Regional Catholic meet begins

The Vatican Secretary of State and second to the Pope of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Pietro Parolin is part of the delegation that flew into the country to attend the weeklong Assembly of Federation of Catholic Bishops Conference of Oceania.

Hosted by the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG and Solomon Islands here in Port Moresby, the conference will discuss a range of issues widespread in the Oceania Region.

The Conference is an important gathering of Bishops from Australia, New Zealand, PNG, Solomon Islands, Fiji and other Pacific Island nations.

The theme; Care for our common home of Oceania and sub theme Sea of Possibilities is fitting, especially at this time when countries in the Region have been subjected to natural disasters.

“At this time we are experiencing a lot of issues closely related to our environment…they have grave serious effects on the lives of people, infrastructure and economy of the countries” said Cardinal Sir John Ribat.

Examples can be found in the likes of the recent earthquake and volcano eruption in PNG and floods in Fiji.

“That’s why it is of great importance to the church and the environment” added Cardinal Sir John Ribat.

The conference will be attended by specialists well versed with climate change, deep-seabed mining, and plight of refugees and youth vocations.

During their stay in Port Moresby, the Bishops will visit Catholic Schools and Churches and conduct masses for the public to attend.

The delegation arrived into the country this morning.

 

 

 

Author: 
Carolyn Ure