Whakahuihui Vercoe

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Whakahuihui Vercoe

Bishop of Aotearoa (1981–2004)
Orders
Ordination1952
Consecration1981
Personal details
Born(1928-06-04)4 June 1928
Tōrere, Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand
Died13 September 2007(2007-09-13) (aged 79)
Lynmore, near Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand
BuriedTōrere urupa
DenominationAnglican
Spouse
Doris Eivers
​
(m. 1951)​
Children3 sons
OccupationEducator; cleric
Education
  • Tōrere Native School
  • College House

Whakahuihui "Hui" Vercoe

Bishop of Aotearoa from 1981, the first person to be elected to that position by the congregation rather than being appointed by the church hierarchy. He held both offices until his retirement in 2006. He was also the first person to become a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
after the rank was introduced in 2000.

Early life

Vercoe was born in

College House
(which was still theologically oriented).

Clerical career

Vercoe was ordained as a

All Blacks
rugby tour to South Africa that year.

He joined the

Vicar-General
to Te Pīhopatanga o (the bishopric of) Aotearoa in 1978.

Episcopal ministry

Vercoe was

Bishop of Aotearoa (Pīhopa o Aotearoa) at Houmaitawhiti Marae in Rotorua
in 1981.

He was a leading advocate of

Māori rights and supporter of the Treaty of Waitangi. On Waitangi Day in 1990, the 150th anniversary of the Treaty, he complained in a speech attended by Dame Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Queen Elizabeth II, the Governor-General Paul Reeves, and Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer, that the promises made in the Treaty had not been honoured by The Crown.[2]
As a result of the continuing tensions between the different peoples of New Zealand, he also opposed immigration to New Zealand.

He was in favour of separate public institutions – such as schools – for Māori people, and in 1980 became the first head of the Māori people in the Anglican Church in New Zealand to be elected, rather than appointed by the church hierarchy. The Anglican Church in New Zealand created three sections in 1992, one for the Māori, another for European New Zealanders (known in

tikanga) in New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. Vercoe became head of the Māori tikanga, Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa.[3]

Vercoe was appointed a

knighthood), for services to Māori and the community, in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours,[4] and became Primate and Archbishop of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (Pihopa Matamua) in 2004. As required by the church constitution at the time, he resigned as Te Pihopa o Aoteatoa in 2004.[5]

He held conservative religious views, condemning homosexuality as "unnatural" and "an abomination". A storm of controversy erupted in June 2004 when the

Bishop of Dunedin
.

He was diagnosed with cancer of the brain in 2005 and retired due to ill health in 2006. After he stepped down, the office of Archbishop has been shared by the heads of the three tikanga, with

William Brown Turei
as Primate.

Private life and death

Vercoe married Doris Eivers in 1951. They had three sons. He died in Lynmore, near Rotorua, his home for over 20 years, on 13 September 2007. He was survived by his wife and their sons. After a farewell ceremony at St Faith's Church in Rotorua on 14 September, his tangi (funeral) at Tōrere Marae was attended by over 40 Anglican bishops. He was buried at the Tōrere urupa (burial ground) on 17 September.[7]

In August 2009, Vercoe's widow, Doris, was granted the use of the courtesy title of "Lady Vercoe", following the re-introduction of titular honours by the New Zealand government.[8] She died in February 2016.[9]

References

  1. ^ "No. 45001". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 1 January 1970. p. 42.
  2. ^ "Obituary". The New Zealand Herald. 15 September 2007.
  3. ^ "Hui Vercoe: The making of a 'radical bishop'" (PDF). Anglican Taonga (22): 16–21. Spring 2006.
  4. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2000 (including special list for East Timor)". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 5 June 2000. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Aotearoa Discusses New Pihopa Roles". anglican.org.nz:80. Archived from the original on 24 October 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Top bishop's vision – a world without gays". The New Zealand Herald. 5 June 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  7. ^ "Obituary". The Independent. London, UK. 20 September 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007.
  8. ^ "Special honours list 1 August 2009". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Doris Vercoe death notice". The New Zealand Herald. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
Religious titles
Preceded by
John Paterson
 Primate and Archbishop of
Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
2004–2006 		Succeeded by
William Brown Turei
Preceded by
Bishop of Aotearoa

1981–2004 		Succeeded by
William Brown Turei
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