THE niece of a Papuan catechist who was killed for preaching the Catholic faith was brought to tears as she saw hundreds of people venerate her uncle last Sunday. Angie Kolita-Payne is the niece of Blessed Peter To Rot, a Tolai man who was killed in 1945 during the Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea. Her aunt on her mother’s ... Read More »
WHEN the villagers of impoverished Bereina need to quell their famine, they reach for the noxious betel nut. In the town of Bereina, in the Central Province of Papua New Guinea, the addictive seed, which is prohibited in Australia, is often the only food source for the local villagers. It is an unfathomable sight for Sr Anna Pigozzo, a missionary ... Read More »
MARIAN Valley will host about 80 Port Moresby Catholics to pray alongside the Brisbane Papua New Guinea Catholic Community for the blessing and opening of a chapel dedicated to Blessed Peter To Rot on January 19. PNG Cardinal John Ribat will fly from Port Moresby to lead the celebration and blessings, coinciding with 25 years since Blessed Peter was beatified ... Read More »
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 »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
