Liturgy and worship in Papua New Guinea (Part 1)

Tradition, diversity and growth Pope Francis shares a moment with Mundiya Kepanga, a Papuan activist and leader from Papua New Guinea, at the Vatican May 8, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) The history of Christian liturgy and worship in Papua New Guinea is a remarkable development in modern world Christianity. Within little more than a century, …

Accompaniment as Christian witness

EAPPI officers from sending countries visit a bedouin village in the Jordan Valley. Photo: Rod Benson, 2013. The history and achievement of EAPPI Rod Benson The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel is among the most sustained and distinctive human rights initiatives of the modern ecumenical movement. Established by the World Council of Churches …

A history of ecumenism in Papua New Guinea

The oldest existing structure in Lae, Papua New Guines is the St Andrewโ€™s Lutheran Church in the suburb of Ampo, erected in 1933. Photo: Malum Nalu, 2021. Papua New Guinea (PNG) presents one of the world's most remarkable contexts for Christian ecumenism. Home to more than 800 living languages and immense cultural diversity, it is …

Artistic freedom, religious freedom, and the sacred

Recent controversy surrounding Sydneyโ€™s Divine Playhouse has reopened an enduring and vexed question within liberal democracies: Should artistic freedom extend to the deliberate parody of religious symbols held sacred by millions of believers? Responding to performances and promotional material that appropriated Catholic imageryโ€”including references to the Eucharist and the sacrament of confessionโ€”Archbishop Anthony Fisher argued …

G H Morling and pastoral theology (Part 2)

PART 2 Prayer occupied a central place in Morlingโ€™s pastoral theology because it was the natural expression of this communion with Christ. He regarded prayer not merely as one pastoral responsibility among many but as the atmosphere in which all Christian life and ministry are sustained. Drawing upon the practice of the apostolic Church, he …