'austraLasia' # 114
PNG EXPRESSES NEEDS OF CHURCH IN OCEANIA
Vatican Correspondent
VATICAN CITY: 26th November -- What are currently some of the principal
issues facing the Church in PNG? Firstly, the Church must find a way to
be both supportive and prophetic in a deteriorating socio-political
situation.
Diocesan leadership is another challenge in contemporary PNG. Of the
eighteen dioceses, three have no bishop at the present time and some
bishops badly need the help of an auxiliary bishop.
The Church is challenged to help people come to a faith commitment that
makes a difference to the whole of their lives. Missionaries have worked
hard to share the Gospel in ways that respond to the problems people
face and the questions they are asking. However, there is always the gap
between the Christian ideal and actual practice.
Here lies the essence of inculturation. Cultures help to interpret the
Gospel while the Gospel helps to purify cultures. This is a slow
process.
The Church must also give more attention to inculturation in the
preparation for the priesthood and religious life. At present, those
ordained come through a system which tends to isolate them from their
culture and from their regular Christian communities.
Another challenge in Papua New Guinea is to become truly participatory
in which everyone religious or lay feel they have a part to play. A
symbolic figure here, is Papua New Guinea's first saint: Blessed Peter
ToRot, a catechist, who died at the hands of the
Japanese during the Second World War. When all the missionaries were
imprisoned or killed, catechists like Peter ToRot provided the
leadership and inspiration for the Church communities.
The Church of Oceania would also ask that Rome be open and flexible with
attempts at inculturation. Can Rome trust the faith and commitment of
the Bishops' Conference and the faithful in Oceania? Will Rome encourage
the people of the South to walk Jesus' way
which is also the Pacific way; to tell his truth from the experience of
their own religious consciousness; and to live his life in the
environment his Father has given them? Then their faith will in turn
become a gift to the Universal Church. (Bishop Raich SVD, Wabag, PNG)
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