Story: Religion and society

In 1920 James Liston became the coadjutor (assistant) to the Catholic bishop of Auckland, Henry Cleary. In a St Patrick's Day address in 1922 he questioned the Anglo-Irish treaty and described the Irish rebels of 1916 as having been 'murdered by foreign troops' (meaning British troops). There was a public outcry and Liston was unsuccessfully prosecuted for making seditious utterances. In 1929 he became bishop of Auckland, a role he would hold for more than 40 years.