The decency and integrity of two Manus Islanders, a Catholic priest and a retired army major, has impressed Kon Karapanagiotidis from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. He said their story shows us the power of people’s everyday humanity and decency. “These men highlight an important story that has been missed by many.” The two Manusian Read more
In Samoa, critics of the new tax laws used language that was so strong and emotive that it led to one government official shedding tears. Church ministers did not mince words when they expressed anger and disappointment at the Samoan government’s decision to tax their incomes – and gratuities – starting on 1 January 2018. Read more
The Pacific Island Forum’s Observer Team to Tonga has congratulated election officials for their professional conduct during last week’s snap election. Wilson Waguk, from the Embassy of the Federated States of Micronesia to Fiji, led the team which observed the opening polling and counting on the islands of ‘Eua and Tongatapu. The team said the Read more
For the first time St. Joseph’s Alafua, Samoa, has a female principal. Since it was founded in 1950 the principal has always been a Marist Brother. 44-year-old laywoman Susitina Maletino Levao replaces Br Bryan Stanaway, who resigned for medical reasons last year. A mother of one child, Ms Levao has a long history with the college Read more
Last Sunday Churches across Fiji observed Break the Silence Sunday in a united attempt to break the culture of silence and shame around violence against women. This is in response to research conducted by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre which suggests that 64 percent of Fijian women aged between 15 and 49 have experienced physical or Read more
The archbishop of Suva, Peter Loy Chong, says Fiji and other indigenous faith communities have what the world needs – a pathway for connectedness. In his opinion piece in the Fiji Times, he said Fiji has the language to move people to heal the crisis in creation. Chong said the myth of economic development causes widespread impoverishment, Read more
Archbishop Michael Byrnes lives a simple life. You can see him walking in his sandals in the parking lot at the Agãna Shopping Centre after grocery shopping. Writing in Pacific Daily News, Haidee Eugenio says you can also spot him with other clergy in the food court of the Micronesia Mall in Dededo. Or having Read more
The President of the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG), Siliniu Lina Chang, says church leaders of various denominations have come forward to be part a Men’s and Women’s Advocacy programme as facilitators of these counselling sessions. Chang also acknowledged their partnership with the Ministry of Justice, Administration and Court which has referred many of the Read more
Fiji has turned a tiny part of Germany into a tropical Pacific island as it leads global negotiations on climate change, and so securing a stage for islanders’ worries about rising sea levels. Fiji is the first small island state to preside at UN climate negotiations since they began in the 1990s. The country’s chief Read more
The handling of cases involving clergy must be “completely transparent, just like in the state system” says a missiology lecturer at the Catholic School of Philosophy in Maumere on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Father John Mansford Prior’s opinion piece specifically addressed the resignation of Bishop Hubertus Leteng of Ruteng on Flores. It was published in the October Read more