A New Zealand Catholic church worker, providing legal advice to landowners, has deported from Papua New Guinea. Despite a court order staying his deportation, Douglas Tennent was forced to leave PNG on Monday after being told on Friday by immigration officials he was abusing the conditions of his religious worker visa. Now back in New Read more
The Vatican froze two million euros last year. Its aim was to prevent the Vatican state being used as a cover for corruption and money laundering. The Vatican has enacted a number of provisions to clean up its finances and make them more transparent in recent years. This has been especially the case since Pope Read more
An Indonesian bishop has accused local authorities in Papua of ignoring an alcohol ban, saying their inaction has contributed to a spate of deaths linked to the consumption of bootleg liquor. According to Papua police, 86 people have died, 264 have been seriously injured and 839 injured slightly since 2013 in alcohol-related incidents. Papua governor Read more
The Melanesian Way could aptly be summed up as a democracy says Phil Fitzpatrick. He points out that there are various definitions of democracy, “but the Oxford English Dictionary probably sums it up accurately saying it is ‘a system of government in which all the people of a state or polity… are involved in making 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
The Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples strongly denied accusations of cronyism in renting out properties in Rome. The Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples promotes evangelisation and missionary cooperation around the globe and has special responsibility for bishops, dioceses and developing jurisdictions in Africa, the Far East and parts of the Pacific and Latin Read more
The secretary of the Vanuatu Presbyterian Church, Pastor Allan Nafuki, says the churches and the chiefs are planning measures to address the impasse created by the jailing of 14 members of parliament. The members of parliament had been convicted on corruption charges. Nafuki says they don’t want any more time wasting. “We are calling from Read more
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands (CBC) condemns corruption by ministers, public servants, church leaders and all the leaders in power, says Fr Victor Roche, CBC’s general secretary. Roche gave the following reasons for the condemnation: Elected leaders are for the people. They have been mandated to represent the people. Read more
It seems to us that at this time worthy politics and democracy are at risk in Papua New Guinea says Bishop Arnold Orowa President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. He says that honesty and commitment to the common good are essential ingredients of worthy politics. Moreover in a true democratic system Read more
“We need to reclaim the prophetic voice of the Church to actively carry out its contribution in helping stem the tide of apathy and hopeless in our country’s political sphere,” says Anglican Church of Melanesia Archbishop David Vunagi . He was speaking at the opening of a three day church conference on Rethinking the Household Read more