WCC NEWS: Pacific region: After 50 years peace and justice remain at heart of churches

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World Council of Churches - News

AFTER 50 YEARS PEACE AND JUSTICE REMAIN AT HEART OF PACIFIC REGION
CHURCHES

For immediate release: 02 September 2011

“The Pacific is a region that displays many warm and strong
expressions of peace,’’ World Council of Churches (WCC) general
secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in a speech to the Pacific
Conference of Churches (PCC) 50th anniversary celebration held in Samoa
this past week.

“The region and the ocean that unite you carry this wonderful name
describing peace and tranquillity,’’ Tveit said. “So much in your
nature and your life gives signs of life with many characteristics of
peace as abundance of life.”

At the same time, Tveit recognized challenges to this tranquillity in the
form of the recent suppression of the church in Fiji, the desire for full
independence in Tahiti, the legacy of nuclear tests in the region and the
rising of sea levels and submerging of some islands because of climate
change.

Tveit praised the PCC for its work during the past 50 years by bringing
these challenges to the global church while encouraging them to continue
being part of the regional and global ecumenical movement.

“You have brought the issues of peace and justice to global awareness as
you have called for our common voice to say: No! to nuclear testing; No!
to using this land of yours to do what somebody would not do at home
because it is dangerous, even deadly; No! to developing any state of
security or power based on weapons that have the potential to destroy all
life on our planet: even the testing of them is putting human beings and
nature at unacceptable risks.”

He also said that the formation of the PCC, which was started in 1961, was
an important initiative that strengthened the “unity and accountability
of the churches” and gave a “common witness to justice and peace.”


Justice and peace at the heart of ministry

Tveit’s visit to the region came at a time when the government of Fiji
cancelled the annual meeting of the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma
and then clamped down harder by prohibiting any church meetings except
Sunday worship.

During the PCC meetings President Oscar Temaru, of Tahiti appealed to the
churches for help in his country’s fight for independence from France.

“My country used to be free, and my people used to be in charge of their
destiny. That changed in the 19th century after the European discoverers
reached our shores,” Temaru said. “This suppression dates back to
1880, but continues to the present day.”

“The people of Maohi Nui have faced injustice for too long,” he said.

Tahiti is part of French Polynesia which is a protectorate of France.

“This is an on-going and unfinished story about colonization, and severe
injustice, not only to particular individuals, but to everyone in Maohi
Nui,” Tveit said in an interview with the Pacific Island News Agency.

“Justice and peace should be at the heart of all church ministries,” he
said. “There is no peace without justice but equally there is no justice
to be worked on without peace.”

Tveit said the WCC would work in solidarity with the Pacific Churches to
raise awareness of the issues facing the Maohi Nui peoples.

While in Samoa, Tveit met with the Samoa Head of State, Tui Atua Tupua
Tamasese Efi, and leaders of the WCC member churches based in Samoa, the
Methodist Church of Samoa and the Congregational Christian Church of
Samoa.

The 50th anniversary celebrations were held from Wednesday 30 August
through Sunday 4 September. The welcoming ceremony featured traditional
dancing, the exchange of gifts, island music and feasting.

Speakers for the occasion included Tveit, pioneers of the ecumenical
movement in the Pacific, government leaders from Samoa and the president
of Tahiti. Tveit spoke on Wednesday, 31 August.

The need for ever greater unity among Christians was recognized, as well as
for a common engagement in dialogue with representatives of other
religions.

“We are called to be one in Christ,’’ Tveit said toward the end of
his speech. He said the call to be one was “in our solidarity with a
suffering world... in Christ’s identification with victims of sin... in
our faith that there is a possibility for change, for forgiveness, when
there also is an open heart for remorse and repentance.”

Full text of the WCC general secretary's speech (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=bc6d39179d72b27bce27 )

Website of the Pacific Conference of Churches (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=9d5cc8e68e770c858be2 )

Read also:
* Golden anniversary of the Pacific Conference of Churches
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=1004a47dccde6314ddf9
) (WCC press release of 1 September 2011)
* WCC calls cancellation of Methodist meeting by Fiji government
"unacceptable" (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=b18020306d7e9c112a5c
) (WCC press release of 26 August 2011)


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.



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