They don't want to give up the way of life of generations before them, but they have no choice.

More than 3000 people are stuck on the shrinking, low-lying islands, waiting for the government to fund their resettlement on the mainland of Bougainville.

Rakova owns the tiny atoll of Huene in the six-island Carteret group, where land ownership is traditionally passed down through the women of the clan.

Her organisation Tulele Peisa has helped about 30 families move to land gifted to them by the Catholic church on mainland Bougainville 90 kilometres away, but 350 more families - about 70 percent of the population - need government help to move.

"We can't allow them to move and squat. We want them to move so that they can continue to sustain themselves by growing their own food crops, also growing some cash crops," Rakova says.

The Carteret Islanders depend on government rations because they can no longer grow their own food as seawater erodes the land and encroaches on their crops.

Speaking to The Detail from Bougainville where she now lives, Rakova says she worries that the government's food rationing "continues to breed a generation of people who continue to rely on supplies from the government".

She wants that money to be spent instead on buying land and relocating the families. About 30 percent of the population would remain on the islands, supported by a programme helping them to adapt to the changes.

But her people are competing against communities from other low lying atolls for government relocation funds.

"But let's face it: Carteret Islanders have wanted to move for the last 10, 12 years. It's serious for us, we need to move," says Rakova.

Rakova's story is not unique, but the true extent of the impact of climate change and how many people face dislocation in the Pacific are not known.

"Relocation is always the last resort option," says Martin de Jong, advocacy advisor for the Catholic charity Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand. De Jong says even relocations of communities a few hundred metres away are fraught.

In other low-lying Pacific countries on the frontline of sea level rise such as Kiribati, people are fighting to stay. But when it comes to Carteret Islands, moving is the only option, he says. So far, Caritas and other groups have been unsuccessful in their lobbying to speed up the process.

Relocations are often supported by church groups, governments and embassies. Caritas, for example helps with small scale development projects such as a cocoa drier for the Carteret people to process cocoa beans as a cash crop.

De Jong says even those working closely with the Pacific communities do not know the extent of the impact of climate change and sea level rise.

"It is one of the frustrating things of working in the last seven or eight years on the [annual] State of the Environment for Oceania report. We hear a lot of stories of people having to move at various levels but there seems to be very little if any comprehensive assessment of how many people are moving and how many are at risk."

He says the Pacific is very often neglected when it comes to reports on issues such as climate change.

De Jong says groups like his will be pushing hard in the lead up to the next United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 27 in Egypt in November for "stronger, real action on addressing loss and damage with a proper financial facility and more money committed to it". Continue reading

Prime Minister James Marape said PNG had more than 20 different Christian churches.

"Many who claim to be Christian integrate their Christian faith with some indigenous beliefs and practices," he said.

"The influence of the church has over the years transformed many societies across the country to the extent of replacing some of their cultural beliefs, while some have merged culture with religion."

Marape also said the churches provided 60 to 80 percent of social and welfare services in the country.

"Church networks are trusted by most people." Read more

'Does it snow in Melbourne?

I have not seen snow in six years.

Where I am from there are seasons, and a foot of snow in the winter.'

He had a curiosity about everyday life, culture and religions.

It was apparent he has had time to think about many different things.

Another man told me he has not seen his family in six years.

His son is now 23, with a disability, and his family are in the camps of Bangladesh, stateless.

He has no answer as to his legal status as refugee.

In spite of the six years spent in PNG, some of these men still do not know if they will be considered refugees or not.

Even those who have been recognised as refugees know that title still doesn't mean much.

'Refugees/not refugees — here it is all the same,' a man tells me with a shrug.

There seems to be both recognition of the impossibility of the situation for all who have been left here — but also an attitude that no one should be left behind.

Their solidarity and mateship has been forged through bonds far stronger than any UN ratified convention or category.

In Australia, being accepted as a refugee is a thing to be celebrated.

Although the 'legacy' caseload remains an exception, where people are only granted three or five-year protection visas, generally when Australia recognises someone as a refugee, this status allows the lifelong security of a permanent, safe and secure future in Australia.

