Church of the Immaculate Conception

16 Miriama Road, PAKIPAKI

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The Church of the Immaculate Conception in the small papakāinga of Pakipaki, Hawke’s Bay, was constructed in 1880. It has outstanding historical significance for its association with the Catholic nun, nurse and social worker Suzanne Aubert and outstanding cultural significance as a place of importance to tangata whenua. As the oldest known surviving building Aubert was involved in constructing, it has significant rarity value. Catholic missionaries arrived in Hawke’s Bay in late 1850 and established a mission station at Pākōwhai on the land of Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti rangatira Puhara Hawaikirangi, who had met the Marist missionary Father Claude-André Baty while in exile at Nukutaurua on the Māhia Peninsula the previous decade. After Puhara Hawaikirangi was killed in battle in 1857 the mission station moved north to Meeanee and the Māori Catholic community founded a new settlement at Pakipaki. This geographical separation was reinforced by the cessation of missionary activities during the New Zealand wars of the 1860s and the diversionary impact of an ever-increasing Pākehā population the following decade. Hawke’s Bay was effectively without a Māori Catholic missioner until Suzanne Aubert took up the role in an unofficial capacity from 1871. She was a vocal advocate for the Māori Catholic community and after much lobbying secured a dedicated priest for Pakipaki in 1879, followed by the construction of the Gothic revival church in 1880 on land owned by Urupene Puhara, son of Puhara Hawaikirangi. Aubert’s work in Hawke’s Bay, culminating in the church, was a major contribution to the revival of the Marist mission in the Wellington diocese, of which Hawke’s Bay was a part. She went on to found the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion, known as the Sisters of Compassion. The Church of the Immaculate Conception remained a centre of Māori Catholicism in Hawke’s Bay until 1967, when it was moved to an adjacent site to make way for a new church. The building was used for various purposes by the Pakipaki community and hosted a youth carving school in the 1980s. Suzanne Aubert was nominated by the Sisters of Compassion for canonisation in 1990 and Pakipaki kaumatua participated in the evidential process. In a demonstration of significant public esteem, the Paki Paki Whare Karakia Charitable Trust was created in 2016 to restore the church in recognition of the connections between Suzanne Aubert, the tipuna Urupene Puhara and people of Pakipaki.

Church of the Immaculate Conception, Pakipaki. Image courtesy of Ruebena Paraha | 01/11/2018 | Ruebena Paraha
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Pakipaki. Image courtesy of Ruebena Paraha | 01/11/2018 | Ruebena Paraha
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Pakipaki. Interior. Image courtesy of Ruebena Paraha | 01/11/2018 | Ruebena Paraha

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

9955

Date Entered

12th December 2018

Date of Effect

1st January 2019

City/District Council

Hastings District

Region

Hawke's Bay Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes part of the land described as Pt Kakiraawa 2B3 (RT HBC1/57) and part of the land described as Kakiraawa 2B2L (RT HB88/217, NZ Gazette 1971 p.19), Hawke’s Bay Land District, and the building known as the Church of the Immaculate Conception thereon. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).

Legal description

Pt Kakiraawa 2B3 (RT HBC1/57) and part of the land described as Kakiraawa 2B2L (RT HB88/217, NZ Gazette 1971 p.19), Hawke’s Bay Land District

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