The Church in Oceania

LAST NOVEMBER, in a ceremony that brought high-tech communications to the centuries-old Apostolic Palace, Pope John Paul II promulgated the document Ecclesia in Oceania (The Church in Oceania) via e-mail, three years to the day after the Special Synod of Bishops for Oceania opened in the Vatican. This month, at a special meeting of Oceania bishops in Rabual, Papua New Guinea, the implementation of Ecclesia in Oceania will be discussed in detail.

Forthright approach to clerical sex abuse

Ecclesia in Oceania did not get much attention when published. What happens in the far-flung islands of the South Pacific is not often front-page news in the rest of the world. But, after the recent sexual abuse scandal in the United States, a lot of Vatican officials and journalists were pointing to Ecclesia in Oceania for its forthright approach to the problem.
In certain parts of Oceania, sexual abuse by some clergy and religious has caused great suffering and spiritual harm to the victims, the Pope wrote. It has been very damaging in the life of the Church and has become an obstacle to the proclamation of the Gospel. The Synod Fathers condemned all sexual abuse and all forms of abuse of power, both within the Church and in society as a whole. Sexual abuse within the Church is a profound contradiction of the teaching and witness of Jesus Christ. The Synod Fathers wished to apologise unreservedly to the victims for the pain and disillusionment caused to them. The Church in Oceania is seeking open and just procedures to respond to complaints in this area, and is unequivocally committed to compassionate and effective care for the victims, their families, the whole community, and the offenders themselves.
It is the first time a papal document directly addressed the scandal of clerical sexual abuse – which just goes to show that important initiatives do take place in the Church far from the ancient cities of Old Europe or the sprawling metropolis of the New World. That’s probably the way we treat matters in our part of the world, said Archbishop George Pell of Sydney, Australia, commenting upon why it was the bishops of Oceania who first asked the Pope for such a statement. We are not outspoken, but if we have something to say we are more likely to say it than not to. We have made substantial progress in Australia in setting out processes to cope with these scandals – to make provisions for the victims. The Holy Father is just saying what we Australian bishops have been saying, either individually or collectively. I think it was entirely appropriate and quite welcome.

Technology goes the distance

That being said, Ecclesia in Oceania is not about sexual abuse. It forms part of the series of documents (Ecclesia in Africa, Ecclesia in Asia, Ecclesia in America) that arose from the series of special ‘continental synods’ – meetings of bishops – held in preparation for the Jubilee Year. It was an opportunity for bishops in a certain part of the world to get together, strengthen their sense of communion and fraternity, and look at what directions the Holy Spirit was proposing for the Churches in their care. The Synod of Bishops for Oceania, which involved all of the active bishops in Australia, New Zealand, Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia, was held 22 November – 12 December 1998.

I would have wished to visit Oceania once again, in order to present the fruits of the Synod’s work. But it was not to be! said John Paul. Papal doctors had warned against the rigors of a twenty-hour flight to the region, and the lack of access to medical facilities in some of the areas of Oceania proposed for the trip.
Instead, many bishops from Oceania were present in the frescoed Clementine Hall, just beneath the papal apartment, to witness the Holy Father sign the document. A laptop had been set up for the Pope, so that he could then e-mail Ecclesia in America to all the dioceses in Oceania. Many participants commented that it was a fitting conclusion to the Synod, as much of the preparatory work had also been done via email, reducing the need for travelling the vast distances between Rome and Oceania.
One of our best Australian historians has written a book called the Tyranny of Distance, and modern communications does change this, noted Archbishop Pell.
Like the other continental synod documents, Ecclesia in Oceania is very broad in its scope and refrains from specific recommendations. It encourages renewed pastoral zeal in all areas of ecclesial life, with particular praise for the cultural richness and diversity of the Oceanic peoples.

Oceania: a mosaic of different cultures

The traditional peoples of Oceania make up a mosaic of many different cultures: Aboriginal, Melanesian, Polynesian and Micronesian, says Ecclesia in Oceania. Since the time of colonisation, Western culture has also shaped the region. In recent years, Asian cultures too have been part of the cultural scene, particularly in Australia. Each cultural group, different in size and strength, has its own traditions and its own experience of integration in a new land.
While noting that modernisation has given rise to many positive human values in Oceania, including a refusal to accept structural poverty as an unchangeable condition, Ecclesia in Oceania also speaks of negative effects… with traditional societies struggling to maintain their identity as they come in contact with secularised and urbanised Western societies and the growing influence of Asian immigrants.
Authentic inculturation of the Christian faith is grounded in the mystery of the Incarnation, Ecclesia in Oceania declares, taking up a key issue of how to present the Gospel to new cultures. For the indigenous peoples of Oceania, inculturation meant a new conversation between the world that they had known and the faith to which they had come. As a result, Oceania offers many examples of unique cultural expressions in the areas of theology, liturgy and the use of religious symbols.
This challenge includes translations of the Scriptures into local languages – there are over 700 in Papua New Guinea alone! – as well as liturgical adaptations, with due regard for the integrity of the Roman Rite.

Guiding light into the new millennium

But the encounter of the Gospel with culture means more than just local symbols – it means healing what is evil in cultures with the light of Christ. The complexity of Oceania is illustrated by what Ecclesia in Oceania had to say about family life.
Mindful of the traditional practices still existing in some of the island nations, the document condemns polygamy as a serious cause of exploitation of women. At the same time, with an eye to Australia and New Zealand, the danger comes from a new secular, pragmatic and individualistic outlook that leads to marital disharmony, breakdown and divorce.
Documents like Ecclesia in Oceania have been criticised for being too general. Yet during the promulgation ceremony, the Holy Father indicated that his purpose in calling the special continental synods was aimed more at the Synod experience itself than at the formal documents that arose from them. It was an attempt to share with a new generation of bishops, the Pope’s own experience of the Vatican Council.
The Synod was an experience of intense communion, and one of its many graces was that all the bishops could take part, the Pope said. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council – and I was one of them – were marked forever by the experience of communion in that event which was without doubt the great grace bestowed on the Church in the twentieth century. In the Synod for Oceania, a new generation of bishops who had not been at the Council could taste something of its extraordinary atmosphere and effect, and thus be better equipped to implement its teaching, as the whole Church must do more boldly than ever as we move into the new millennium. Far from having exhausted its potential, the Second Vatican Council remains the guiding light of the Church’s pilgrimage.