Family: PNG church addresses tough issues

Friday, October 10th, 2014

“We need to stress the weaknesses and at the same time the complexity of the family in the Melanesian context”, according to Catholic Bishop Arnold Orawae of Wabag.

He said this at a press conference in Port Moresby as he was setting out to Rome to attend the synod on the family with Pope Francis.

Orawae is representing PNG and Solomon Islands in his capacity as president of the Bishops’ Conference of both countries.

“People feel cut off from the church when they can’t fully participate in its life, including the Sacraments”, he said.

“We need a flexible approach in this regard considering the variety of situations and the personal spiritual journey”.

Bishop Arnold revealed that, in his allotted time at the synod, he will explain that the idea of “nuclear family” pertains only to the Western culture and way of life.

In most of the world, including Melanesia, the family represents a much more complex web of relationships including both close and distant relatives.

Questioned on the issue of polygamy, Bishop Arnold acknowledged that the practice runs against Christian revelation.

Patience and a gradual journey are required to overcome such entrenched social customs.

On contraception, the Church tends to stand with what is natural.

Family activists John and Lucy Lavu, who were at the press conference, stressed the fact that natural family planning methods are successful with committed and motivated couples.

Aggressive campaigns for mass contraception and sterilisation in rural areas failed to provide teenage girls and women, let alone their male partners, with an informed choice.

“Then people come to us. We can counsel them, but hardly repair the damage done to their bodies”, Mrs Lavu said.

Source