The Catholic Church in PNG has reached out in support to the refugee group in various ways. The conditions these men find themselves in, a controlled existence with an indefinite period of waiting, has often compromised their human dignity.

It is not that it isn't still tough to secure work or integrate with Australian culture, but the fear of being returned can slowly dissipate.

There are a few refugees who are living in the community in PNG, now with their new families, and trying to find some work, but this path is truly difficult and an impossibility for the majority.

While there has been some hospitality shown to West Papuan refugees it has been in the spirit of 'Melanesian brotherhood' with little formal recognition and associated rights afforded.

There is no tradition of — or institutional support for — refugee resettlement in PNG, and the local way of life, how private property is conceived and the complexity of cultural differences is stark for the men Australia has transported there. Continue reading

• Josh Lourensz coordinates the Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum, a broad alliance of organisations. He visited Port Moresby for a few days over the first weekend of November.

So far I have spoken in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart and Launceston, Adelaide, Perth and Benalla in North East Victoria.

The idea for the forums came ahead of a visit to Papua New Guinea (including Manus Island), that I made in August, following my retirement from the Federal Parliament.

I wanted to get the message across to Australians and our government that even with the closure of the detention centre on Manus Island, the next step must be taken for those who remain in PNG as asylum seekers.

We must continue to urge the Australian Government to resettle those eligible asylum seekers in New Zealand.

The existing situation continues to cost Australians too much both financially and in terms of our reputation in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.

The overwhelming response from the PNG people has been that it is time to end detention and they are proud and supportive of the action taken by their Prime Minister, James Marape, to initiate the termination of services provided to asylum seekers detained on Manus Island.

During my two terms as Member for Indi between 2013 and 2019, eight branches of Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) in the electorate and the then National President, Marie Sellstrom, ensured I was informed of the status of those seeking asylum in Australia but placed in offshore detention in PNG and Nauru and in onshore detention in all Australian states.

Working with Rural Australians for Refugees provided the opportunity to speak directly to Australians about respect, justice and compassion for those seeking asylum and the need to find a solution to the plight of people "dumped" in PNG.

It is also important to respect the rights of PNG to manage its own affairs in the best interests of the country and its people.

I want to do more than speak to rural and regional Australians about the plight of asylum seekers.

I want everyone I speak with to take action and write to their local MP and State senators in the Federal Parliament. By taking this kind of action throughout our communities, there is a greater chance the Government will listen and respond.

Many within the faith communities I have spoken to in the past month support this approach. The Josephites, Brigidines, Baptists, Uniting Church and Anglicans have all provided venues for the speaking tour we have organised.

I thank them and my friends within RAR for their help.

Now we are asking all faith communities to support our request that the Australian Government end the punishment of people seeking asylum. Please write to the Australian Government and Parliamentarians, asking them to work cooperatively with the New Zealand and PNG Governments to find a resolution to the unacceptable quarantining of human beings on the islands of PNG and Nauru.

Pope Francis has said, "Migrants, refugees, displaced persons and victims of trafficking have become emblems of exclusion". It is shameful the Australian Government and the country's major political parties have taken this approach.

On September 30, 2019, Fr Giorgio Licini, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG and the Solomon Islands wrote:

"Nauru and Papua New Guinea fall within the majority of countries that, in spite of all the goodwill, still can't ensure proper care for their citizens.

"These countries have few doctors, scarcity of medicines, lack of equipment and lack of facilities.

"Thousands of people die in PNG every year from curable diseases despite everybody's efforts. Trying to push the idea that asylum seekers and refugees in PNG have proper health care is laughable and irritating."

Together with Rural Australians for Refugees, I ask all those who believe in social justice and human rights, especially the Bishops of New Zealand, to support Fr Licini and urge the Governments of New Zealand, PNG and Australia to work together to find a resolution to this issue seeking a fair and just process for people seeking asylum in the Asia Pacific Region.

• Cathy McGowan AO, Former Australian Independent Federal Member for Indi
• Image: Planning Institute Australia

In exchange, the local community will get voluntary help such as cleaning hospitals.

