Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Sydney (Agenzia Fides) - This year is the 10th anniversary of the first Special Assembly for Oceania of the Synod of Bishops, celebrated on October 22 - December 12, 1998. In February, the Special Council for Oceania of the Synod of Bishops met again and, among other matters, they spoke of the World Youth Day in Sydney, an event highly anticipated by the Church in the continent.
Oceania covers one third of the earth’s surface, however it is home only to 30 million inhabitants. It is made up of three major islands (Australia, Nueva Zelanda, Papua New Guinea), in addition to several thousand smaller islands (10-25,000, according to official data), with vast bodies of water between them. In Europe, the first news from the area arrived from Dutch sailors and Catholic missionaries. Fr. Vittorio Riccio, Prior of the Dominican Convent in Manila, who designed the first map of Australia and the main islands of Oceania in 1676, later sending it to the Congregation “Propaganda Fide.” In the early 1800s, the Congregation began dividing the continent into its first Apostolic Vicariates for the mission of the Picpusian and Marist orders.
The development of the local Churches often depended on the politics of colonization of European powers. The first Apostolic Vicar of Tahiti (from 1848-1884), Bishop Florentin Etienne Jaussen, was a staunch defender of the rights of the inhabitants verses the French government. Another, Bishop Jean-Baptiste-François Pompallier, denounced the colonial plans of the British government in New Zealand. Later, in the Second World War, the de-colonization was accompanied by a new focus on the problems of the indigenous people and societies like Australia, which was once very Anglo-Saxon oriented, placed foundations for pluralism and integration of the aborigines.
The Synodal Assembly in 1998, in preparation for the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, was a time of reflection and unity for the Church in Oceania. The 80 Bishops of the Continent gathered in Rome testified to the difficulties and hopes of the dispersed peoples of Oceania. The problem of the inculturation of the Gospel continues to be a great challenge even today, in a context of marginalization and ignorance, a fertile ground for the spread of sects.
In the most developed countries such as Australia and New Zealand, which have advances according to Western models, the problems are more those of secularization and the difficulty Catholics find in entering into public debate. However, there is never a lack of encouraging signs, such as the high level maintained by the schools throughout the continent and the efforts made by many Catholics in the area of social assistance activity.
Resuming the efforts made by the Synod of Oceania in the Apostolic Exhortation, “Ecclesia in Oceania,” Pope John Paul II wrote that “the new evangelization is a priority for the Church in Oceania.” She should take up the questions about the meaning of modern man and act in every social and cultural area. In these ten years, the Church in Oceania has updated its pastoral plans contained in the Synod’s conclusive document. In the meeting held this past February, the Special Council for Oceania of the Synod’s General Secretariate renewed its commitment to several priorities such as human rights, bioethics, family, ecology, relativism, inculturation, and interreligious and ecumenical dialogue. The WYD in Sydney is creating great expectations. It is planned to host over 200,000 youth from all over the world. The Church in Oceania hopes that WYD will imply a boost of joy and faith in the Gospel that reinforces its testimony in the various sectors of life. (AM) (Agenzia Fides 16/5/2008; righe 47, parole 591)
