Three days after taking office Archbishop Chong has been speaking about the Catholic Church’s role in Fiji.
He says the church should not get involved in party politics, but rather communicate through God’s values of love, peace and justice.
Chong said the church could help society in a teaching role; helping to form the mind and the attitude of the people so they could participate effectively in politics.
“As Christians, we need to bring in the vision of God and make sure that this things are not eroded from the general policies.”
“The church must speak from God’s stand.” Chong said the Church has an important role to play in ensuring that God’s values are part of government’s values.
“If they don’t have that background, they will only bring their experience and culture.
Chong has pointed out that the church and religion plays an important role times of transition — first during colonialism, then independence and now the coup-culture.
Archbishop Chong has also called upon all people of faith and goodwill to unite and work together for the sake of peace and justice the lead up to the elections in 2014.
He said unity is the lesson to be learned from his ordination, which he said, reached across the diverse ethnic and religious communities in Fiji. “It created a sense of unity that Fiji needs – a multicultural and multi-religious unity,”
“Elaborating Chong said: “The liturgy and especially the Ordination Rites touched the thousands of people that were present. As I went down through the congregation to give my blessing I could hear people sobbing with tears.”
He said Fiji had gone through trying times, however religion must be the beacon of hope.
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