The Saint John XXIII housing project is in the town of Kokopo, capital of East New Britain province.

Although Kokopo's population is still only 26,000, it has mushroomed from 3,000 since it replaced Rabaul as provincial capital in 1994 after a volcanic eruption destroyed 80 percent of Rabaul's buildings.

Many of the incomers are low-paid manual workers who cannot afford to buy or rent houses so squatter settlements have sprung up where standards of health and hygiene are very poor.

"There are regular deaths in these settlements owing to inadequate hygiene," said Doug Tennent, the archdiocese's administrator.

The archdiocese of Rabaul decided to tackle this problem as one element of a three-part response to Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si (On the Care of our Common Home).

It is also returning former plantation land to local people and helping the people of West Pomio district to obtain a fair agreement with a Malaysian multinational over land being used for a palm oil project.

For the housing project, the archdiocese will provide 60 hectares (148 acres) of church-owned land. Drainage and roads will be installed and houses will be built on plots of 800 square metres (8,000 sq ft) so that occupants can have a vegetable garden.

Four houses have already been built by a group of Italian volunteers and work is proceeding on other prototypes. The eventual aim is to build 240 in four stages, with 60 in each stage.

A key focus is sustainability, including the use of solar panels for electricity and compost toilets.

The archdiocese will cover half the cost of the houses, estimated at US$17,640, and occupants will be expected to pay the rest. But because most will be among the very poor, so-called "sweat equity" will be employed.

Under this concept developed by the non-profit organisation Habitat for Humanity, the project's beneficiaries will help with the construction work as well as doing other tasks for the archdiocese and the community, such as helping out in hospitals.

Following an appeal from the archdiocese, the British all-volunteer charity SPICMA (Special Projects in Christian Missionary Areas) is raising funds for the project.

The Daughters of Mary Immaculate Sisters (FMI) Sisters are setting up the safe house because of a local family violence problem..

They're working in partnership with the Archdiocese of Rabaul and non-governmental groups (NGOs)

The safe house will give sanctuary to women and children who have experienced family or sexual violence.

Survivors will in addition be able to access services such as healthcare, police and legal aid.

Islands Petroleum, one of the project's main supporters, has donated $NZ4,200 to help the safe house.

The Archdiocese of Rabaul provided land.

Donors have supplied shipping containers, which will form the basic safe house.

The FMI sisters are training as fulltime staff.

NGOs concerned with family welfare will refer survivors.

FMI congregation leader Sister Wilhelmina Sundu says the founder of FMI set up the women congregation, because he found that women's status in Papua New Guinea culture was very low.

Mission to lift women's status

Sundu says the FMI congregation wants to raise the dignity of women in Papua New Guinea (PNG) society.

Sundu says with the support from the archbishop, Volunteers Service Abroad and the NGOs the planning is finally almost done.

The FMI sisters see the safe house as a practical way of exercising their mission, to help people in trouble.

She says the church had a part to play in combating gender-based violence.

Sundu says the main cause for sexual and family abuse against women and children is often because of the culture of men wanting more power.

She says there are some bad aspects of traditional culture that need to end, such as men having power over women and children.

Source:

• The National
• Image credit: Daily Telegraph

The Church has contracted with the government to run health clinics. The contract requires that full family planning clinics be part of the service.

Critics say the church is failing to prove full planning services.

The Church advocates natural methods of contraception.

Still it insists it also provides counselling and a patient referral system.

The Catholic Church officially promotes the natural ovulation method for birth control. But Bishop Rolando Santos, of Alotau, points to a much harder line.

"They should not use artificial means in order to prevent the natural process from taking place," he says.

Church out of touch

Family planning advocate Wendy Steinshe says the Church is out of touch. "I feel like they're oppressing the indigenous people in PNG," she says.

She says bishops send teams out to discourage women from accepting the contraceptive implants that her organisation offers.

Stein says Santos called her to say she'd go to hell for doing wrong.

Santos says family planning advocates give implants to teenage girls.

