'I am a native of New Zealand and I love my country very well. In every land the children of Ireland this day are gathered by some common and holy impulse to rejoice that at long last they have won some measure of freedom and to hope that for complete deliverance from the house of bondage.'  Bishop James Liston's speech to his Auckland flock on St Patrick's Day 1922, attempting to reassure them about recent events in Ireland was greeted with fervent applause from his largely Irish-Catholic audience.

However, the New Zealand Herald's report of the event, which had Liston sneering at the British Empire, praising dead Irish rebels, and describing Crown forces as 'foreign murderers' caused a furore. Liston was charged with making a seditious utterance, becoming the first Catholic Bishop in the British Empire to be tried for his political opinions. Bishop in the Dock tells the story of this explosive episode and brings to light the sectarian dimension of New Zealand's past.