After assessing Christian missionary efforts from 1668 to 1950, researchers claim to have found the spread of Christianity in the Pacific was driven more by the influence of political leaders than grassroots empowerment. This challenges one of the most widely cited reasons for Christianity’s popularity, that it spread from the “bottom-up” by empowering lower classes Read more
The opposition party in French Polynesia is ridiculing President Édouard Fritch’s proposed visit to Pope Francis. The comment comes just hours after confirmation that Fritch will join a Pacific Islands Forum delegation to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican next month. The forum coincides with the COP23 climate change conference in Germany. The pro-independence opposition party, Tavini Read more
The Bishop of Kiribati, Paul Mea, says the Catholic church does not support a Russian man having his own empire in Kiribati. “I think he knows that in Kiribati the churches are very influential with the government. That’s why he came to visit me,” said Mea. Anton Bakov, a Russian businessman who is the head Read more
Reverend Nove Vailaau says during his research into pre-Christian Samoa he has discovered that smacking was not a feature of traditional Samoan language and culture. Accepting children into family life was a more inclusive process. Traditional Samoan values promoted the protection of children, not the infliction of suffering upon them. He says when the missionaries arrived Read more
Former French prime minister Alain Juppé has conceded France’s nuclear testing in the Pacific has impacted on the environment and peoples’ health. Mr Juppé was Prime Minister from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, who made the controversial decision to resume nuclear testing in French Polynesia. Mr Juppé, 70, is a member of the Read more
Susanna Ounei has died in New Zealand at the age of 70. Susanna was born in 1945 in Ouvea in the Loyalty Islands, but grew up in Poindimie on the east coast of New Caledonia. She was a member of the Foulards Rouges in the late 1960s, which mobilised young Kanaks and their supporters to Read more
Pope Francis has advised Kenyan young people to resist the temptations of corruption which affects all aspects of life, and is present in the Vatican. Francis said corruption is not only present in politics but almost everywhere, including the institution he leads. “Even in the Vatican there are cases of corruption,” he said. Francis’s comments Read more
Indonesia must seriously address human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings in Papua, say the Pacific churches. The Pacific Conference of Churches General Secretary, Reverend Francois Pihaatae, says Papuans are being killed and tortured merely because they want self-determination, a right guaranteed by the United Nations of which Indonesia is a member. He said 500,000 Papuans Read more
Religion in Papua New Guinea is being increasingly privatised and there is an increasing loss of Christian values in public life says Fr Boniface Holz. “A common sign of this secularization is the emergence of social, political, and economical spheres in which religious influence is declining.” Boniface says the Papua New Guinea constitution has two Read more
The Catholic Church has long been fighting sorcery in Papua New Guinea. An Auckland academic says the real issue with violence against women in Papua New Guinea is not sorcery, but gender inequality. Evangelina Papoutsaki says unequal gender relations which are the result of the post-colonial times and Christianity, are being used to justify violence against Read more