"This can embolden a woman," he says.

Family planning NGOs say they serve young women because teenage pregnancy rates are growing.

The UN estimates that one in six PNG females will have her first child before she turns 18.

Cathy Fokes, a former NGO director, says the Church conducts spot checks on health providers. "They didn't want to get caught, they could lose their jobs."

Dr Glen Mola, head of obstetrics at the Port Moresby General Hospital, believes these are rare.

He says there are a few fundamentalists in the Catholic hierarchy who have "bees in their bonnets".

Dr Mola said he's aware of cases where the Church clinics destroys family planning supplies.

"They use very small amounts, like the condoms, the pills and the injectables, and then they expire," he says.

Then, he says. they incinerate them.

He says he's told senior health officials but they depend too much on the Catholic Church's health services.

NGO director Stein wants a cut to the Church's funding.

The PNG Health Department did not respond to repeated requests from the ABC for comment.

Source:

• ABC News
• Image credit: WHO

Simon Dumarinu is a first time member of parliament. He narrowly defeated former Mining Minister Sam Akoitai in the Central Bougainville Open seat in the recent Papua New Guinea general election.

A Barapang clansman (Eagle clan) from Orami Village, Ioro, Panguna District, Dumarinu is a member of the Social Democratic Party.

As a member of the Society of Mary, he served as a priest for 28 years and as a religious worker for 34 years.

Fr Ben McKenna, Marist provincial of Oceania confirmed Dumarinu is now suspended from priestly ministry and in the process of being dismissed.

This is not the first time Dumarinu has stood for public office.

In 2015 he took part in the Autonomous Bougainville election for the presidency but lost to former Catholic priest John Momis.

While a deacon and after priestly ordination, Dumarinu worked in Bougainville from 1989 to 1997 at the height of the Bougainville conflict.

A peace agreement to settle the conflict was signed in 2001.

Dumarinu worked for six years in the Solomon Islands before returning to parish work in Bougainville.

In 2010 he joined the Bougainville Peace Building Programme.

He says his focus as Minister of Bougainville Affairs is to ensure the Peace Agreement is properly implemented.

The Bougainville Peace Agreement, which was signed in 2001, is due to reach its conclusion with a referendum on possible independence from Papua New Guinea in June of 2019.

Please Note: This post has been amended.

Sources

• RNZ
• Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
• Asia Pacific Report
• Post Courier
• Image: The National

Actual topics brought up during meetings were much broader.

As well as the 'Western' topics, Synod fathers also developed themes such as domestic violence, violence against women, incest and abuse within families, marriage preparation and pornography.

The family is much more than divorce, remarriage and homosexuality.

"We are all, first and foremost, family men", Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher of Gatineau, Canada told the Synod.

"We have parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins.

"Therefore, the families of which we speak are not alien to us, they form part of our lives. This must be transparent in our language, in our texts, in our care and compassion for the families of the world".

Synod very challenging for PNG and Solomons churches

With all the differences in opinions and expressions from around the world, a sense of collegiality among the bishops in the synod developed 94 paragraphs for Pope Francis' consideration.

While there was overall support for the Church's teaching and current pastoral practice to remain in place, the document addressed the Western issues of divorced and remarried couples, saying that while "avoiding every occasion of scandal", baptized persons must be "more integrated into the Christian community" .

However, on a more local perspective, since the dioceses of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands are moving from 'Missionary Churches' to the 'Local Churches' the formation activities for youth and families are becoming a more essential part of a different type of evangelization, a new way of evangelizing.

Therefore, if the Churches of PNG and the Solomons are really serious about the better future of the Church, this final Draft Document is an important and significant tool.

In other words, in every parish we need to

• create early child care centers for 3 to 6 old children,
• Sunday School with proper text books from Grade One to Grade Twelve,
• systematically organized youth groups,
• proper marriage preparation courses before people marry,
• regular gatherings and on going formation activities for couple's.

That is, every parish community in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands needs to become a conducive place for formation and learning; a center of faith, prayer and spirituality.

