Protection of Minors: Bishop of Papua commends the sharing of ideas
By Francesca Merlo
Bishop Rochas Tatamai of Kavieng in Papua New Guinea is attending the Meeting in the Vatican on âthe Protection of the Minors in the Churchâ and is one of the representatives of Oceania. He reacs to the discourse of Cardinal Cupich, stating that âin principle it is a good thing to have some concrete stepsâŠfrom an American perspectiveâ. This, he says, will help the Church in Papua New Guinea to âseriously and criticallyâ analyse their own situation and apply the messages that they âmay be able to learn fromâ. This, according to Bishop Tatamai, is one of the most important things that is happening here: âWe are sharing resources, sharing ideasâ.
Church in Papua New Guinea
But what exactly is the situation of the Church in Papua New Guinea?
Bishop Tatamai says that the Church in Papua New Guinea is âstill a very âpeople-orientedâ Churchâ, and that its capacities âare not as complex as those in the European and American structuresâ.
That, he says, is âa big plusâ - the fact that âwe are a Church that is together with lay people.â In Papua New Guinea, the Bishop says, just as young people are, the lay people are involved, and when events are being organized, the Bishops, he says âalways take into account the direct effect, the immediate effect, on the people.â
A maternal model
The people of the Church of Papua New Guineaâs, continues Bishop Tatamai, have been âvery, very forgivingâ, with regard to the issue of clerical sexual abuse. Forgiving, he specifies, âto us, the Churchâ. He believes that this is down to the fact that the people look up to priests and look up to the Church, seeing it as âa maternal modelâ.
The Church of Papua New Guinea, according to Bishop Tatamai âhas been providing all the servicesâ. It is the âbright lightâ of Papua New Guinea, he says.
Despite this, says the Bishop, the meeting so far has been an âeye-openerâ. He explains that âwe have to confront the reality that the media presents.â The other aspects that must be considered, he says, âregard the development of the Church so farâ. Coming from a very young church âwakes everybody up to say âis this how far we can go?â and âwhen maturity comes is this what happens?ââ
Contributions
Bishop Tatamai concludes saying he wants to âbuild upâ the Churchâs capacities. During the meeting there has been much discussion on the inclusion of lay people in the Church and reiterates, âwe already have the lay people with usâ. And though in Papua New Guinea âwe many not have the capacities or resources that others have around the worldâ he says âwe can give our contributionâ.
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