Poey Passi (1888 – 2 April 1958) 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

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia) in 1925.

Early life

Passi was the son of the last of the Zogire, a priestly caste which combined pagan priestly powers with a chieftain's authority, also known as the Mamoose.

Clerical career

In the days of 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 ...

's management of the missions in the Torres Strait, Passi was a lay teacher. He trained for ordination at St Paul's Theological College, Moa.''Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1932'', p 1001. He was ordained deacon in 1919 by the Bishop of Carpentaria, the Rt Rev Henry Newton, and priest in 1925, by his successor the Rt Rev Stephen Davies. He was ordained along with Joseph Lui, and the two were the first two Torres Strait Islanders to be ordained priest in what is now known as the Anglican Church of Australia. 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. Passi was a missionary in the Torres Strait 1919–1925 (initially as a curate to the Rev John Done at

Boigu Boigu Island (also known as Malu Kiyay or Malu Kiwai) is the most northerly inhabited island of Queensland and of Australia. It is part of the Top Western group of the Torres Strait Islands, which lie in the Torres Strait separating Cape York P ...

), Chaplain at the Lockhart River Mission 1925–1927, and Missionary on Murray Island 1927–1931. Subsequent appointments were as Assistant Priest to the Torres Strait Mission on

Saibai Island Saibai Island, commonly called Saibai (), is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, located in the Torres Strait of Queensland, Australia. The island is situated north of the Australian mainland and south of the island of New Guine ...

1931–1933, Missionary Yam Island 1933–1939, Missionary

Badu Island Badu or Badu Island (; , ; also Mulgrave Island), is an island in the Torres Strait north of Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia. Badu Island is also a suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, and Waka ...

1939–1941, Missionary in the Torres Strait 1941–1952, Priest in Charge Murray Island 1942–1952 and Priest in Charge Torres Strait 1952–1954. 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. Passi was credited by his congregations as having the power of

healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells ...

and

clairvoyance Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to h ...

. During the Torres Strait Island company boat strike of 1936, Passi put a curse on Eseli Peter for strike-breaking activity.

Personal life

A nephew, the Rev Dave Passi, was one of the plaintiffs in the landmark native title case ''

Mabo v Queensland (No 2) ''Mabo v Queensland (No 2)'' (commonly known as the ''Mabo case'' or simply ''Mabo''; ) is a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised the existence of Native Title in Australia.. It was brought by Eddie Mabo and othe ...

''. Passi married Alice Namok; they had five daughters. In retirement, Passi lived with a daughter on Murray Island. He died in 1958, aged 70. His funeral service was held at

Quetta Cathedral The Quetta Memorial Precinct is a heritage-listed Anglican church precinct in Douglas Street, Thursday Island, Shire of Torres, Queensland, Australia. The precinct comprises the All Souls and St Bartholomew's Cathedral Church, the Bishop's Hous ...

, and he was interred in the Thursday Island Cemetery, his

biretta The biretta () is a square cap with three or four peaks or horns, sometimes surmounted by a tuft. Traditionally the three-peaked biretta is worn by Christian clergy, especially Catholic Church hierarchy, Roman Catholic clergy, as well as some ...

and stole being placed on the coffin. In 1966 his mortal remains were reinterred in the sanctuary of the newly built church on Murray Island. In 1979 a stained glass window depicting

St Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

was installed in Quetta Cathedral as a memorial to Passi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passi, Poey 1878 births 1958 deaths Torres Strait Islanders 20th-century Australian Anglican priests Indigenous Australian clergy Culture of the Torres Strait Islands