If these things happen they will be the greatest gift of the Synod of Bishops on Family to PNG and the Solmons.

However, in a local context all these things will be very challenging

While the final Draft Document, explains "Pastoral Care" as "appropriate formation activities" and "appropriate pastoral action", there are almost no 'regular pastoral activities' - and no 'regular formation activities' for the children, youth, couple's, men, women and elders at all in the parishes.

There are many pastoral challenges facing family life in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands and we remain grateful Bishop Anton Bal, Bishop of Kundiawa diocese, and the Deputy Bishop for Family Life Apostolate from the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands for representing our churches and participating in the Synod, helping to shape its outcome.

• Fr Shanthi Chacko Puthussery PIME is Secretary of Commission for Youth and Laity in Bomana, Port Moresby

"I can't sleep at night for the nightmares," he says.

"In the dark I am back in that prison in my country," - a middle-eastern country Guardian Australia has chosen not to name for fear of consequences for his family - "so instead I sleep in the day".

Mohsen spends his nights sitting up, either in his room or outside, talking and smoking with the other refugees who are held in the quasi-detention of the bureaucratically-named East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre, on a high, isolated ridge at the edge of town.

His days here are listless. Mostly, he does not wake until three in the afternoon. Today, it's nearly five by the time he arrives in town.

But Mohsen knows he is one of the few who can make even that small journey.

Not far from here, on neighbouring Los Negros island, 942 asylum seekers continue to live behind the tall security fences of the Australian-run asylum detention centre inside Lombrum army base. Their claims for protection are still being languorously assessed, mired in non-cooperation from one side or another, or have already been rejected.

But 41 men - Mohsen included - have been found to be refugees, and since January they have been steadily moved from the detention centre to the transit centre, on Manus Island itself.

Here, their lives are still heavily restricted: they can move around the island, though never leave it; they have a curfew, recently repealed though still observed out of safety concerns; they cannot work; and their communications are heavily restricted.

But for the first time in years they are free, perhaps to the greatest extent they ever will be, to tell their stories.

When Guardian Australia meets Mohsen in Lorengau township, he asks that we find somewhere away from the main street to talk. Continue reading

Sources

• The Guardian, from an article written by Ben Doherty, a reporter for Guardian Australia.
• Image: Australian Catholic Bishops' Media Blog

• To provide safe and humane conditions for the asylum seekers
• Not to force the asylum seekers to return to their country if they are not safe
• To have a detailed policy on the resettlement of refugees in PNG.

Last month the Prime Minister Peter O'Neill told the ABC he believed most of the 1,035 asylum seekers at the Manus Regional Processing Centre were not genuine refugees, and would be sent home "within weeks".

He said talks were underway with Iran and Iraq to return the men home.

A 13-day hunger strike by the detainees in Manus was suspended on Monday 26 January after security personnel stormed the compounds where the detainees were on hunger strike.

The hunger strike was against the plan by the PNG government to resettle the genuine refugees to a new camp in Manus Island under the guise of releasing them into the community.

Source

• The Catholic Reporter
• Image: independent.co.uk

According to the recently released 2011 Census data, the Islamic population in rural areas of PNG has risen from about 300 in the year 2000 to 1352 in 2011.

They are concentrated mainly in the Highlands, especially in Simbu (589), Jiwaka (211), Southern Highlands (113) and Western Highlands (69).

There are also pockets of Islam in rural West New Britain (104), Oro (88) and Morobe (30).

The National Statistical Office has not yet released data regarding the nationality of Muslims in PNG as a whole nor the number of Muslims in urban areas.

The total number of Muslims in PNG, both national and expatriate, could now exceed 2000.

In the previous census in the year 2000 there were only 756, of which 280 were expatriates.

The great majority of Papua New Guinean Muslims now belong to the Sunni branch of Islam.

In the 1980s the majority were Ahmadiya, which is a sect considered heretical in Indonesia and other Islamic countries.

Ahmadis, as they are called, were mostly Simbus living in West New Britain.

