Carl Sylvius Völkner, Priest 		March 2
and Mokomoko, Rangatira, Opotiki
Symbols for Reconciliation
Carl Sylvius Völkner was born in Kassel, Germany, in 1819. He trained at the missionary college in Hamburg and was sent to New Zealand in 1849 along with other Lutheran missionaries by the North German Missionary Society. He worked with Johannes Riemenschneider at Warea in Taranaki, and then joined the Church Missionary Society, working as a lay teacher in the lower Waikato. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Selwyn in 1860 and priest in 1861.
He was the third CMS missionary to work amongst Te Whakatohea, and moved to Opotiki in 1861 to take charge of the CMS station there. He had considerable success and was adopted by Te Whakatohea as a member of the tribe. They built a church and a school for his work. In his own character, Völkner has been described by William Fox as “a man of remarkable simplicity of character, of the most single-minded and devoted piety, and an extremely conciliatory and kind disposition”. Interest in Völkner lies not so much in his missionary work, however, which was similar to that of many other missionaries, but in his violent death at the hands of members of his own congregation.
With the onset of the New Zealand Wars, Völkner found himself in an awkward situation, as he was perceived by Maori to be supporting the government, and therefore working against their interests. Evidence of this is in Völkner’s own hand in a letter to Governor Grey:
As there is no Government agent in my district to inform you of the movements of the natives here, I think I should be wanting in my duty to you, if I did not make known to you what happens around me, relating to the present disturbed state of the natives. But as I have reason to fear that it would interfere with my future usefulness in the service in which I am engaged, if it were publicly known that I give such information to you, I therefore humbly but earnestly request your Excellency to receive my accompanying letters as private communications to yourself, and not to publicize my name or abode with any information you make use of.
In January 1865 Völkner went to Auckland. Against the advice of fellow ministers and members of Te Whakatohea, Völkner returned to Opotiki on 1 March 1865. He and fellow missionary T. S. Grace were captured by Maori even before disembarking. 
The next day Völkner was hanged, and his body desecrated and eventually buried. Maori involved in the incident were influenced by Pai Marire. In traditional interpretations of the Völkner incident, much has been made of this factor. This, together with the reports of events after Völkner had died, has led to assumptions that Völkner was in some sense a glorious martyr, killed for being a Christian by barbaric savages. But such a conclusion does not fit either the political reasons for Völkner’s death or a more balanced perception of the Pai Marire or Hauhau movement as a Maori adjustment to the impact of European immigration.
When war broke out in Taranaki, East Coast tribes and Te Whakatohea did not initially become involved. In 1864, however, they attempted to join the Waikato tribes, but were resisted by Te Arawa. The death of the Te Whakatohea chief, Te Aporotanga, at the hands of the widow of the Te Arawa chief, Tohi Te Ururangi, also exacerbated relations between the tribes.
Tension in the area was further increased by the war conducted by the government forces and by a typhoid and measles epidemic which killed many in the Opotiki area in late 1864. Then, in early 1865, Kereopa Te Rau and Patara Raukatauri arrived on their way to the East Coast, bringing the message of Te Ua Haumene. While Te Ua’s message is summed up in the name of his movement, Pai Marire (“good and peaceful”), some of his followers developed a more aggressive stance within the Hauhau movement.
In addition to all this, Bishop Pompallier had been forced by Governor Grey to recall the very popular Marist missionary, Joseph Garavel, from the area, and Völkner was seen as in part responsible. Völkner, therefore, arrived back in the midst of intense feelings and debate within Te Whakatohea about the current situation and his involvement in it. All of this lends support to the opinion expressed by Father Garavel after a return visit that Völkner’s death, 
despite the assertion of all newspapers, had nothing to do with religion or his position as a minister, and proceeded in reality from the conviction in the Maori mind of his being a Government spy.
Following the death of Völkner, British troops were despatched to Opotiki. Four Maori, including Mokomoko, a chief of Te Whakatohea, were arrested, condemned and executed for the murder of Völkner. Mokomoko denied involvement. The government of the day also mounted a punitive expedition against Te Whakatohea. Shipping and granaries were destroyed, and the tribe’s best land was confiscated. Legal and historical research supports the claim of Maori oral tradition that Mokomoko was not involved, and that there was a grave miscarriage of justice. In the late 1940s compensation was paid for the excessive confiscations, and in 1988 Mokomoko’s family were permitted to exhume his remains from Mt Eden gaol for burial on his ancestral marae. In July 1990 Mokomoko’s descendants petitioned the government for a full acquittal for Mokomoko - not just a pardon, which could imply guilt. The acquittal was granted in June 1992.
