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Fiji’s archbishop, Peter Loy Chong, says the church has a role in politics.
People who think mixing religion with politics is wrong are ‘in denial’, he suggests.
Loy Chong – who is the head of the Catholic Church in Fiji – was chief guest the opposition National Federation Party (NFP) Annual General Meeting in Suva last week.
He has since been criticised for accepting the NFP’s invitation.
Loy Chong’s response to the criticism has been to explain to his critics what the church’s role in politics is – and is not – in Fiji’s political life.
It is not to decide on policies, he says.
Rather, it is to promote care and ensure there was a just society.
This means the church can push for sustainable development and care for the environment, he says.
“Whether people call it mixing church and religion – but definitely the church has a voice and that needs to be aired when it concerns society and where injustice or the exploitation of the environment is concerned,” he says.
Loy Chong says the church and religion should be the moral compass for any society.
The government should allow full participation of its people in the consultative processes and not just a few chiefs, he says.
This is important, as some people have been to him with concerns that they are not being informed of consultations taking place and about the areas they are from.
Source
- RNZ
- Image: Fiji Village
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