Prisoners at Bihute jail near Goroka in Papua New Guinea have reconciled with Sisters of Mercy. The reconciliation means that the sisters will resume their programs inside the jail. They were stopped earlier in the year after an attack on the sisters’ residence. In April, 12 armed men drove into the Sisters of Mercys’ compound Read more
The suicide bomb attack on a priest carried out by Ivan Armadi, a 17-year -old Indonesian was inspired by the murder of a French priest in July. “He was imitating … the priest attack because of the internet,” General Tito Karnavian Jakata’s national police chief told foreign journalists. However Armadi’s bomb-making skills, acquired over the Read more
The Archbishop of Suva, Peter Loy Chong says Catholics in Fiji treats various gender communities with equal value. “For us, everyone is the same and this has also been addressed by the Pope, who made special reference to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and intersex (LGBTI) community,” he said. The archbishop is one Read more
The Diocese of Bougainville has been running Sunday School awareness workshops in parishes this month. The purpose of workshops was to get a consensus from the people. Around 3,500 people from 20 parishes have participated in the workshops. By the end of October the parishes will make a decision about whether they want the Sunday Read more
Father Pius Sammut, rector of the neocatechumenal Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona, Guam, says they have no authority to lift the deed of restriction that gives the seminary and a theological institute the legal right to use the archdiocese’s property. “The only one who can lift the deed of restriction is the ordained Archbishop of Read more
The body representing the Catholic Bishops of Oceania have joined the international outcry at what is happening to asylum seekers The Executive Committee of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have issued a statement condemning what is happening to asylum seekers on Manus Read more
Local Catholics are glad that a group of Muslims have decided to drop a lawsuit that sought to stop the building of a Marian shrine in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta province. In a surprise move, the 39 Islamic extremists who opposed the construction of a replica of the Lourdes grotto in the Yogyakarta province have withdrawn their Read more
Up to 10 people from Samoa and American Samoa studying for the priesthood at a Redemptoris Mater Seminary (RMS) in Guam have been withdrawn. Six are from the Archdiocese of Samoa in Apia, and two are from the Diocese of Samoa in Pago Pago. However, the number will reach 10 if two other RMS seminarians Read more
Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron did not follow Pope Francis’ instruction to rescind and annul a deed restriction. The deed gives Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Guam and the Blessed Diego Theological Institute the legal right to use the Archdiocese of Agana’s (Guam) property. Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Honmore, the Vatican appointed administrator of the Archdiocese says Read more
The crowd quietens as various religious heads say prayers of thanksgiving for our victorious 7s heroes and the people of Fiji at the ANZ Stadium in Suva. The prayer session was led by Catholic Archbishop Peter Loy Chong. Source Tens of thousands of Fijians cheered and many openly wept as they braved heavy rain to Read more