May 27, 2019
Tūheitia shares Kiingitanga story with Pope
The Māori king has had a private audience with the pope in the Vatican, an honour usually reserved for heads of state.
Ngira Simmonds, the king's chaplain, says King Tūheitia was following in the path of his mother Te Atairangikaahu, who met Pope John Paul II in 1975.
He was accompanied by wife Makau Ariki Atawhai and his daughter Te Puhi Ariki Nga Wai Hono i te Po.
The king spent about 20 minutes with Pope Francis and invited him to visit Aotearoa and Tūrangawaewae.
"He shared some of the things happening in te ao Māori, some of the important things for the Māori people. He talked a bit about the Kiingitanga, it's purpose for unity and I understand the Pope was quite captured by some of that kōrero and particularly interested in an indigenous monarchy born out of struggle, born out of the loss of land," Mr Simmonds says.
King Tūheitia has also visited Cassino, where he was given a tour of the battlefield by historian Sir Harawira Gardiner and attended a service at the war grave cemetery conducted by Rev Simmonds and Anglican Archbishop Sir David Moxon.
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