Requests for adult baptisms have increased in France for the past ten years. In a report released just before Easter, representatives from the French bishops' conference pointed out that the trend is present in almost all of the dioceses in France.

According to the report, 7,135 adults were to receive the sacrament of baptism during the Easter Vigil, totalling 31% more than in 2023. While in 2023, 23% of newly baptized were between the ages of 18 and 25, that number had risen to 36% in 2024.

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Several hundred people attended the event over Easter weekend this year.

The occasion marked 70 years since Hui Aranga first started.

Fr Phil Cody, SM, said the Baptisms were linked with Catholic Maori clubs from Whanganui and Hawkes Bay.

The ages of those baptised ranged from babies to adults, including three teenagers.

In an especially moving instance, a mother and child were both baptised, Fr Cody said.

"The Hawkes Bay group were prepared by the late Pa Hemi Hekiera SM, so it was very moving for Pa David Gledhill, who lived and worked with Pa Hemi in the missionary ‘Whaia Te Whaea', to complete the work he had begun."

Fr Cody said it is quite common to have Baptisms at the Easter Mass at the Hui Aranga, but noted that this year's number is higher than usual.

He noted a strong emphasis on youth at the Hui Aranga.

"The Hui is largely about youth - there is a special youth council and youth take part in as much as possible in the services - for example a group of 75 on stage singing ‘This little light of mine' as part of the Easter Vigil service of the Light of Christ.

"The Hui Aranga is where many Maori Catholic, young and old, find an expression of being fully Maori and Catholic."

The keenly contested Kapa Haka competitions were won by three clubs from the Whanganui River region - St Peter Chanel (senior), St Vincent (junior) and Parakino (midgets).

On Easter Sunday, before Mass, the nine clubs present dressed up in special uniforms and marched to Mass.

Pa Tipene Hancy was the local Maori priest who led the services on Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday.

"A big question facing Maori Catholic is priesthood and Maori seminarians to carry on the leading of the Hui," Fr Cody said.

Next year's Hui Aranga will be held at Aquinas College in Tauranga.

Sources

• Supplied
• Radio New Zealand
• Image: Supplied