The matter was called before the Supreme Court last week.

The lawsuit for defamation concerns the publication by the Samoa Observer of a letter to the editor titled "Stop this madness" by "M.R" on 29 March 2017.

According to the statement of claim, the plaintiffs allege that the letter is defamatory.

As a result, they are asking for general damages of $400,000, aggravated damages of $200,000, punitive damages of $100,000 and costs.

The letter in question was an online comment, in response to a story titled "Church stigmata row deepens."

In April this year the letter was the subject of a search warrant served on the Samoa Observer by the Police.

Toa's family had complained to police claiming the letter defamatory and untrue.

But the editor, Mata'afa Keni Lesa, denied this.

"I think certainly it sets a very dangerous precedent for this country, in terms of media freedom," he said.

"I mean, what happens next? I mean anyone who writes a letter or anything that they don't like, and then they can go to the police, who then turn up with a search warrant, and that to me is very concerning."

Since Easter in 2015, Toaipuapuaga Patrick, has maintained she is carrying the marks of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, also commonly referred to as the stigmata.

Source

• sobserver.ws
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: radionz.co.nz

The blog was also published in the Samoa Observer.

Opapo is the father of Toaipuapuaga (Toa), the woman who is said to have received stigmata.

He told the online news source Talamua that up until this point he has been unwilling to take legal action because of his respect for the church.

Bu now he says the challenge by the "faceless person" behind a message "has gone beyond the extreme".

He wants that the author to prove in court the accusations he made in his blog.

This week Toa will be returning to Samoa after six months in Rome.

While in Rome she gave birth to a baby.

Nothing is known this stage about the Roman authorities reaction to her claim to have received stigmata.

There have been many reported claims of stigmata throughout the years, and though the Church does recognise stigmata as miraculous, there are certain conditions that must first be recognised in order for the Church to declare a true stigmatic.

One commentator, Dr. Nicola Silvestri, says the following conditions must be fulfilled:

The wounds must all appear at the same time; they must cause considerable modification of the tissues; they must remain unaltered despite medical treatment; they must cause hemorrhages; and they must not result in infections or suppuration, or in instant and perfect healing.

80 stigmata have been validly documented. Although the Catholic Church recognises the phenomenon, it does not oblige theCatholics to believe in it as a dogmatic or doctrinal fact.

Sources

• talamua.com
• zenit.org
• Image: niufm.com

But Tuilaepa says there was no taxpayers' money involved. Continue reading

"I am not going to wait for my roles as a church minister to be restored. I am going to leave and return to my family and serve using my matai titles as I believe it is not the importance of one's role but to serve honestly," said Opapo.

On Tuesday, the Congregational Christian church of Samoa's elders committee issued a written decision saying Opapo was dismissed because he had acted disobediently when he in took his daughter to Rome.

He also "failed to remove the statues of Jesus and Mary inside village church as not in line with the beliefs of the Congregational Christian church."

Opapo refutes the accusation. He said he did seek and obtained the approval of the Chairman to accompany his daughter to Rome and that the Chairman had twisted the reasons when differences developed in the village that resulted in the banishment of high chiefs of the village and district.

He also explained that he and his wife knelt and apologised to the Chairman and were assured things were alright after that.

The church members and Opapo and his wife made the traditional apology - ifoga on a Sunday which was accepted by the Chairman as he kept the fine mat that covered Opapo during the apology.

Opapo's daughter Toaipuapuaga (Toa) is due to return to Samoa next Tuesday 28 March. In Rome she gave birth to a baby daughter Agnes Federicca Margitalia "who is healthy and if it was from the devil, she would not have lived as a gift from Jesus," said Opapo.

He said all the messages and clothes worn by Toa- torn and bloodied during the stigmata occurrence have been handed over to the Vatican for further investigation.

The process of the Catholic Church regarding the investigation of such matters will need to be completed with the formal submission from the Archbishop in Samoa to the Cardinal in Wellington, New Zealand then to Rome.

Opapo hopes Toa, who is now under the complete supervision of the Catholic church would share her experience in Rome with the people when se retirns, as she did after the stigmata occurrence last year.

Source

• talamua.com
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: i.ytimg.com

Toa and her family have been in Rome for six months.

