Christmas Island Catholics visit Fiji to catch up with their kin

Christmas Island

Catholics from Christmas Island have been in Fiji for the first time to rekindle their kinship with the assistant parish priest at Lomary Parish Father Peniata Bakatete, a Christmas Islander who has been in Fiji since 2008.

Bakatete Koririntetaake, who comes from Christmas Island and lived in Fiji for some time, said the group had attended an ordination in Kiribati and upon returning, they decided to visit Peniata.

“We are enjoying Fiji, we have witnessed the cultural practices by villagers in Serua,” he said.

Peniata said he was pleased to have a few people from his homeland in Fiji with him for a short while.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen them. They are accompanying me to the villages in Serua for church visits,” he said.

Christmas Island is an Australian external territory located in the Indian Ocean.

Catholics on Christmas Island are pastorally cared for by the Archdiocese of Perth although they are not within its jurisdiction. In 2014 they celebrated their 25th anniversary.

The World Fact Book puts the population  at just over 2000 residents.  This does not include the highly variable population at the Immigration Detention Centre.

The majority of the residents live in settlements on the northern tip of the island. The main settlement is Flying Fish Cove.

There is no indigenous population. Around two-thirds of the island’s population are Malaysian Chinese, with significant numbers of Malays and European Australians as well as smaller numbers of Malaysian Indians and Eurasians.

Buddhism is the primary religion, practised by three-quarters of the population. The Christians make up about 19% (397 people) of the population. Of that number about 18% are Catholics.

A school managed by the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia  was opened in 2014 for asylum seeker children held in detention.

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News category: Asia Pacific.

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