When some of them went back to Simbu, they spread their new faith there.

Ahmadis now feel now under attack by the Sunnis and many have abandoned Islam altogether.

"When I asked them why they converted to Islam they corrected me saying, 'We did not convert, we just reverted to our natural religion'." says Fr Franco Zocca from the Melanesian Institute in Goroka.

"It seems that this claim by the Prophet has been the foundation of the Islamic mission strategy in PNG: to convince Papua New Guineans that their traditional beliefs and practices were 'naturally Islamic'."

Over the last 2 years Zocca has been interviewing Muslims in Port Moresby and Simbu.

He says Islam will likely grow in numbers and in power as Muslim refugees at the processing centre in Manus are given residency in PNG.

Young Papua New Guinean Muslim boys and girls are also now boarding in Koranic schools in Malaysia, Fiji and West Papua and "come home well indoctrinated".

Read his post

Source

• The Catholic Reporter
• Image: The Muslim Times

But for Bishop of Papua New Guinea's Kimbe province Capuchin Bill Fey such events are not especially unusual.

"On that instance, I was part of a procession carrying a relic of Blessed Peter To Rot, martyred by the Japanese during World War Two for opposing their planned legalisation of polygamy," he said.

"We were carrying the relic throughout parishes in my diocese which is on the western side of the island of New Britain.

"The occasion was the one hundredth anniversary of his birth.

"The tradition in the villages is that important people have to step over a pig which is then speared to death to make a welcoming banquet for the guest.

"So the relic of Blessed Peter was lifted over the waiting pig."

Bishop Fey wanted to diffuse any tendency to superstition that the arrival of the saint's relic might create.

"So I would joke that this guy's a hundred years old but can still jump over pigs," he said with his typical quiet chuckle. Continue reading.

Source: Catholic Leader

Image: Catholic Leader

But it would be no surprise if anyone attending the opening Mass thought they had been carried off to the Pacific Islands, with the vibrant contribution of the Samoan and Tokelauan communities.

It was one of those moments when I realised how deep is the communio, the life of the Trinity we share at baptism that binds us together as the Catholic Church in Oceania.

When you look at a map or, better still, a globe of Oceania, you realise how huge it is, covering more than one-third of the earth's surface. What a responsibility comes with this beautiful gift of God's creation and the people who live here.

As bishops we were aware of this, especially when, on the opening day, Bishop Eugene Hurley of Darwin addressed the question of Australian immigration policy, detention centres and the treatment of asylum seekers who are currently detained on Manus Island, Nauru, Christmas Island and several camps in Australia.

These places are located in three of the four FCBCO areas, but it also challenges us as New Zealanders - are we doing all we can to respond with gospel hospitality towards those who approach our shores? Continue reading.

John Dew is Archbishop of Wellington, and outgoing President of the Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania.

Source: WelCom

Image: WelCom

Fr Jerry Inao and the communion minister, Benedict, were shot dead at Kamulai on Sunday 4th May.

Fr Jerry, a native of the area and a member of the Kunimeipa tribe, was in his early forties was ordained a priest only on 16 August 2013.

He had been shot through the heart at close range.

Both deaths were payback killings.

This cycle of payback killings has been going on in the Kunimeipa area for more than four years.

It was not until Wednesday that a at teacher from Guarimeipa primary reported the deaths.

The teacher had had walked down from Guarimeipa to Zania were there is a hot-spot for Digicel mobile reception.

On Friday Brian Cahill MSC and the Vicar General of the diocese of Bereina, Fr Paul Guy travelled by helicopter to Olivi with the police.

On arrival they were greeted by the villagers who told them Fr Gerry's body had been buried the day before inside the Olivi church.

They had carried the body from near Kamulai where it had been left on the ground and waited with it at Olivi until they couldn't wait any longer, as it needed to be buried due to the state of decomposition.

Fr. Guy blessed the grave, and together with the local villagers gathered, recited prayers for the dead over the grave.

Afterwards the catechist gave the police a thorough report on what had happened.

