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Despite some international media saying the Oceania Continent Synod response was released recently, CathNews has confirmed it has not been.
Recently released was the report of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ of Oceania Conference (FCBOC).
In January, a church group of about twenty representatives from across the Pacific gathered in Melbourne to synthesise the responses from around what the Vatican calls the “Oceania Continent”; the countries of the South Pacific, including Australia.
The group was tasked to bring Oceania’s unique perspective to bear on the global synodal process, saying their goal was to look at the global event “through the eyes” of the people of ‘the continent’.
CathNews was told the Oceania Continent Synod document was discussed at the recent FCBOC meeting in Suva, but when, through a third party, CathNews asked when the New Zealand Church might see the synodal document she was told it could be published ‘anytime between now and some weeks’.
New Zealand’s representatives: Fr Dennis Nacorda (Levin), Dr Thérèse Kiely (Auckland) and Mrs Anne Dickinson (Wellington)
Also at the FCBOC meeting was Sr Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops.
She was visiting from Rome.
“It is clear that the Church is unfolding in a local culture, whereas we often have a very Eurocentric vision of the Church,” said Becquart.
She was particularly taken by the youthful expression of Church in the South Pacific, commenting it is very different from the 1,500 or 2,000-year-old traditions elsewhere in the world.
“One of the requests was to bring out an Oceanian theology, a sign of the need to anchor the Church in local realities… and the indigenous populations are very present, with celebrations marked by a great sense of inculturation.”
“This region is probably also home to the youngest Church in the world, where there are still missionaries. Some islands were evangelised in the 1950s, just before or after the Second Vatican Council.
Sr Nathalie Becquart
“For those of us coming from Rome, we experienced a young Church there. The concerns are not very different from elsewhere, but they are expressed with a different intensity.
“The people in Oceania are experiencing climate change in a very intense way. They have a very strong link with this territory and losing their land means losing their identity. It is terrible. This dynamic of the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor was present in the reflections all week.
“It is clear that the Church is unfolding in a local culture, whereas we often have a very Eurocentric vision of the Church. One of the requests was to bring out an Oceanian theology, a sign of the need to anchor the Church in local realities.”
Becquart said she thought it was too early to say how the different ‘Oceania Continent’ approaches will be integrated into the overall Synod.
“We need to see what emerges from there and elsewhere. The working document that will be developed afterwards will bring out the voice of the Church from the various continents, with what unites them and what differentiates them.”
Becquart confirmed that the Synod path is not mapped out in advance.
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