The Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania gather together every four years to reflect on and pray about their shared mission in the region.

Among those present are representatives from bishops conferences in Australia, Papua New Guinea/Solomon Islands and the Pacific Islands, as well as New Zealand.

Completing their joint response to the working document for the continental stage for the global Synod of Bishops is an important part of the week's work.

So is the theme "Save the Ocean to Save Mother Earth"; it is included in the Continental phase of the Synod on Synodality.

The work programme

Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, gave the conference's opening address on Sunday, highlighting the its twin themes: climate change and synodality.

"Climate change falls under ‘care for our common home,' which here also means care for the ocean," he said.

He recognised the many tensions that affect the region - including unsustainable exploitation of ocean resources, human trafficking, migration and geo-political rivalries.

In response, the Church proposes "integral human development," he said.

The Church must "enrich the present with good" by accompanying people. This must begin with listening to them, he stressed.

The synodal process must begin with "real conversion," including admitting "our personal and collective complicity in the degradation of our environment, and the dire consequences of such on poor and marginalised communities."

But the work being done in Oceania is not being done in isolation, he added.

"In this voyage of discovery and transformation, you are not out on the ocean alone. Pope Francis, the Roman Curia, the Synod Secretariat, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development are with you."

First and foremost, their work involves "recognising and supporting the work that the Bishops do for the Gospel and the Church", plus helping ensure "peoples may have abundant life in Christ", he explained.

During the week, each of the four Episcopal Conferences has shown a video focusing on the synodal journey undertaken in their territories and have seen an additional video expressing the ocean's voice. They have also seen firsthand the effects of changes to the climate and environment.

Dunedin's Bishop Michael Dooley is adamant action from the Church and its leaders on climate issues is necessary.

"I think, as a Church, we need to speak on behalf of those people, the vulnerable people who often don't have an opportunity to have their voices heard.

Auckland's Bishop Steve Lowe echoed this view when he celebrated Mass on Wednesday. In his homily he asked the bishops to advocate for the poor, and the Earth, to be a breath of life.

Becoming more synodal

To help the bishops in their quest for synodality, Vatican speaker, Sr Nathalie Becquart provided a presentation. She compared synodality to a person who develops over time, but remains the person he or she is.

Synodality can only be learned together, she explained. It is inherent in the Church's identity - therefore the topic of the current synod is actually the Church's identity.

Source

• Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
• New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference
• New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference
• Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

The Catholic charity has been monitoring five environmental issues affecting people of the Pacific since 2015 through its State of the Environment in Oceania reports.

In conjunction with other Caritas Oceania members and community-based partners throughout the Pacific, the report explains how extreme weather, rising seas and coastal erosion, access to safe local food and water, offshore mining and drilling and inadequate climate finance are all affecting the Oceania environment and impacting on the people who live in the region.

Last week, almost 80 people gathered for Caritas Oceania's online talanoa (discussion) "Towards our Future Home: Imagining the Future we Need". The aim was to consider the environmental challenges and solutions facing the region, through the experience of the poor.

In Tonga, Caritas says "Climate change is impacting our lands, coasts, water supplies and weather patterns. In Tonga, we have longer and more frequent droughts … People in low-lying coastal areas are seeing stronger storm, surge and flood events; while saltwater is contaminating groundwater and affecting drinking supplies."

Cartas Fiji says a similar story is affecting them, where three communities have been relocated and 40 more are in the pipeline for the government plan to relocate them due to the problem of coastal erosion which resulted from sea level rise. A road which was accessible to vehicles up till last year is not accessible anymore because erosion has destroyed it.

The talanoa highlighted the need to use technology appropriately, fully involve youth and indigenous perspectives and to prioritise basic human rights to healthy food and safe drinking water.

"If we look after our land, it will look after us," said Mina Pomare-Peita, principal of Te Kura Taumata O Panguru. "As Indigenous, we need to take back and understand what time looks like for us. How do we observe the seasons, how do we observe our land, our ocean, our sky, and from there, how do we create solutions."

In November, thousands of people will gather in Glasgow for the COP26 meeting about the environment.

Strong urgent action is needed to turn things around for Oceania people directly impacted by sea level rise, coastal erosion and extreme weather events, the Caritas report says.

"The urgent transition away from fossil fuels can't be used to justify other forms of exploitation of people and nature," said Julianne Hickey, Director of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand.

"We continue our call for a ban on seabed mining in both national and international waters. The people of Oceania rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. Seabed mining puts all that at risk".

"The latest IPCC report in August warned of huge climatic changes for us all. But it also signalled, big changes in behaviour by us now could start to make a difference in 20 years," Hickey says.

"That's a long time politically, but it's not a long time to make a real difference for our children's children."

Source

• Caritas
• Scoop
• Image: Stuff