Fiji’s police commissioner has called for religious gatherings to be held only in daytime as a community safety measure. Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho said it is about time this happened. The commissioner also said parents should accompany their children to church services and other gatherings. He said police are working on strategies to ensure children Read more
A college in Samoa was temporarily closed by the government after a brawl involving students from three schools, including St Joseph’s College and Don Bosco. Samoa’s Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture closed Avele College in Apia on Friday for the protection and security of its students. The St Joseph’s Day sports at St Joseph’s Read more
A Catholic report has identified a slow motion genocide happening in West Papua amid a growing Islamisation of the area. The report was compiled by the Brisbane Catholic Justice and Peace Commission’s Shadow Human Rights Fact Finding Mission to West Papua. It came after a visit to West Papua last month by Josephite Sr Susan Read more
A former Marist Brother who was hailed as an outstanding educator in Samoa has died. Patrick Buckley, known in his early days as Br Fintan, died in Samoa in early March. Mr Buckley’s career saw him teaching primary, secondary and tertiary students in New Zealand and Samoa. He had a reputation as an innovative educator Read more
The orderly and peaceful way Samoa’s general election took place has been ascribed in part to a decision to have most polling booths in church buildings. The Samoa Observer reported that the decision “contributed largely to absence of violence and unruly behaviour in most villages”. The presence of church pastors at voting places also helped Read more
Catholic students and young people in Papua have marched in protest against police interrogation of a Catholic priest. The protest in Jayapura by the Union of Catholic University Students of Indonesia and Catholic Youth organisations was in response to police treatment of Fr John Djonga. Last month, Fr Djonga led a prayer service at the Read more
The Pacific Island nations often cited as the most likely to disappear because of rising sea levels include Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. Kiribati has a population of just over 100,000. The Marshall Islands about 52,000. And Tuvalu close to 10,000. The problem for small Pacific Island nations is that on a world scale Read more
A precarious calm has returned to Sigave after several weeks of tension between the kingdom’s two families. After seven years vacancy Sigave, one of the two kingdoms of Futuna, has a new ruler. The enthronement of the new Sigave customary sovereign (king) took place without incident on March 5 in Leava, capital of Futuna. The Read more
Australia spent £29 million on a deal with Cambodia to accept its refugees but the scheme has been labelled an “expensive joke” after just two people took up the offer to relocate. The four-year deal, signed in 2014, was designed to resettle hundreds of refugees who have been transferred by Australia to the tiny Pacific Read more
Leoba Devana is serving time in the jail on Buka Island, part of Papua New Guinea’s Autonomous Region of Bougainville after having an abortion. She was charged and convicted – erroneously, in the eyes of a coalition of senior medical, legal and human rights advocates in Port Moresby who have taken up her case – Read more