New Zealand – The Covenant of Love has Reached even Here

Agathe Hug. If a rain worm in Spain dug its way in a straight line through the earth, it would emerge in New Zealand. It might then be eaten by a Kea, a parrot that only exists in New Zealand, rather than by a very ordinary sparrow in Spain. Actually it might be eaten by any one of a large number of other birds that exist only in New Zealand. If it was unlucky, it might even be expelled in a completely baked form from one of the many volcanoes in New Zealand.

However, if the rain worm made a mistake and came out further North West, it would find itself in Australia, New Zealand’s closest neighbour. If it went too far south, it would come out in a frozen state in the Antarctic, New Zealand’s other neighbour, and help to feed a penguin.

Why this discussion? Technically Spain and New Zealand are called the Antipodes. This word describes people (and by analogy countries) that stretch out a foot (podos in Greek) on the opposite side of the earth. Strange to say, from ancient times until the Middle Ages philosophers and also some Church Fathers debated hotly whether such a thing could exist.

Many could not imagine that this was possible

In ancient times there were two camps. The one rejected the idea that the earth is round, the other considered it a possibility. This then gave rise to the question whether there were people on the opposite side of the earth. Many could not imagine that this was possible, because it would mean that people, animals and plants would hang upside down. And hail would fall into the heavens, not onto the earth – a strange idea. St Augustine (354-430 BC) rejected the idea of the antipodes, even though he thought the earth could be round.

Even during the Middle Ages some learned people considered it impossible for people to live on the other side of the earth, because the Equator was so hot that no one would survive. Besides this, Christ’s commission to take the Good News everywhere could not be carried out, and hence would be nonsense, if it was impossible to reach people on other continents. In addition, it was supposed that outside of Asia, Africa and Europe, the earth was covered by water. Even when Columbus sent his first reports, many of his contemporaries could not believe that it was possible for people to live on the other side of the earth.

A land of glaciers and rain forests

New Zealand consists of two main islands and about seven hundred smaller islands. Three-quarters of the people live on North Island.

New Zealand is situated at the border between the Indo-Australian and Pacific Plates. So earthquakes are an everyday occurrence, although most are not even noticed by the people. Like all the countries surrounding the Pacific Plate, New Zealand is part of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire. So besides earthquakes, there is increased volcanic activity. Some of the most active volcanoes in the world are to be found in New Zealand. They are to be found exclusively in the northern half of the country, most of them in the Taupo Volcanic Zone in the centre of North Island.

New Zealand is a long country – from north to south about 1600 km – but also very narrow, the widest part being about 450 km wide. This results in a very varied landscape.

The entire western coast of South Island is covered by rain forests that reach up into the Southern Alps. It is most unusual for these two landscapes to be so close. Nowhere else in the world will you find glaciers so close to rain forests. In between there are plateaux where intensive farming is possible, and sheep farming is one of the main sources of income.

To the east of the Southern Alps, where the rainfall is very uncertain, the vegetation is mainly grassland. The extreme Southwest is marked by a rich Fjord landscape similar to Norway.

The northern part of North Island is subtropical and is sparsely populated. The fauna and flora of New Zealand is possibly the most unusual in the world, because the islands have been separated for such a long time from all other landmasses, so the fauna and flora could develop independently. The most closely related development is to be found in New Caledonia and the Lord Howe Islands. It is precisely because of these rare species that tourism plays such an important part in the economy of the country.

The Maoris

New Zealand’s history differs from that of all the other countries in the world.

The first settlers were Polynesians who reached New Zealand at the end of the 13th century. These were the ancestors of the Maoris.

Europeans discovered New Zealand in 1642 when the Dutch arrived. They were unable to land, because the Maoris repelled their advance and four Dutchmen were killed. James Cook, an Englishman, arrived in 1769 and he managed to come to an understanding with the Maoris without any bloodshed. In the years that followed, also the French arrived. Hostilities again broke out, at first between the various Maori tribes, and then between the Maoris and the Europeans, from whom the Maoris had obtained guns.

The English and the Maoris feared that the French could colonise the South Island, so the English negotiated a treaty with 30 Maori leaders that was signed on 28 October 1835. It is known as the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand and marked the founding of the “United Tribes”.

This independence soon came to an end. In 1840 France tried to colonise the islands, so New Zealand joined the British Empire. This meant that the Maoris lost their sovereignty, but in return their citizenship was guaranteed. They were allowed to keep all the land they had owned before the treaty was signed.

In the years that followed more and more settlers arrived in New Zealand, which led to tensions over land ownership. This finally led to another war. The numbers of Maori decreased until 1860 because of illnesses brought in by the settlers, and because of local wars.

Nevertheless New Zealand developed fast, and was the first country in the world to enfranchise women. A welfare state was established in the 1930s.

While English is the dominant language, New Zealand Sign Language is one of the official languages.

The majority of the population (68%) is European in origin – British, German, Italian, Polish or Dutch. The Maoris are the largest minority group (about 15%), the rest come from Asia or other Pacific islands. About 23% of the population was not born in New Zealand, which is a favourite country for immigration.

A Church of Immigrants

A relatively large proportion (about 32%) of the population state that they have no religious affiliation. Nevertheless Christianity is the majority faith.

The largest church is the Anglican (14%) followed by the Catholic Church (12-13%), and the Presbyterian church (10%) of the total population.

Yet Muslims have increased by 52% between 2001 and 2006. While the Anglicans and Presbyterians are decreasing in size, the Catholic Church is the largest confession in the cities on North Island.

The largest Catholic group is Italian. In 2005 the Catholic Church had about 470.000 members who are divided into six dioceses with 530 priests and 1200 men and women serving the Church. There is only one Church Province with its metropolitan seat in Wellington.

Is Schoenstatt in New Zealand?

Just as throughout the country, Schoenstatt arrived with immigrants who left their home countries for various reasons and started life anew. So there are families from South Africa, Argentina and Australia who live their covenant of love there. Possibly there are many more, and it is possible that they don’t know about anyone else. … A few days ago a request arrived in the Service Mailbox of schoenstatt.org from Bill and Erica in Queenstown, New Zealand. They asked what they would have to do to build a shrine in Queenstown, because “Queenstown in New Zealand is a lovely place throughout the year. In order to make it even more beautiful, we want to build a shrine here…” Well, it probably won’t happen very quickly, but it is quite possible to build up Schoenstatt in Queenstown today!

Finally

For those who are interested, the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy was filmed in New Zealand. Whoever watches again to see how the beacon is lit to summon the people from the villages, might be reminded of the opening of the Year of the Shrine Current and the network of shrines – each shrine a beacon summoning Schoenstatters from New Zealand to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America, from Alaska to Siberia, to join in the great pilgrimage of the covenant …

Besides, in 2012 New Zealand will be the guest country at the Frankfurt Book Fair!

Translation: Mary Cole, Manchester, England