inferior. Today, happily, this situation has been largely reversed, and people are learning to appreciate that there is great richness in your culture, and to treat you with greater respect . . . Thehourhascometobindupwounds, to heal all divisions. It is a time for forgiveness, for reconciliation and for a commitment to building new relationships. Today I want to proclaim that freedom whieh is required for a just and equitable measure of self-determination in your own lives as native

peoples. In union with the whole church I proelaim all your rights - and their corresponding duties. And I aIso condemn physical, cultural and religious oppression, and all that would in any way deprive you or any group of what rightly belongs to you. It is clear the position of the church that peoples have a right in public life to participate in decisions affecting their lives; participation eonstitutes a right whieh is to be applied both in the eeonomie and in the social and political fields. This is true for everyone. It has particular applications for you as native peoples in your strivings to take your rightful plaee among the peoples of the earth, with a just and equitable degree of self-governing. For you a land base with adequate resources is also necessary for developing a viable economy for present and future generations. You need likewise to be in a position to develop your lands and your eeonomie potential, and to educate your children and plan your future. Meanwhile, Honolulu's Catholic Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario called on the state's leaders in both the public and private sectors to help wipe out poverty and unemployment in Hawaii, with particular attention to the needs of the native Hawaiian community. The campaign is in response to a recently released first draft of the Amenean Catholic Bishops pastoral letter whieh says fulfilling the needs of the poor is the highest priority facing the nation. Ferrario said individual Bishops must make recommendations to the pastoral by Feb. 15. He announced the formation of a special task force to prepare a program for developing his response. With regard to the Hawaiian community, Bishop Ferrario, in a statement to the news media released last Nov. 26, said: The reflections and dialogue upon this pastoral will identify those places where we in the Church need to change our hearts. Because our many traditions have found a special home of these lslands, I feel we need to listen to and dialogue with the Hawaiian community in a very special way. It is unacceptable that the children of the first inhabitants are disproportionately poor and separated from the land. In this process of conversion, we will have to seek forgiveness as needed. The Catholic Church, in whieh a quarter of the population in Hawaii elaim membership, has a special responsibility to reflect, to pray and to act, that all the peoples in Hawaii and the Pacific achieve the justice demanded by their very existence as human persons. Bishop Ferrario asked "... the leadership of the Churches and Temples in Hawaii to join me in a process of listening and dialogue with all sectors of the community to ascertain our appropriate response (to the pastoral letter.)"