Paul-Antoine Léonard de Villefeix OP (born 1728 - 1780John Dunmore, "From Nieuw-Zeeland to Nouvelle-Zélande", ''Marist messenger'', February 2020, p. 16) was a French Dominican priest. He conducted the first Christian service in New Zealand. He was the chaplain of French navigator and explorer Jean-François-Marie de Surville when de Surville, in his ship, the ''Saint Jean Baptiste'', sighted the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

of New Zealand in 1769. De Surville remained two weeks in

Doubtless Bay Doubtless Bay is a bay on the east coast of the Northland Region, north-east of Kaitaia, in New Zealand. It extends from Knuckle Point on Karikari Peninsula in the north to Berghan Point at Hihi in the south. There are rocky headlands, backed by ...

, near

Whatuwhiwhi Whatuwhiwhi is a settlement at the northern end of Tokerau Beach, on the Karikari Peninsula of Northland, New Zealand. To the south is Doubtless Bay. Kaitaia is about 39 km away. There are three shaded and sandy coves. Swimming is safe, bu ...

, where Villefeix celebrated the first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

in New Zealand waters on Christmas Day 1769.

Early life

Villefeix was born near Étouars in Perigord. One of his brothers, Léonard de Lestang, was also a priest, himself becoming parish priest of Étouars.Michael King, ''God's Farthest Outpost: A History Of Catholics In New Zealand'', Penguin Books, Auckland, 1997, p. 73.

Chaplain

Villefeix was invited by the Surville family to be the chaplain for an expedition to the South Pacific on the ship ''Saint Jean Baptiste'' led by navigator and explorer Jean-François-Marie de Surville. In December 1769 the ship arrived in

and a landing was made at Rangiaohia on the

Karikari Peninsula The Karikari Peninsula on the east coast of the far north of Northland, New Zealand, is between Rangaunu Harbour to the west, and Doubtless Bay to the southeast. It is a right-angled land mass of two relatively distinct parts. The rocky northe ...

where Father Villefeix went ashore, unaccompanied by fellow crew members, and wandered through one of the villages. He presided over eight burials in Doubtless Bay. Nearly half of Surville's crew members died on the voyage. Unlike

Captain James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

, he was not able to combat scurvy.

First Mass in New Zealand

Villefeix was the first Christian minister to set foot on New Zealand, pre-dating

Samuel Marsden Samuel Marsden (25 June 1765 – 12 May 1838) was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden was a prom ...

by forty-four years; and he was the first ordained minister to lead a Christian service in New Zealand waters. As a priest he was required to say

on Sundays and holy days of obligation (of which Christmas Day 1769, when ''Saint John Baptiste'' was still in Doubtless Bay, was one). Villefeix is also recorded as leading prayers for the sick on Christmas Eve and for burials in Doubtless Bay.

South America

In April 1770, the Surville expedition reached

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and Captain Surville was drowned while trying to land through surf on a beach. Seventeen months later, in 1771, while the ''Saint Jean-Baptiste'' was being held by Spanish authorities in

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists o ...

, Surville's nephew and Villefeix left the ship to go goldmining up a river.

Parish priest

Villefeix returned to France and he too became parish priest at his home town, Étouars, where he died in 1780, aged 52.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Villefeix, Paul-Antoine Leonard de 1728 births 1780 deaths Year of death unknown 18th-century French Roman Catholic priests French Dominicans Catholic Church in New Zealand New Zealand Roman Catholic priests