Reports coming into the main Goilala government station of Tapini and elsewhere since Fr Gerry's death were that seven others have been killed since 4 May.

Read Fr Brian Cahill's first hand report and look at photographs

Source

Report and photographs supplied by Fr Giorgi Licini

There is indeed a form of "voluntary" or natural contraception when people decide to avoid procreation by orienting their sexual behaviour; and a form of "artificial" contraception when all the acts necessary for procreation are put in place, but it is prevented by other means.

Abortion at any stage, of course is a different, though not totally unrelated matter.

Normally most of the people, several government and no-government organizations and agencies, even some Churches see artificial contraception as legitimate, practical and beneficial for population control and other purposes.

It may not be the best and most effective way to achieve certain goals, but it certainly has some effects.

The Catholic Church is hostile to artificial contraception

The Catholic Church is normally perceived as "cold" or even hostile to artificial contraception; and in fact it is. It is not the idea of a correct and honest family planning or population control, when necessary, in question, but the means and the justification to all this.

Artificial methods of contraception are perceived as not extremely dignifying for humans, and a clear decision against procreation and life; which is indeed inscribed in the purpose of sexual intercourse.

It is also silently accepted now that the "condom" strategy for the eradication of HIV/AIDS is far from producing the expected results and countries that have taken a more integrated and diversified approach are gathering a better harvest.

There is also the impression that since poor and uneducated villagers are believed to be hard to teach any lesson, the artificial contraception strategy is forced down their throats; which is indeed a lack of respect for human beings and a violation of human rights.

What governments choose to promote

Governments implement the death penalty to give the public an impression that they are serious about crime.

They also promote contraception - even in poorly populated countries such as Papua New Guinea - but not sport facilities, entertainment, health services… Not as much as they could and they should.

Artificial contraception is widespread, probably unavoidable in many cases, and hardly anybody is refraining from it because of the stand of the Catholic Church.

But this serves to remind us that as humans we can eventually aim higher and come to realise that no shortcut of sort can lead us to the goal of an educated, value oriented and spiritually filled society.

Something more significant than the western consumerist culture and way of life we instead tend to embrace nowadays!

Article supplied by Fr Giorgio Licini, Papua New Guinea

Image: guardian.co.uk

He says that since the Report has not yet been formally presented to the Government, he is not "prepared to go into a point by point rebuttal of the findings".

"But on the basis of what has surfaced, the UN sponsoring body should immediately withdraw the report and apologise to the people of Bougainville and by extension to the people of Papua New Guinea."

"The report cannot in any way be an accurate empirical study of certain social conditions in Bougainville and has served to engender stereotypical reporting that does not enhance the social indices of Bougainville," he said.

Source

• PNG Attitude
• Image: Radio Australia

The new ship will be much larger and more modern than the current 37m vessel, Pacific Link and YWAM plans to dramatically expand its operations once it gets the new ship.

It will spend 11 months a year in PNG, compared with the Pacific Link which is only capable of six months a year.

It will allow the medical team to reach 1.3 million villagers each year in Papua New Guinea's most remote provinces, tripling the current number.

In addition, the new ship will be big enough to function as a "mothership", launching smaller vessels and reaching more villages.

The organisation has a specific vessel lined up, but chief executive officer Ken Mulligan said he could not provide more details until the deal was finalised.

The $1.6 million contribution is part of the total value and discussions with other donors are advanced.

Source

• Townsville Bulletin
• Image: Townsville Bulletin

Sometime in August our staff Josephine and I attended a Boroko Rotary Club dinner and made a presentation on the work of WeCARe! It went over very well and the club is very interested in helping us. They have already given us a handsome donation which is very welcome, and told us there is more to come. An Adelaide Rotary Club has been sending volunteers here to Port Moresby to do some work for the Lasallians and we have been taking them around to visit our supported Care Groups and to meet the people we work with. They also have begun to help us in many ways. God bless Rotary! Our friends in Ireland and Australia continue to help us with their donations in cash and kind, and we never forget to thank God for you all. And…

Miracles do Happen!

