General Secretary, Father Victor Roche has confirmed that Papua New Guinea will be hosting The Federation of Catholic Bishops Conference of Oceania (FBCO) from April 11 to 17, 2018, at Airways Hotel in Port Moresby.
“Which includes, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Fiji and 14 other smaller countries in Oceania. The Catholic Bishops of all these countries, including four ambassadors, four apostolic nuncios of these regions and four regional secretaries of America, Europe, Asia and Africa together with some ten other international visitors,”
Discussions will be centered on the theme ‘Care for Our Common Home of Oceania: A Sea of Possibilities.’
“And we also are discussing other issues concerning the Catholic Church in PNG and the Solomon Islands like the deep sea bed mining and refugees,” Roche told EMTV News.
The Catholic Bishops Conference promotes the upkeep of human rights. This will be seen through the discussion of the West Papuan issue during this important meeting.
Fr Victor thanked the National Government for giving citizenship to West Papuans residing in the country.
“So we should go little further and recognise them and give their due refugee status and continue to dialogue with the Indonesia Government,” Fr Victor said.
Fr Victor said that the FCBCO is a good avenue to showcase Papua New Guinea to international communities.
