Fr Philip Gibbs, a priest, anthropologist and researcher, said the Catholic Church has been conducting workshops in parishes to raise awareness about witch hunts and how it is totally contrary to the Christian response to misfortune and death. Gibbs, who has spent more than four decades in Papua New Guinea, has met surviving victims of Read more
While the PNG government has made some efforts, the work to combat sorcery related violence is often left to church groups and NGOs says associate professor Richard Eves, from the state society and governance in Melanesia program at ANU. A recent intervention preventing the murder of four women accused of sorcery is being hailed as a Read more
Christianity is strong in the region of Melanesia and the church could play a role in influencing people and combatting the belief in witchcraft says Cassaundra Rangip, co-founder of an anti-witchcraft non-government organisation in Papua New Guinea. She says a recent case of witchcraft related hangings in Vanuatu had raised fears that the phenomenon had Read more
Fr Philip Gibbs says that one of the factors that gives rise to sorcery is that people often don’t understand the basic science behind a person’s health. He was speaking at the Sorcery and witchcraft-related killings in Melanesia: Culture, law and human rights perspectives Conference at The Australian National University in Canberra, last week. The conference was attended Read more
Social Media, create a new environment and a new life style that not only requires Church presence and “use” of mass media, but “witnessing” of the Gospel in the new environment where people live. The Catholic Bishops of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands tackled the issue of new media and social networks on the Read more
A New Zealand born Catholic priest, Philip Gibbs, has been actively involved in trying to halt sorcery deaths in Papua New Guinea. Based in Mt Hagen, Gibbs, 65, said it was hard to work out what to say to congregations which included people who would have taken part in burning alleged witches. “If as an Read more
A Catholic priest in Papua New Guinea who teaches anger management says changing the way people think is one of the keys to overcoming the pervasive levels of domestic violence in the country. Father Philip Gibbs says law changes are one thing but implementation is another given that the police force is really stretched. “And Read more