Nauru’s former Chief Justice says New Zealand is continuing to support an unjust system and should speak more strongly against what he calls an appalling abuse of power. New Zealand provides 600-thousand US dollars a year to fund Nauru’s justice system. New Zealand’s Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, says he’s deeply concerned about recent developments but Read more
The Archdiocese of Agana, [Guam] has responded to concerns of Toto parishioners who wanted more clarity in how money collected from annual donations are spent. According to John Taitano, a council member of the Toto parish, the church only collected $150 of its more than $5,000 goal. Taitano previously stated parishioners “overwhelmingly” opposed to giving donations Read more
Because it is taboo for Tongan subjects to touch their king’s head, a foreign church minister will perform the coronation of their majesties King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau’u. A retired Methodist minister, D’Arcy Wood, has been chosen to place the crown on the king’s head. Wood lives in Gisborne, a town about 55 kilometers Read more
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand’s chief, Julianne Hickey has been in Rome recently and was in meetings preparing for Pope Francis’ new encyclical Laudato Si’. She was able to give an input from the Pacific perspective where oceans are so important for the sustaining of life. Hickey was able to speak of what is happening to Read more
Fr Philip Gibbs, a priest, anthropologist and researcher, said the Catholic Church has been conducting workshops in parishes to raise awareness about witch hunts and how it is totally contrary to the Christian response to misfortune and death. Gibbs, who has spent more than four decades in Papua New Guinea, has met surviving victims of Read more
Two Kiribati women, Tuata Terawete and Juniko Toaua, were professed as Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict during a ceremony earlier this month. The Rite of First Profession took place during Eucharist at St Thomas Aquinas Church in Springwood, NSW, Australia. Both women were born and raised in the Republic Read more
The Catholic Archbishop of Fiji, Peter Loy Chong, has entered the debate about Fiji’s new flag. He says,”….to create a new flag and ensure it truly represents a nation’s identity, those charged with this task must understand the notion of a symbol.” “What is a symbol and how does it function?” he asks. “I wish Read more
Islam is growing rapidly in Papua New Guinea, converts finding Muslim customs have more in common with their traditions than Christianity. Catholic priest Franco Zocca, based at the Melanesian Institute research centre in Goroka, said Islamic leaders explained to him that “Islamic beliefs and practices are more compatible than Christianity with traditional Melanesian values”, especially Read more
Dubbed by some “the Guantanamo of the Pacific”, Manus Island is home to one of Australia’s off-shore detention centres, where around a thousand asylum seekers are locked up. Australia does not allow journalists to visit the centres but the BBC’s Jon Donnison travelled undercover to Papua New Guinea to reach the camp on Manus island. Read more
Cardinal Soane Patita Mafi was welcomed during an ava ceremony at Leauva’a, a village near Apia, in Samoa last Monday. Mafi was on his way to Tokelau to attend the church’s 150th anniversary celebrations there. The highest form of Samoan traditional welcome, the ava (kava) ceremony was presided over by the chiefs, orators, taupou (chiefly women) and Read more