Ordination at Takitimu

History was made at Takitimu, Wairoa, when for the first time, at the request of Cardinal McKeefry, a Roman Catholic priest was ordained at a marae. Bishop Sneddon ordained Father Karaitiana King into the Society of Mary in the overflowing meeting house, and the ceremony was relayed to those crowded outside.

Father King, of Kahungunu, after seven years' training at St Mary's Seminary, Greenmeadows, becomes the fifth Maori priest. The first was Father Wiremu Te Awhitu, who was ordained in Napier 25 years before.

The Rt Rev. Manu Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa attended, and participated briefly

in the ceremony. Pupils of St Joseph's Maori Girls' College, Greenmeadows, and Hato Paora, Feilding also attended.