Polish bishops are telling Catholics to stay Catholic. The bishops advice – delivered in a recent pastoral letter – was made both to mark Poland’s centenary of independence and to warn the nation’s Catholics that freedom could be lost again if Poles abandon their Catholic faith. They explained independence is not just about “armed struggle, Read more
A visit by three former Papua New Guinea prime ministers in an attempt to stop Bouganvilleans voting for independence is a “complete waste of time and absurd,” says Martin Miriori, a leading figure in the Bougainville separatist movement. Miriori is the former Bougainville Interim Government (BIG) and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and Secretary and Read more
Church leaders attending a workshop, Rethinking the Household of God, which was held in the Solomon Islands at the beginning of June have agreed to actively support the struggle for political independence of the people of West Papua. The call comes a week before Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attends the Pacific Islands Development Forum Read more
The Chairman of the Vanuatu Christian Council, Reverend James Ligo, says the government has lost sight of the nation’s original vision for independence by attracting more foreign investors and approving dual citizenship. He says it is “important to recall our vision for independence because I believe the foundation of Vanuatu as an independent nation was Read more
A proposal to endorse the re-inscription of Tahiti on the United Nations Decolonization Committee’s list will be on the agenda at the Pacific Conference of Churches’ annual general assembly in Solomon Islands this week, despite opposition from France, New Zealand and Australia. PCC acting general secretary and Tahiti native, Reverend Francois Pihaate, told Radio Australia’s Pacific Read more
A new book, “New Flags Flying: Pacific Leadership”, was launched in Apia last last Monday. The book describes the hopes and fears of early Pacific political leaders in the period from 1960 to 1990 as islands across the Pacific gained independence or self-government. Ian Johnstone and Michael Powles interviewed the Pacific people in key leadership positions in Read more
Pacific churches support independence for Tahiti. At their recent meeting in Samoa, member churches of the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) pledged their support to Maohi Nui (Tahiti) in her struggle to gain independence from France. President Oscar Temaru, of Tahiti, in a special address to the PCC church leaders, appealed to the churches of the Pacific Read more