Photographs sent to the online news organisation Talamua from Rome show Toa in Rome greeting the Pope.

However, the photograph appears to have taken place during one of the Pope's walk-abouts.

It is unlikely that she had a private audience with Pope Francis regarding the stigmata.

The archbishop of Apia, Alapati Mataeliga told group meeting in Apia last week that both Toa and her new born baby Agnes are doing well.

"It is hoped that Toa will share her experience in Rome with the church, but that is Toa's decision," said the archbishop.

The claim that Toa had experienced the stigmata created friction between Toa's father who is a Congregation Christian Church church minister and the leaders of the Congregational Christian Church.

The friction worsened when Toa later married and converted to the Catholicism.

There was also disagreement over the presence of Catholic images and statues inside the village church where her father was the minister.

Talamua previously reported that authorities in Rome had declared Toa to be medically fit and sound of mind.

Lance Polu, the publisher of Talamua and said Toa's time in Rome had been extended after assessments by Vatican officials.

Source

• talamua.com
• niufm.com
• Image: talamua.com

Tavita Sa'u from Si'ufaga, Falelatai, did not enter a plea when he appeared before Judge Talasa Lumepa Atoa Saaga.

The statue has been at the centre of a controversy between Reverend Opapo Soanai of the Si'ufaga Church and the Elders Committee of the E.F.K.S Church.

Soana'i, the father of Toaipuapuaga Opapo Soana'i (Toa), the woman who claims to be carrying the marks of Jesus Christ's suffering,

Last Month he said he been stripped off his pastoral by the Elders Committee.

Soana'i protested his innocence saying he has done nothing wrong.

"In the Church Constitution, there is nothing in there against statues of Mary and Jesus."

"If you look at all the churches, there are images of Jesus and Mary everywhere. Those are statues too."

Soana'i added that he did not acquire the statues himself.

"See, I didn't get those statues myself. They were brought over as a present and our church membership are fearful to reject it because they are of Jesus and Mary. If it was of anything else, then they might've considered rejecting it."

There is a history to the statues.

"When the statues were brought over, Toa received a message which said "if anyone rejects them, they will suffer forever… So what we are saying is that if they want to remove it, they can come and do it themselves but we can't because we received the translated message in Hebrew."

Source

• sobserver.ws
• Image: samoaobserver.ws

Toaipuapua Opapo Patrick, the woman claiming to have stigmata, is in Rome where the phenomenon is being examined by officials of the Church.

The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, La'aulialemalietoa Polataivao Fosi accompanied Toa to Rome a few weeks ago.

"Her claims have been put through the process at the Vatican," La'auli told the Samoa Observer.

"The church has its own jurisdiction in terms of investigating these matters. It doesn't happen to one country it is happening around the world but it's the first case for the Pacific."

La'auli said Toa, her husband, Patrick and her father, Rev. Opapo Oeti have settled into an apartment in Rome while the investigation continues .

According to La'auli, his duty was to accompany Toa as a government official to assist her in Rome.

"It coincided with a meeting I attended for F.A.O in Rome," he said.

During a recent interview with the Savali Newspaper, prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, expressed support for Toa's trip.

"I have been asked to help with the translation of the writings in Hebrew, done during the revelation to Ms Toaipuapuaga.

One such occurrence happened in front of my own eyes," he said.

"As leader of the country it is logical that people in need should seek the help of their leader.

"This supernatural event has happened in Samoa. Not in New Zealand, Australia or any other Christian Pacific Islands."

"To me it is a special divine blessing for Samoa and we Samoan Christians should thank the Lord for His choice of Ms Toaipuapuaga for His mission and a thumbs up for the Pastor of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa for his daughter and for the first ever CCCS stigmata that I know of to have happened to a member of the Protestant faith," said Tuilaepa.

Source

• sobserver.ws
• savalinews.com
• Image: 4.bp.blogspot.com

Toaipuapuaga (Toa) Opapo Soana'i is the daughter of the Congregational Christian Church (CCCS) the Reverend Opapo Oeti.

She and her husband Patrick Ah Chong formalised her conversion by renewing her wedding vows in the Catholic Church.

