Hokitika extends warm hand to priest

GILES BROWN

DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE: Father Francis Joseph is the new parish priest at St Mary's Church in Hokitika.

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It has been a baptism of fire for Hokitika's new parish priest, Father Francis Joseph.

Joseph, from India, is one of several priests brought in from overseas to make up for a shortfall in New Zealand clergy in the Catholic Church.

Joseph, nicknamed Jolly, has been in Hokitika for two weeks.

While he has enjoyed a warm welcome, his congregation is still having problems with Joseph's English.

"It's really a challenge, but people are very sympathetic to me because my home is from away," Joseph, 48, said.

"They are very loving, but sometimes I know it is hard for them to understand my English."

Before his three-year appointment to Hokitika, Joseph was a priest in the city of Cochin, in Kerala, south-west India. He also spent two years in Papua New Guinea.

Cochin is home to 1.4 million, while Hokitika has over 3000 souls.

In India, Joseph was woken at all hours to give blessings to the sick and gave sermons to a packed church on Sundays.

There was a less hands-on feeling with his 85-strong flock in Hokitika, but leading services in a foreign language was still nerve-racking.

"They are very encouraging to me.

"I told them not to be too encouraging, or I will think I am perfect," he said.

In April, the Christchurch Diocese, which includes Hokitika, announced it would draft in priests from the Philippines, India and the United States. The falling numbers of young Kiwi priests and a greater need among parishes were behind the move.

Joseph spent one month in Christchurch, and five months as an assistant to the parish priest in Ashburton, before taking up his new position. He had visited Hokitika only once before his move.

He was busy this week familiarising himself with the people and the region. "I am planning to go to at least one house every day to visit, and also to visit the sick, and school classes as well.

"It really enriches us," he said. "It will be very different when I go back to India."

- © Fairfax NZ News