When the first missionaries came to the area in the mid-1950s there were no Catholics. The diocese now has 80,000 - around 10 percent of the population.

Bishop Donald Lippert says the diocese has a vibrant and growing faith, one which the people have embraced as their own, showing the universality of the Catholic Church.

Lippert, an American Capuchin, has been working in Papua New Guinea for more than 10 years and has been bishop of the Diocese of Mendi since 2012.

The dictionary definition of "catholic" is: including a wide variety of things; all-embracing. Lippert says the diocese really exemplifies what catholic means.

"To me, it is really beautiful and it really expresses the catholicity of the Church, that the people have embraced the faith as something that is truly theirs, something that is truly meaningful to them," Lippert recently told CNA.

"They don't look upon it as something foreign, as something coming from the outside. It is something that is very important to them and truly theirs."

Lippert said that one of the greatest fruits of the Catholic faith he has witnessed in Papua New Guinea is freedom from fear. In the past many people "were afraid of evil spirits, they were afraid of tribal fighting," he said. "Fear was a great motivator and very characteristic of their lives."

"But with the embracing of the Catholic faith, that fear is dissipating. Because they know the power of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit can cast out any kind of evil, any kind of fear that they might have."

Even the bishop's pectoral ‘Tau' cross is a sign of the faith of the people of Papua New Guinea. "It was made by one of the local people for me out of a shell, a shell that used to be their money, the kina shell," he said.

"In fact, the money today is still called a 'kina' so it was something very valuable for them."

"He took one of these shells and was able to make this pectoral cross for me. He gave it to me when I became a bishop; it's very unique and very beautiful I think."

Source

• CNA
• Image: Twitter

The speaker, Theo Zurenuoc, had claimed that the cultural adornments were unholy and that their removal was part of the "reformation" of Parliament as a Christian institution. Continue reading

He said this at a press conference in Port Moresby as he was setting out to Rome to attend the synod on the family with Pope Francis.

Orawae is representing PNG and Solomon Islands in his capacity as president of the Bishops' Conference of both countries.

"People feel cut off from the church when they can't fully participate in its life, including the Sacraments", he said.

"We need a flexible approach in this regard considering the variety of situations and the personal spiritual journey".

Bishop Arnold revealed that, in his allotted time at the synod, he will explain that the idea of "nuclear family" pertains only to the Western culture and way of life.

In most of the world, including Melanesia, the family represents a much more complex web of relationships including both close and distant relatives.

Questioned on the issue of polygamy, Bishop Arnold acknowledged that the practice runs against Christian revelation.

Patience and a gradual journey are required to overcome such entrenched social customs.

On contraception, the Church tends to stand with what is natural.

Family activists John and Lucy Lavu, who were at the press conference, stressed the fact that natural family planning methods are successful with committed and motivated couples.

Aggressive campaigns for mass contraception and sterilisation in rural areas failed to provide teenage girls and women, let alone their male partners, with an informed choice.

"Then people come to us. We can counsel them, but hardly repair the damage done to their bodies", Mrs Lavu said.

Source

• PNG Attitude Catholic Reporter PNG
• Image: PNG Attitude

Writing in the National Catholic Reporter, Fr Thomas Reese, SJ, stated that liturgical reform was stalled by the papacies of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

True liturgical reform aims to "revise liturgical practices to allow people to celebrate their Christian faith in ways that better fit contemporary culture", Fr Reese said.

The former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, has been appointed Archbishop of Valencia in Spain.

The greatest challenge facing the new prefect is to develop a new way of managing liturgical change in the Church, Fr Reese said.

He proposed a "more intelligent and pastoral approach to liturgical change".

This would involve centres for liturgical research and development, market testing, and enculturation.

"What is needed are centres for liturgical R&D where scholars and artists can collaborate with a willing community in developing new liturgical practices," Fr Reese said.

"Seminaries and universities with liturgical scholars are obvious places for this, but some parishes might be willing to be beta sites for new practices, especially if they were allowed to give feedback."

"Once new liturgical practices are developed and accepted by Church officials, they should be market tested in a variety of pastoral settings before being offered to the rest of the Church," he added.

Fr Reese acknowledged the difficulty of achieving encultured liturgy in a multicultural setting.

Multiple liturgical forms to serve multiple cultures might be needed, he suggested.

"Enculturation is easier to talk about than to do, which is why we need centres for liturgical research and development," he said.

Fr Reese also called for the development of common liturgical texts with other churches.

He said the Vatican's worship congregation should function as a midwife to liturgical renewal and "stop playing liturgical cop".

"This means more consultation and entrusting more liturgical changes directly to episcopal conferences, which was the original intent of Vatican II, rather than micromanaging things from Rome."

While Pope Francis has no qualms about breaking liturgical rules for pastoral reasons, Fr Reese noted, "the bad news is there is no indication that liturgical renewal is a major priority [for him]".

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: PBS