A SENIOR priest in Papua New Guinea has turned to Australia seeking compassion for refugees and asylum seekers languishing in our nation’s off-shore detention system. Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands general secretary Fr Giorgio Licini has been in Australia in recent weeks pressing the case for an end to what he calls “a humanitarian crisis”. ... Read More »
A CATHOLIC bishop in Papua New Guinea has branded rival tribesmen “monstrous cowards” and called for a law and order crackdown, after tribal clashes that claimed at least 24 lives – including the hacking to death of women and children. “What kind of monstrous cowards can sneak up on defenceless women and children and slaughter them in their beds?” the ... Read More »
KENMORE parish has furthered its commitment to Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home by turning recyclables into foreign aid donations. The parish has collected more than 4000 recyclable containers like bottles, cans and cardboard, which earn 10 cents per unit under the Queensland Government initiative Containers for Cash. The funds collected by the parish were ... Read More »
A LETTER penned by the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Island’s Bishops Conference general secretary Fr Giorgio Licini has called for the closure of Manus Island detention centre. The letter comes as the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award was awarded to Manus Island refugee Behrouz Boochani. Mr Boochani’s novel, No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, won Australia’s most ... Read More »
ANYONE watching on as Br Joseph Liaia kicks a football around the grounds of a monastery in Brisbane most likely won’t realise it’s part of his preparation for priesthood. Apart from the fact he’s having fun and getting some exercise, when the 29-year-old from Papua New Guinea is kicking the ball he’s also thinking of the life ahead of him. ... Read More »
AFTER earthquakes and tribal violence in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands, 270,000 people need immediate life-saving assistance, almost half of them children, while security remains “unpredictable”, according to a United Nations report. “Access to clean water, food, sanitation, nutrition and health services remain immediate concerns,” a report by the UN’s child relief agency, UNICEF, said. UNICEF has grave concerns for the ... Read More »
BISHOP Tim Harris has pledged to continue to deepen Townsville diocese’s relationship with Port Moresby archdiocese following a recent visit to the Papua New Guinea capital. In 2012, the late Bishop Michael Putney and the Archbishop of Port Moresby signed a significant and unique sister diocese agreement. The agreement allowed for the co-operation between the two dioceses in areas like ... Read More »
PAPUA New Guinea’s first indigenous person raised to beatification in the Church, Blessed Peter To Rot, will have a shrine built in his memory near Brisbane. Located in Marian Valley in the Gold Coast Hinterlands, it will be the first shrine in Australia dedicated to Blessed Peter To Rot, a lay catechist who was murdered for his defence of marriage ... Read More »
FR Paul Mercieca has experienced many challenges and adventures during 50 years as a Passionist missionary priest. Quietly spoken and with an infectious sense of humour, Fr Mercieca has survived a machete attack, suffered three bouts of malaria, and has travelled to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen. Now working in Brisbane as an aged-care priest, he is beloved by ... Read More »
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