Violence against Christians in Indonesia continues with a number of new incidents occurring last week. On Thursday, the congregation of the Batak Protestant Church (HKBP) in Taman Sari, Setu district in Bekasi regency, watched the local administration demolish their unfinished church building. The congregation formed a barrier between their church and the idling bulldozer. They Read more
Sabbath worship is a fundamental practice of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. However, an impasse continues in Samoa about which day of the week is the Sabbath. Some are worshipping on Saturday and the majority worshipping on Sunday. On 6 February the local Seventh Day Adventist church administration instructed the law office of Schuster-Betham-Annandale to write to Read more
A spokesperson for the Church, Father Ioane Ono, was recently reported as saying the Catholic church is not too concerned about the casinos opening on Sundays. “Gambling is optional. It is a matter of a person’s choice,” he said. “There is no specific teachings of the [Catholic] church with regards to gambling,” says Father Ioane. Read more
Spokesman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands Fr John Ribat welcomed the news and said it was most encouraging that the new Pope clearly defined his mission moments after his declaration, which is to rebuild the church using examples of two iconic saints – Francis of Assisi and Francis Read more
The Prime Ministers of Samoa and Fiji have expressed pleasure at the election of Pope Francis. Speaking to Radio Australia last Thursday, The Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilepe Sailele, who is a Catholic, said he was delighted at the election of a Pope from a developing country. The Prime Minster of Fiji, Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama,in Read more
The Pacific Conference of Churches, at the end of its tenth Assembly has passed resolutions about the following topics: Tahiti independence West Papua independence Freedom Sunday Nuclear testing Seabed mining Solidarity on mining Tourism, fishing and forestry Facilitating the concerns of members by engaging on the issue with agencies such as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Read more
A mass of thanksgiving for the election of Pope Francis will be celebrated on Friday at 6pm at Shrine of the Three Hearts church at Vaoala, in Samoa. This year has been one of surprise for the Catholics of Samoa at events at the tip of the hierarchy of their church. First there was the Read more
The newly appointed National Catholic Education Secretary for Papua New Guinea has taken up his position and began by attending the First National Education Board meeting for 2013 as an observer. He replaces Mr. Sylvester Ganisi, from the diocese of Alotau, who for the past seven years has been National Catholic Education Secretary. In the Read more
More than 6400 people on Santa Cruz Islands 500km east of Honiara are coming to terms with devastation caused by the double disaster of an earthquake and tsunami on February 6. An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 occurred 33km southwest of the Santa Cruz Islands at an ocean depth of 28.7km, generating tsunami waves Read more
The Uniting Church has asked for forgiveness for the divisions and pain it has caused Pacific communities in the past. In a submission presented to regional leaders at the Pacific Conference of Churches 10th General Assembly in Honiara, the Solomon Islands this week the Church acknowledged that it has had a part in damaging communities by Read more