Many Catholic households have a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church sitting on their shelves. The Archives have some rather special catechisms in our vault. A visit from Fr Merv Duffy SM meant that some of these rare items of local Catholic history were retrieved for viewing.
KO NGA TAHI PONO NUI is an eight page catechism produced by Bishop Pompallier in July 1839. There are only 2 surviving copies, one in the Alexander Turnbill Library and the other in The Auckland Catholic Diocese Archive (POM 16-1).
Bishop Pompallier then produced a more extensive catechism in 1843 - AKO MARAMA. In this publication is the first printing of the iconic hymn written by Pompallier Mo Maria.
If you would like to hear Fr Merv speaking on this icon hymn then check out his presentation on YouTube:
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