Asked about claims from unbelievers she has lost her marbles, Toa said she is not worried about them.

"I know the majority of the people misunderstand almost everything I say, they twist it," she said.

"But being chosen by God as a messenger is something I did not ask for. He chooses whoever he wants as a messenger."

Toa said she could not wait for the leadership of the CCCS to make up their minds about accepting her and most importantly the messages she was "receiving from God."

"We don't have that much time to prepare and get things done because God gave us this mission to complete right on time," she said.

Toa said one of her desires is to travel to Rome. Becoming a member of the Catholic Church is a step closer towards fulfilling that wish.

She added that while she continues to be fully supportive of her parents' work as Church Ministers of the CCCS some recent developments have left her with no choice but to become a Catholic.

"The elders of the church (CCCS) are trying to stop us from spreading the messages and my father was instructed to distant himself from what's going on with me," she said.

"He was told to remove the statues from inside the church."
Toa said she feels sad about this.

She first experienced stigmata earlier this year during an Easter play at her CCCS Sunday school.

She began to bleed from wounds on her hands, head and feet.

Toa, told the Talamua Online News that since then she had received a total of 44 messages from God.

She has gathered a following in Samoa including the Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi and the local Catholic clergy.

Source

• talamua.com
• samoaobserver.ws
• matangitonga.to
• Image: samoaobserver.ws

A report in Talamua a local newspaper include photographs of some of the messages.

Some of the messages, appear to be similar to those found in the diary of the St Maria Faustina Kowalska.

"The only difference is that Sister Faustina's messages were written in English, and Toa's messages were in Hebrew," said her father Elder Opapo Oeti of the Congregational Christian Church of Matautu, Falelatai.

"The messages include God and Jesus names in Hebrew, Yahweh and "God's wish for his daughter to tell the people of his (God) love for them."

Toa has recorded 18 messages and 6 of these were in the ancient Hebrew language, and were translated by teachers at the Malua Theological College.

There are also messages written in the Aramaic language, which surprised the Malua principal," said Opapo as Aramaic is said to be the language Jesus spoke at his time.

Copies of the messages were also given to the Methodist and Catholic Church teachers and theologians for their own perusal and study.

Messages in Hebrew have been written by Toa in the presence of others including Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, the prime minister and one in front of the principal of the Malua Theological College.

The prime minister sent the message recorded before him to a Jewish person in Wellington, and his translations are similar to that of the college, except for some words which he could not translate.

Opapo says the underlying message is for the people and the world to be at peace.

He said the fact that the messages are similar as revealed through Saint Faustina, a Catholic and his daughter who is an ordinary person of the Congregationalist faith, reveals that God's message and Love transcends church and human differences.

Talamua has reported that Toa will reveal God's final message at the end of August 2016

Source

• talamua.com
• cookislandnews.com
• Image: screenshot Youtube

Toaipuapuaga Opapo and her father Reverend Opapo Oeti have used the mainstream media in Samoa to dispel rumors circulating on social media that she is dead.

Oeti appeared at a press conference with his daughter at his side.

She showed her hands still with the marks to prove that she is well.

Her family have also dismissed numerous other reports going around about her.

Oeti said there are so many stories being spread on social media about his daughter but none of them are true.

"People have been saying on social media that she has been in hospital for two weeks and that our family is looking for blood because she has lost so much blood," he said.

"None of these reports is true, my daughter is well and she is nowhere near the hospital."

"The more they say things about me, the stronger I am in preaching Jesus message," said Toaipuapuaga.

"It is up to the individual whether to believe the message I was told to deliver or not, as my role is to ensure that the message reaches everyone."

A week after she went public, a huge crowd gathered at a special Mass at the Immaculate of Mary Cathedral to hear her testimony that she was taken by the Lord to see Heaven and Hell so she can reveal the message to the public to make the right choice.

Oeti, a pastor for 21 years at the Congregational Christian Church at Siufaga, Falelatai, said negative comments are not important, as long as the message is delivered to everyone.

One reason for the split in opinion may be that many Samoans are Protestant Christians, while stigmata has been a mostly Catholic phenomenon.

Toaipuapuaga is a Protestant.

Merita Huch, a news editor with TV1 Samoa, told the BBC: "This is a huge thing, it's dividing the whole country across the faiths."

