The Episcopal Council of the Federation of Oceania Bishops has been meeting in Paita, New Caledonia. The Council, made up of eight Bishops, met to prepare for the General Assembly of the Federation of Episcopal Conferences of Oceania to be held in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2014. The Bishops looked at ways to prepare the different Catholic communities in Oceania Read more
Hindi speaking Catholics in Fiji celebrated their thirtieth anniversary in Suva last Sunday. About 350 Hindi speaking Catholics gathered at the St Joseph School hall to mark their anniversary celebrations with devotion and socialising. Dharma Sammelan (religious gathering) secretary Doreen Francis said the event was an annual get-together for Hindi speaking Catholics. “The Dharma Sammelan Read more
Media in Australia and New Zealand have been reporting that Fiji is considering setting up a euthanasia clinic. They did so on the strength of information provided by Dr Philip Nitschke, a prominent Australian euthanasia advocate, without checking out his story with the Fiji Government. A spokesperson for the Fiji government, Permanent secretary for Information Read more
The Assemblies of God (AOG) Church in the Fiji’s Northern Division is aiming to build 40 churches. Divisional Superintendent of the church in the north, Pastor Jeremaia Radrodro, confirmed the north had hosted a total of 64 AOG churches and that there were plans to extend this number as part of a crusade the church planned Read more
Churches in French Polynesia have spoken out against suggestions that the Sofitel Maeva Beach Hotel, which is due to close in November, be turned into a casino. Church leaders have told the local press that they doubt a casino will benefit tourism, warning of negative outcomes for the poor. A Tahiti-based businessman, Franck Falletta, has Read more
The Catholic Church in Fiji is has joined with the Ministry of Health for a series of faith-based seminars on human sexuality. A release from the church said the Ministry of Health was partnering with them to combat the increasing numbers of teenage pregnancies and related issues. The event is aimed at both Catholic and Read more
Fiji’s Wages Council chairman Father Kevin Barr has told the Fiji Times he has resigned from his position on the Wages Council. However the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment has not received any formal notice of Barr’s resignation. On Sunday night, Minister Jone Usamate said neither he nor his permanent secretary Taito Waqa Read more
On Wednesday, the feast of the Assumption, St. Mary’s Primary School Savalalo and St. Mary’s College Vaimoso celebrated the 80th birthday Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary (SMSM) in Samoa. The Principal of St Marys College, Sister Sosefina Stowers, related that “In 1864, Bishop Battalion sent Sister Marie de la Merci to Samoa from Read more
General secretary of PNG and Solomon Islands Catholic Bishops Conference, Father Victor Roche, told Radio Australia that when one of their bishops last year described his unhappiness at the conditions he saw in an offshore detention centre, the bishops formed a collective viewpoint on the issue. “We are against the offshore detention centres in Papua Read more
A leaked report has raised new fears that Murorua Atoll – the site of French nuclear testing in the Pacific, is in danger of collapsing. Murorua e Tatou (MET), the Nuclear Association in French Polynesia, says the issue was detailed in a leaked report from the Ministry of Defence to the French government dated March 2010. Read more