She came to New Zealand in the 1960s as an 18-year-old "and it was a shock to me to see for the first time the tall buildings and all the cars and trucks".

In the early days when she sorely missed Tokelau, her family and familiar island foods "big time"; the Catholic church was a great support.

The monsignor at Ss Peter and Paul's parish had noticed many of us coming to services and he organised for us to go to night school."

Two or three nights a week, after a full day of work assembling television sets at the Rola Company plant at Wingate, Mrs Lemisio would join others from Pacific nations, China and India at night classes at Petone Tech, mainly to improve their English language. Continue reading

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