Archbishop Peter Loy Chong has denied accusations that churches have failed in their primary role and are burdening people with demands to build bigger and more beautiful churches.
He says such accusations are not factual and needed validation.
Ro Aca Mataitini, former Roko Tui Cakaudrove and now training officer with the Ministry of Itaukei Affairs, had said churches continued to get bigger while the seriousness and number of crimes continued to escalate.
(Roko Tui is the title for the executive head of any one of Fiji’s 14 Provincial Councils)
Mataitini was speaking to traditional leaders in the district of Wailevu in Cakaudrove earlier this month.
He said the problem existed in iTaukei villages because people had forgotten who to worship.
Instead of focusing on the purpose of building a church, people had turned it into a competition, worshiping the worldly head of churches instead of God Ro Aca Mataitini said.
Chong said one could question the presence of churches in relation to the increase of crime and immorality in the country but to blame the church was not acceptable.
He added individual churches were doing their fair share of work to address issues faced in communities.
Methodist Church general secretary Reverend Epineri Vakadewavosa said the issues could be addressed through a collective approach as addressing the issues in society was not the work of the church alone.
FemlinkPacific Executive Director Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls has also questioned Mataitini’s accusation.
“Churches and centres of worship provided refuge for many at times of natural disaster and also have educated generations of Fijians,” Bhagwan-Rolls said.
“Ro Aca Mataitini’s broad, sweeping statement missed the opportunity to provide strategies prevent crime and also failed to reaffirm the recent steps by the Fiji Council of Churches members to denounce violence against women in a public media campaign.”
“Instead of blaming the church, his message could have been an opportunity to talk about how the state and church could work better with citizens and congregations including women’s networks to enhance preventive action and analysis and respond to the root causes of violence.”
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News category: Asia Pacific.
