"The Church in Oceania is vibrant in faith. Overall we are a young
Church with a vibrant and dynamic community at a pastoral and social
level. We are committed to a permanent formation for our faithful. We
have to thank the Churches of Asia, who have sent missionaries.
But
today we are concerned about the social condition of our people,
affected by climate change": says to Fides Cardinal John Ribat, first
Cardinal from Papua New Guinea, Archbishop of Port Moresby, who
participated at the eleventh plenary assembly of the Federation of the
Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), held in Negombo (near Colombo) in Sri
Lanka.
The Cardinal took part in the meeting as president of the
Federation of Episcopal Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO), which includes
Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and 17
other small nations of the Pacific. He represents 84 dioceses in 21
countries, with different cultural, economic and religious
characteristics, many of Christian majority.
"I take this opportunity to thank the Asian bishops for sending
missionaries in our region", notes Ribat. "Most of our missionaries now
come from Asian countries such as India, Philippines, Indonesia and
Vietnam".
The 59-year-old Archbishop told Fides that in Oceania the
celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the foundation of some dioceses
in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have just finished, and "the
growth of the local Church was possible thanks to the fraternal support
of the Asian Churches". Cardinal Ribat is a member of the Missionaries
of the Sacred Heart, the Congregation founded in 1854 by Father Jules
Chevalier in Issoudun, France.
With regards to current issues, the Cardinal told Fides: "Today an
important issue for the populations in Oceania is that of climate
change. Although we are not responsible of this problem, we are strongly
affected", he complains. The negative effects, he explains, include
increasing sea level, acidification of the oceans, rains in unusual
periods, all of which seriously damage the fishing communities and
farmers of the region.
"In some cases, entire regions and nations are threatened by the
unquestionable rise of the sea level. For example, this concerns the
Carteret islands, Fead Islands, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the
Mortlock Islands, the Nukumanu Islands, Tokelau and Tuvalu islands", he
recalls.
Cardinal John Ribat is concerned about the life and the social status of
the indigenous peoples of Oceania: "Affected by continuous flooding and
drought, populations have significantly reduced the productive capacity
of the land and the natives are often forced to flee", he notes,
fueling the phenomenon of migration that touches the inhabitants of the
continent.