Divine Word Missionaries who attended the recent Oceania Bishops’ Assembly in Fiji have described it as a hopeful, joyful experience of collegiality and synodality, where bishops listened to the cry of the earth and oceans along with the hopes and desires of Catholics across the region for the future of the Church.

Six SVD members attended the meeting – five bishops from Australia and Papua New Guinea and one priest, the AUS Province Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, who helped facilitate the gathering.

A recent conference hosted by the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania, called ‘Our Ocean Home’ was an example of synodality in action, according to SVD Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass.

The online public event, hosted by Australian Catholic University (ACU) and supported by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, brought together the Bishops of Oceania with experts from the region for a synodal conference towards the General Assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO) in February 2023.

As world leaders prepare to gather for the COP26 United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, the Divine Word Missionaries are undertaking a series of local and global initiatives to help play their part in tackling the climate crisis.

SVD communities across the world are committing to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform which proposes a seven-step, seven-year set of goals towards preserving and restoring God’s creation which is seen as a vehicle for all human life.

Every year since 1940, when the first Social Justice Statement was produced, the Catholic Bishops of Australia have responded to the social changes in this country and the wider world by bringing out their annual social justice statement. Responding to the signs of changing times, which have often brought with them a pandora’s box of social ills and inequalities, the bishops have endeavoured to touch both the consciousness of our political leaders and the heart of the ordinary citizen by raising awareness to the needs of the poor and those left out of the race to the top. 

The Social Justice Statements, their release timed to coincide with Social Justice Sunday, have always been timely and relevant. This year’s 2021-22 Social Justice Statement, “Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor,” mirrors an earth in crisis, an earth exploited and suffering, an earth that will not support humanity’s beauty and diversity much longer unless we act now.

A new initiative aims to invite Pacific Islanders living in Australia to embrace the principles of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ and become positive agents of change for their homelands by bringing their voice to the fight against climate change.

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD says the Laudato Si Movement, in partnership with the Edmund Rice Centre’s Pacific Calling alliance will encourage ex-patriot Pacific Islanders to work for a better climate future for their home countries.