Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is hosting this year’s Caritas Oceania Forum in Wellington next month, on 1-5 October. This is the first time the Forum has been held in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2011 when it was held in Auckland. It was last held in Wellington in 2006. The event will attract 30 delegates from Read more
The Catholic Church of Fiji has launched a climate change song penned by Archbishop Peter Loy Chong. The song inspiration is taken from Pope Francis’ letter ‘Laudato Si’, Care for Our Common Home.’ The lyrics for the three verse song were written by Chong, the arrangement by the music director of the Catholic Church in Fiji, Damiano Read more
The archbishop of Suva, Peter Loy Chong, says parts of Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu, are on course to disappear because of rising sea levels. He said: “We can see it with our own eyes – the ocean levels are increasing each year, so the island [of Viti Levu] is disappearing.” The archbishop said “Pacific Read more
Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Sir John Ribat of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. one of four presidents-delegate for the October Synod of Bishops. Climate change is a key issue for the pope and Ribat has been outspoken about the effects that rising ocean levels have had on his people. The other three president delegates are Louis Read more
Governments should honour the commitments they made at the 2015 Paris climate conference to curb climate change, Pope Francis said last week. Francis was speaking at an International Conference “Saving our Common Home and the Future of Life on Earth” on the third anniversary of his encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’ (Praise Be). Delegates included Read more
New Zealanders and people from Pacific Island nations were among representatives from all over the world attending the International Conference “Saving our Common Home and the Future of Life on Earth” at the Vatican July 5-6 to commemorate Pope Francis’s encyclical on the Care of Creation. The conference was attended by faith leaders, youth activists, Read more
The ecological and moral emergency of climate change needs urgent help. A call to action to address the emergency while there “is still time” has been issued. Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, as well as other faith leaders and scientists, made a press statement about the emergency last week. They timed their statement to go Read more
Rising sea levels could make most Pacific Ocean atolls uninhabitable by the middle of the century — or possibly sooner. The “tipping point” depends on the rate of climate change — and above all the stability of Antarctica. These are the conclusions reached in a recently published study partly funded by the Pentagon’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Read more
The ideology of individualism has a great impact on our approach to questions of ecology and the environment the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told the bishops attending the assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO). “This ideology whose origins can be traced back to the Age of Enlightenment,” Read more
Oceania’s Anglican leaders in the region have committed themselves “to take concrete action, to be champions and advocates, and to support each other” in the fight against climate change and gender-based violence. The primates and general secretaries of the Anglican Church in Australia, the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea, the Anglican Church of Melanesia, Read more