A parent with a child attending a Catholic school has complained to the Fiji Times that the school is forcing students who ar not catholics to attend Mass. In a letter, the school informed parents that if they did not want their children to Mass they should find another school. One parent said.”I had personally Read more
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has launched a Mormons Newsroom website for French-speaking journalists and others interested in the Church and its members in the Pacific region. The site, called ‘Salle de Presse Pacifique,’ will provide media professionals, bloggers, opinion leaders and the public with news and other resources about The Church Read more
Samoa will have its first casino in six months after two licences have been granted, one to beach resort, Aggie Grey’s, and another to Chinese company ETG. Reverend Maauga Motu, general secretary of Samoa’s National Council of Churches, told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat less fortunate Samoans are likely to be hardest hit by the development Read more
On Wednesday Archbishop-Elect Father Peter Chong told the Fiji Times they had written a letter to the Vatican last month informing the Pope of the church’s wish to set June 8 aside for his ordination. Chong says that the Pope’s resignation is unlikely to have any affect on the ordination plans “Although we still have not received any response Read more
Archbishop Elect Father Peter Loy Chong precided at this year’s Chinese New Year mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Suva on Sunday. About 300 people from the Asian community in the country attended the mass to commemorate the festival. Sister Genevieve Loo said the mass was a celebration of the close relationship that the Read more
Hundreds of bystanders, including many children, watched a 20-year-old mother accused of sorcery stripped and tortured, then burned alive in a Papua New Guinea Highland town of Mout Hagen. Kepari Leniata was accused of sorcery by relatives of a 6-year-old boy who died in the hospital the day before. More than 50 men participated, torturing her with a Read more
Many have expressed concerns about the perceived absence of any real relief assistance from the mainstream churches since Cyclone Evan, according to an editorial in the Sunday Observer last month. “Apart from the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints and the Seventh Day Adventist Church, the other mainline churches – as well Read more
Refugee Action Coalition Sydney has reported five attempted suicides by asylum seekers in Nauru in recent weeks. The latest attempted hanging took place last Saturday (2 February). All of those attempting suicide were Iranian or Iraqi asylum seekers among those transferred from Australia to Nauru on 21 January, 2013 “Just as with the recent suicide Read more
A book about 7 modern Melanesian martyrs and the legacy of reconciliation they left behind in the Pacific islands, by Monica Attias, a member of Rome’s Catholic St Egidio community, was launched last Friday. As part of the Commission on new Christian martyrs, set up by Pope John Paul II, Monica has been studying the ecumenical Read more
The French military has confirmed rumours circulating that construction work is being carried out on Mururoa atoll, the former site of French nuclear tests in the Pacific. Addressing the media in Tahiti after touring the area, Commodore Anne Cullerre says that platforms have been built on Mururoa atoll, should a coral cliff collapse trigger a huge Read more