Joseph Lui (died 17 May 1941) was one of the first two

Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

to be ordained a priest in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...

(then called the Church of England in Australia) in 1925.

Early life

Lui was the son of Lui Lifu (also known as Getano Lui of Lifu), a Pacific Islander from

Lifou Island Lifou Island, historically spelt Lifu or Lefu in English, and known as Drehu in the local language, is the largest, most populous and most important island of the Loyalty Islands, in the archipelago of New Caledonia, an French overseas territor ...

in the

Loyalty Islands Loyalty Islands Province (, ) is one of the three top-level administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia. It encompasses the Loyalty Islands () archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, located northeast of the New Caledonian mainland of Grande Terre. ...

who moved to the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, �zen̪ad̪ kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, ...

and married a Murray Island woman. His father was a teacher with the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

, sometimes described as a pastor. Prior to ordination, Lui was the helmsman on the mission lugger the ''Torres Herald I''. He was also an interpreter for the mission, as he understood all the dialects of the Torres Strait Islands.

Clerical career

He trained for ordination at St Paul's Theological College, Moa. He was ordained deacon in 1919 by the Bishop of Carpentaria, the Rt Rev Henry Newton, and priest in 1925, by his successor Rt Rev Stephen Davies. He was ordained along with Poey Passi, and the two were the first two Torres Strait Islanders to be ordained priest in the Anglican Church of Australia. In 1926 it was reported that Passi and Lui did not wear the western clerical collar, but instead wore a native costume of calico and singlet. The first Aborigine to be ordained a deacon was James Noble in 1925; it was not until 1970 that an Aborigine, Patrick Brisbane, was ordained priest. From 1919 to 1931 Lui was Curate at Dauan and Saibai, including periods as Temporary Chaplain at the Mitchell River Mission (1925–1926) and Curate in Charge at

Darnley Darnley is an area in south-west Glasgow, Scotland, on the A727 just west of Arden (the areas are separated by the M77 motorway although a footbridge connects them). Other nearby neighbourhoods are Priesthill to the north, Southpark Village ...

and Stephens Island (1926). From 1931 he was Priest in Charge of Murray Island.

Personal life

Lui died in 1941 on

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

. He was buried in the Lady Chapel of St Paul's Church, Moa Island.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lui, Joseph 1941 deaths Torres Strait Islanders 20th-century Australian Anglican priests Indigenous Australian clergy Culture of the Torres Strait Islands