The Anglican Church in Papua New Guinea has voted to accept the Anglican Communion Covenant. Writing to the Secretary General of the decision on behalf of the House of Bishops, the Bishop of Port Moresby, the Rt Revd Peter Ramsden, said the decision was based on their understanding of the name Anglican Communion. “Anglican” was Read more
Papua New Guinea church leaders called on Thursday for a “grand coalition” to end the PNG crisis. Such a coalition would be a “Melanesian way” of solving what appears to be an intractable crisis with both Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and his opponent Peter O’Neill refusing to back down. “If they are to release Read more
Population control was under discussion in two places in the Pacific region last week Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Health and HIV, Jamie Maxtone-Graham, has called for proper plans and strategies for population control to cater for the increasing population in the country. Quoting reports from a demographic health survey carried out in 2006, Maxtone-Graham Read more
Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Capuchin friar Father Donald Lippert as bishop of Mendi in Papua New Guinea. The fifty-four year old Capuchin friar will be the third bishop of the Southern Highlands diocese, which was established forty-five years ago.
Bishop-elect Donald was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on June 12, 1957, to Donald and Elaine (Unites) Lippert and was baptized at St. Basil Church in Carrick. When he was a year old, his family moved to Beechview and became members of St. Catherine of Siena Church, where he attended the parish school for his elementary education. He graduated from South Hills Catholic in 1975. He would go on for his college education first at the University of Pittsburgh, then Duquesne University and eventually St. Fidelis College in Herman, PA.
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In Papua New Guinea the Catholic Bishops’ conference has expressed concern over the conflict between the executive and judicial arms of government. The Chief Justice, who is heading a Supreme Court panel which is to decide whether the election of the prime minister is constitutional, was suspended on allegations of mismanagement, a move which triggered the arrest of Read more
In many places in the Pacific, especially when there is a multiplicity of local languages, English is used in the liturgy as well as the local language. The introduction of the new translation in such places provides a number of challenges. The new translation has already been introduced Fiji but in Papua New Guinea some Read more
The prime minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O’Neill, wants more foreign missionaries in the country. He said a government/church partnership in service delivery would deliver a lot of benefits to the people. O’Neill told the Vatican’s Nuncio to PNG that churches have contributed enormously to the country by delivering services to remote areas that Read more
Bullets will not restore peace, says the Evangelical Lutheran church’s Bishop Giegere Wenge. He was referring to the shooting of five men by police at Bumayong. For background to riots in Lae click on the link to the Washington Post. Wenge was addressing a meeting in Lae attended by women and youth groups from churches and ethnic communities Read more
Election times are almost with us. Beware of “millennial cargo cult” politicians! Why the strange language? Well, it aptly describes a dangerous type of politician and political policy. Millenarian cults are social movements common throughout history. They proclaim for devoted believers the destructive end of one era and the dramatic coming of another more perfect Read more
All Pacific nations recently completed their Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The Cook Islands, Kiribati, PNG, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu all retain colonial-era anti-sodomy laws. Palau and Nauru have pledged to decriminalise homosexuality following the audit of their human rights as part of the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) review. But Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Read more