The Anglican Church’s perception of the death of Völkner has varied. In the 1860s missionaries and settler church leaders spoke of him as a martyr. This was picked up in 1972 when the church first adopted a New Zealand Calendar. There Völkner is referred to as “priest - martyr”. In the Calendar proposed for A New Zealand Prayer Book-He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa, the reference to Völkner was simply “priest”.
In the process of finalising A New Zealand Prayer Book-He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa, General Synod referred the Calendar to the Diocesan Synods and Te Runanga o te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa for approval. Te Runanga, however, did not agree to the Calendar because of a continuing sense of injustice. General Synod responded to this in 1988 by starting the process of removing Völkner’s name from the Calendar. When the deletion came to the 1990 General Synod for ratification, the bishop of Aotearoa requested that the process of deletion be halted. This request was made because of the processes of reconciliation that the bishop observed happening since the return of Mokomoko’s remains from Mt Eden prison. The bishop said, “To say that the hurt is gone, is not true. But the bones of our ancestors have come home and are laid to rest - we are now in a state of forgiveness.” General Synod acknowledged the graciousness of the bishop of Aotearoa’s action “as one born out of aroha, forgiveness and a desire for reconciliation”. This led to the proposal at the 1992 General Synod and ratified in 1994 that the observance should be entitled “Carl Sylvius Völkner, Priest, and Mokomoko, Rangatira, Opotiki, 1865, Symbols for Reconciliation”.
E nga mate, haere, haere, haere.
Ko te hunga ora, kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui.
For Liturgical Use
Carl Sylvius Völkner is remembered as the CMS missionary working amongst Te Whakatohea in the Bay of Plenty who was killed by Maori on 2 March 1865. He was born in 1819 and came to New Zealand in 1849 as a Lutheran missionary. He joined the Church Missionary Society in 1852 and was ordained priest in 1861 by Bishop Selwyn. 
The Te Whakatohea chief, Mokomoko, was executed for Völkner’s death, but Maori oral tradition as well as historical research prove his execution was unjust. Völkner was killed by Maori for several reasons, including passing on information about Maori troop movements in the New Zealand Wars to Governor Grey.
E nga mate, haere, haere, haere.
Sentence
Kia pai, e Ihowa, ki te whakaora i ahau; e Ihowa, horohoro ki te awhina i ahau.	Waiata 40:13
Be pleased O Lord to deliver me; O Lord make haste to help me.	Psalm 40:13
Collects
E te Kaihanga, e te Kai Homai i te Ora.
E hui nei nga awa o Waioweka, o Otara;
tenei hoki koe te whakahui i o iwi i raro i tou maru o te aroha.
I karekare nga wai i mua; nau i whakahora te marino;
e maumahara ana matou ki a te Wakena raua ko Mokomoko.
I te ra nei kua whakakotahi mai matou 
i te mea he Atua aroha koe,
he Atua atawhai koe, he Atua mana mutunga kore.
Kororia ki tou Ingoa Tapu. Amine.
Merciful God,
you call us in Christ
to serve your gospel;
may Mokomoko and Carl Völkner
be for us symbols for reconciliation,
that your aroha may grow
in the hearts of all your people;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
Jesus, prince of peace,
we remember your servant Carl,
hanged and dishonoured;
we remember also Mokomoko, unjustly condemned, 
and the oppression devastating the land;
now may Maori and pakeha
live together in aroha.
Psalms	62	85
Readings
Jeremiah 31:31-34		Hope of a new covenant
Ephesians 4:31-5:2		Forgive as God forgives
Luke 22:39-46		Prayer in time of trial
Post Communion Sentence
Ko te Karaiti hoki to tatou maunga rongo, nana i mea nga mea e rua kia kotahi, whakahoroa iho e ia te patu e arai ana i waenga.	Epeha 2:14
Christ is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.	Ephesians 2:14