'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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