The week-long course, co-ordinated and supported by officials of the Fiji Catholic Teachers Association, was led by Archbishop Peter Loy Chong.

Topics covered in the course included: Introduction to Theology, Liturgy and Sacraments, Church Stages of Growth, Introduction to Scripture and Evangelisation.

Also included in the course were classroom co-operative thinking strategies to help teachers talk about what they learn each day.

Director of Catholic Education, Nemani Drova, said the course for teachers was the first of its kind to be conducted by Chong.

Most of the teachers are already in Catholic schools and they would be able to teach Religious Education.

Drova said Catholic schools do emphasise the teaching of the Catholic faith, and approval has been given by Government to teach Religious Education in formal classes both in primary and secondary schools.

Of the 37 commissioned on Friday, three were from non-Catholic schools. The church will seek approval from the Ministry of Education to get them transferred to Catholic schools in 2018.

Rosi Saunivalu, of Namosi Primary School, said the course was an excellent programme for all Catholic teachers to renew their spiritual knowledge and reawaken their spiritual commitment as Christians.

"I feel ‘reborn' and now have a deeper understanding of the purpose of my creation, and I am so glad and fortunate to be in this wonderful workshop."

Source

• Fiji Sun
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Bakatete Koririntetaake, who comes from Christmas Island and lived in Fiji for some time, said the group had attended an ordination in Kiribati and upon returning, they decided to visit Peniata.

"We are enjoying Fiji, we have witnessed the cultural practices by villagers in Serua," he said.

Peniata said he was pleased to have a few people from his homeland in Fiji with him for a short while.

"It's been a long time since I've last seen them. They are accompanying me to the villages in Serua for church visits," he said.

Christmas Island is an Australian external territory located in the Indian Ocean.

Catholics on Christmas Island are pastorally cared for by the Archdiocese of Perth although they are not within its jurisdiction. In 2014 they celebrated their 25th anniversary.

The World Fact Book puts the population at just over 2000 residents. This does not include the highly variable population at the Immigration Detention Centre.

The majority of the residents live in settlements on the northern tip of the island. The main settlement is Flying Fish Cove.

There is no indigenous population. Around two-thirds of the island's population are Malaysian Chinese, with significant numbers of Malays and European Australians as well as smaller numbers of Malaysian Indians and Eurasians.

Buddhism is the primary religion, practised by three-quarters of the population. The Christians make up about 19% (397 people) of the population. Of that number about 18% are Catholics.

A school managed by the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia was opened in 2014 for asylum seeker children held in detention.

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About 300 people from the Asian community in the country attended the mass to commemorate the festival.

Sister Genevieve Loo said the mass was a celebration of the close relationship that the Asian community had with Fiji. She said the Archbishop Elect brought out an important message during the service about the spring festival and about new beginnings for all.

Source

• The Fiji Times
• Image: Telegraph.co.uk