When I started the work that eventually became WeCARe!, back in 2002 or '03, the Catholic Archdiocese of Port Moresby was very nervous of it all, and I was strongly advised not to do this kind of work. Times have changed, and now, after all these years, the Church has asked me if a representative of the Archdiocese can be on our Board, and if our missionaries can become involved. Needless to say we are absolutely delighted at receiving this recognition from the Church at last. Perhaps in getting the ‘all clear' from the Archbishop some of our Catholic Parishes will be encouraged to start pastoral works for the poor and disadvantaged amongst them. WeCARe! will be there to give them all the advice and support we can.

Education in PNG

Education in PNG is really in a mess. A report has just been published on the level of literacy in five provinces - Chimbu, Sandaun, Gulf, New Ireland and the National Capital District (NCD). It was a carefully done study by an Australian based agency classifying people as Non Literate, Semi Literate or Fully Literate. It found that on average only 11% of people are fully literate. In Gulf it is only 4.2% and in New Ireland it is 25%. These results have not been publicised as the Government claims variously that 50% to 70% of our people are literate. Education in PNG is tuition free, and the Government is currently preparing legislation to make it compulsory as well. However, we have classrooms and teachers enough for no more than half the children in the country, and in the cities Primary Schools have 60, 70, even 85 - in one case I know of - in a class. In rural areas - where there are any schools at all - the numbers are better. For NGOs like We-CARe! the challenge is to find some ways of promoting literacy and numeracy training through the Care Groups we support.

P.S. It's my 77th birthday on Saturday, 14th September - I can hardly believe it!!!

Sources

• Father John M Glynn in Catholic Church of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands
• Image: The Global Mail

Fr John Glynn is the Founder of WeCARe Foundation.

CTI has been the academic wing of Holy Spirit Seminary since 1999 when the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea set up a distinct institute for the academic formation of seminarians and laity. Thus both Holy Spirit Seminary and its offshoot, Catholic Theological Institute, share this jubilee celebration.

Among the many highlights of the Jubilee celebrations two can be mentioned: first, the Singkai Lecture given by Fr. Ommerborn SVD which explored the beginning of seminary education in Melanesia culminating in the creation of Holy Spirit seminary and second, the presence of five bishops and many priests, all graduates of Holy Spirit Seminary-Catholic Theological Institute who shared their reflections of life over the years at CTI-Holy Spirit Seminary with the present student community.

Holy Spirit Seminary began in 1963 at Kap, Madang. At its commencement there were about thirty students from various regions of the country: Manus Island, Bougainville, Yule Island, Wewak, Goroka and four students were from the Solomon Islands. The staff in the early years were all members of the Society of the Divine Word. A few months earlier, on December 8th 1962, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) erected its seminary at Bomana and classes commenced early in 1963. The buildings were located on the grounds of what is now the campus of De La Salle Secondary School. Soon both communities were to be united.

In 1965 when the bishops were in Rome participating in the Second Vatican Council they made the decision to move Holy Spirit Seminary to Bomana, thus establishing one major seminary in the country for clerical religious and seminarians which was staffed by MSC and SVD priests. Over time other religious orders built houses on the seminary campus: Marist Fathers, Capuchin Friars, Franciscan Friars, Society of the Divine Word, Dominican Friars and Mariannhill Missionaries. The Passionist and the Salesian seminarians, while residing off campus, also attended Catholic Theological Institute.

Today the number of seminarians and clerical religious enrolled at Catholic Theological Institute is 120. Another 130 are enrolled in seminaries in other provinces of the country and in the Solomon Islands: Vanimo, Ropollo, Banz and Honiara, Solomon Islands. CTI's curriculum is primarily oriented to the formation of priests, but it warmly welcomes members of religious congregations and lay people. There are a small number at present enrolled. Also for much of CTI's existence the Anglican Church has sent some of its seminarians and priests to study at CTI. Their presence on campus has strengthened the already strong bonds between the two communions.

Source

• Fr. David Willis - President, Catholic Theological Institute
• Image: stevenswindow.blogspot.nz