Archbishop Peter has a passionate concern for the environment and speaks out strongly on behalf of his region’s indigenous peoples and the balance of ecology that sustains them.
Coastal communities in Oceania are being forced from their homes by rising sea levels and erosion in a situation assessed as severe, says a new report from Caritas.
At COP22, Caritas wants to especially defend the position of African countries and communities. Africa still remains vulnerable to the impacts of climate change despite having been the least contributor to it.
Global temperatures averaging almost 1oC above normal. For people in some parts of the world, this might still seem like a technical measurement, or a future concern. For us in Oceania, it is rapidly becoming a matter of life or death.
Many in Hela believe they will see their traditional way of life gone forever but will not receive their fair share of the profits. Suspicion that others are getting a better deal is rife. People fear corruption or favouritism. Tension is high, optimism low.
The Catholic Church’s work on HIV and AIDS in Mendi stretches back to 1995. Then the work revolved around explaining the virus, how it is transmitted and challenging the stigma attached to those people living with HIV.
“I hope I die before these islands are covered by the sea.” Eighty-year-old John Sailik was born on the Carteret Islands, a ring of six atolls 50 miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) has the highest HIV infection rate in the Pacific region. The true figure of people living with the disease in 2008 was estimated by the United Nations organisation UNAIDS at around 54,000 (out of a population of six million) although only half that figure was officially reported. Caritas supports an extensive ...