"The Catholic Church has since been taking care of her, they have held a Mass for her.

There have been villages who have invited her as they want to meet and touch her.

"But there are other churches who are warning people not to believe it, saying it is the work of the devil... Some people say she was possessed by an old boyfriend's spirit."

Watch interview (in Samoan Language)

Source

• sobserver.ws
• talamua.com
• www.bbc.com
• Image: sobserver.ws

Toaipuapuaga Opapo Soana'i, 23, spoke during a Mass at the Catholic cathedral at Apia last week, the Samoa Observer reported.

She delivered a message that heaven and hell are real.

The young woman spoke of a vision she had on Good Friday, which came after several other visions in preceding days.

On Good Friday, she passed out while suffering the ordeal that saw the wounds appear.

She said God took her through hell and let her see the suffering people will endure if they don't change their ways.

"People in hell are calling out for help, begging Jesus to save them, but there is nothing that can be done," said Ms Opapo.

"God also took me to heaven, he let me see how magnificent that place is."

She said she saw a gate guarded by angels with the book of life.

"I hear angels singing, there was laughter, there was happiness everywhere, children sitting on clouds, everything was white," she claimed.

"I cried and thought to myself I am not ready to leave my family."

It was at that point that she regained consciousness.

Ms Opapo is the daughter of a Congregational Church pastor.

A New Zealand religious expert said rapid social change and the challenge of new religious movements to mainstream Christianity in Samoa may have played a role in Ms Opapo's wounds.

Professor Paul Morris of Victoria University told the ABC that the Congregational Church — the largest in Samoa — has undergone tremendous pressure over the last 15 to 20 years from other churches.

"In the history of stigmata incidents, they arise in a particular social reality and context and call those who are ebbing away from faith, back to faith," Professor Morris said.

He allowed for the possibility that Ms Opapo's wounds were psycho-somatic, "that intensity of identification . . . where a young woman or man identifies with Jesus to an extreme degree".

"This auto-suggestibility [can] lead to this physical transformation."

Professor Morris said it is very unusual, but not unheard of, for stigmata cases to occur outside the Roman Catholic Church.

Sources

• Samoa Observer
• ABC
• Image: New Zealand Herald

A woman named in Samoan media as Toaipuapuaga Opapo Soana'i, 23, played the part of Jesus in a Sunday School Easter play.

People noticed wounds appearing on her body.

She had wounds on her feet and hands, as well as on her side and head.

The woman, who is the daughter of a church minister, told local media she began seeing visions days before Easter.

Video footage of the play shows congregation members approaching the front of the church, where she had collapsed, to fan her, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Video footage of Ms Soana'i, who spoke to TV1 Samoa about her experience, was posted on the group Samoa Mo Samoa.

As of late on March 31, the footage had been viewed more than 20,000 times and attracted hundreds of comments.

On Friday night, Ms Soana'i spoke at the Catholic cathedral in Apia, where she was greeted by Archbishop Alapati Lui Mataeliga.

She told the cathedral congregation that her experience in the last few days is a message from God for Samoa to repent.

Her claims about her wounds have sparked huge debate in the highly religious island nation.

Members of the public have taken to social media to discuss the authenticity of the woman's claims.

Many people are backing Ms Soana'i, calling the event a miracle.

Many others, however, are sceptical, and many are saying it is a hoax.

Fears were expressed in social media comments that the young woman has suffered self harm.

Famous stigmatists include St Francis of Assisi, St Catherine of Sienna, St John of God and St Pio of Pietrelcina.

Sources

• New Zealand Herald
• Samoa Observer
• All Saints Blog
• Image: New Zealand Herald

A "Jubilee for Padre Pio's prayer group" will take place on February 13, 2016, as the body of the Capuchin saint will be exposed in St Peter's from February 8-14, at Pope Francis's request.

Twelve other prominent events involving the Pope have also been planned for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, reported the Catholic News Agency.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation, reportedly started in a letter to another bishop that on February 13, the Pope will send out missionaries of Mercy, giving them a special mandate to preach and hear confessions.

The Jubilee Year of Mercy will open on December 8 this year and will run until November 20, 2016.

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