Tui Atua Mata’afa Tupuola Lui Iosefo was laid to rest at Mulinu’u last week. He was 84. Mata’afa is one of the royal family titles, referred to as the Tama Aiga, in Samoa. Archbishop Alapati Lui Mataeliga conducted his final service at the Amaile Catholic Church. Among relatives and friends who delivered eulogies was the Read more
Tonga’s King is reported to have sent soldiers and the Prime Minister to halt the baptism of his son Prince Ata into the Mormon church. Prince Ata is the King’s second son and fourth in line to the throne, and some reports say the King has warned his son he could have his title revoked. Read more
There is shock on Guadalcanal following the killing of a member of the Solomon Islands’ Anglican Church’s Melanesia’s Brotherhood. Our correspondent says both locals and expatriates at north west Guadalcanal have expressed horror at the killing of Brother Jackson Lodo. It is reported he was set upon by a group of men early last Thursday Read more
Voices from Oceania recently gathered by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand in an environment report lend weight to the latest United Nations report calling for dramatic cuts in fossil fuel use to avoid catastrophic and irreversible climate change impacts. “People across Oceania are already losing shorelines and experiencing rising temperatures and unusual weather patterns that have Read more
A 19 year old employee of one of the banks in Apia is the latest of the rising statistics of suicide cases. Police reports say the young man booked a room at a hotel at Fugalei on the 21 October 2014. The number of suicides in Samoa has been decreasing in recent years. However, according Read more
The Bougainville Government has adopted a missing persons policy to try and determine what happened to those who vanished during the Bougainville Civil War. The Red Cross helped formulate the policy and says it’s ready to help locate, identify and return human remains. Listen to Interview The new approach could see the possible exhumation of Read more
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tonga is starting to rebuild 116 houses that were destroyed by Cyclone Ian earlier this year. The church’s Tonga Service Centre Manager Howard Niu says they have signed with local contractor Oregon Pacific International to carry out the construction. Mr Niu says the houses will be Read more
For many visitors the Pacific Islands appear to be a paradise. The view from a high class resort however is not shared by many of the locals. Poverty is on the rise across the Pacific region, according to a recent report published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). An average of one in four Read more
“May the Transcendent Light illumine your hearts, homes and communities, and may all your celebrations deepen the sense of belonging to one another in your families and neighbourhoods, and so further harmony and happiness, peace and prosperity.” This is the hope expressed by the Vatican Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue as it acknowledges the the Read more
A new diocesan seminary has been established in Guam. On Wednesday archbishop Anthony Sablan canonically erected the new St. John Paul the Great Archdiocesan Seminary of Guam. The ceremony took place after a Mass which was celebrated in the parish church of San Isidro in Malojloj. Attached to the church is the former Carmelite Monastery, Read more