A Papua New Guinea lawyer says the influence of fundamentalist Christians from oversees is partly to blame for a proposed crackdown on sexting in PNG. Constitutional lawyer Tiffany Twivey-Nongorr has called the proposed PNG ban an outrageous breach of human rights. As part of a review of the Censorship Act, PNG’s Censorhip Board is considering Read more
More than 1000 Fiji Catholics have come together to commemorate one of the most famous battles in their nation’s history. They have gathered on Fiji’s fourth largest island, Taveuni, to remember the victory by Ratu Golea’s forces against invading Tongans in the 1860s. According to local history, before Ratu Golea went to battle against Ma’afu Read more
The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Justin Welby, has prayed before a monument to seven Anglican martyrs in the Solomon Islands. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who was making brief visits to Asia and Oceania Anglican primates, was in the Solomons before departing for Australia, New Zealand and Polynesia. On August 11, Archbishop Welby Read more
Helping Melanesian Catholics better appreciate the Bible is one way of combating propaganda from sects and increasing fundamentalism in the region. That was one of the outcomes hoped for from a Bible Sunday organised by the bishops of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands for August 3. The day was intended to move “the Read more
The Catholic Church is playing its part in helping resettle more than 2000 people from a low-lying Pacific atoll threatened by climate change. Most of the 2700 people on the Carteret Atoll are relocating to Bougainville after their home islands have become increasingly uninhabitable. The atoll, made up of six islets, has suffered saltwater intrusion, contaminating Read more
The Marist Brothers’ Old Pupils Association in Samoa is working to ensure Apia looks spick and span before, during and after a United Nations conference. The Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States is to be held in Samoa from September 1-4. It will focus the world’s attention on a group of countries that Read more
A financial review of Catholic entities in Agana Archdiocese in Guam ordered by the Vatican has shown some significant accounting deficiencies. Archbishop Anthony Apuron of Agana released statements last week, after the review by Deloitte and Touche was made public, to “begin a process of reorganisation and reordering”. The review shows that one archdiocesan entity, Read more
Australia has sent 157 Tamil asylum seekers, including 50 children, to Nauru a week after religious leaders slammed policy in this area as child abuse. The group were held at sea for a month after their boat, which set sail from Pondicherry in India, was intercepted in June. They were moved to Australia’s mainland, to Read more
New Zealand’s Catholic Church has been training Pacific Islands church personnel on safeguarding children and dealing with abuse. National Office for Professional Standards director Bill Kilgallon and the Congregation for the Doctine of the Faith’s promoter of justice Msgr Robert Oliver visited American Samoa in July. Accompanied by clinical psychologist Carolyn Cavana, they were there Read more
The Catholic Church in Mt Hagen archdiocese in Papua New Guinea is responding to an increasing number of homeless children in the area. A “think tank” was held recently to look at the nature and extent of the problem and how the Church might respond. Archbishop Douglas Young of Mt Hagen told Radio Australia International Read more