A new network to provide pastoral, practical and better employment and health care support for thousands of migrant workers, refugees and their families across the Pacific was announced on the weekend by the President of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conference of Oceania (FCBCO), Most Rev Anthony Randazzo, Bishop of Broken Bay while attending the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican.
The Migrant and Refugee Oceania Network will serve as a unifying voice offering much-needed support for the region’s unique challenges.
“This is what a Synodal Church looks like where words are supported by actions that foster and generate real human relationships, a region not on the periphery but a region in which we live and work together in solidarity, making sure no-one is forgotten,” Bishop Randazzo said.
The Bishop announced details of the Network at a dinner in Rome with leaders from the four episcopal conferences of Oceania, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC), Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands (PNGSI), and the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC).
Also attending were the non-bishop delegates making up the Oceania representation at the Synod, and the first Nigerian priest to complete his formation in the Queensland seminary and now the Undersecretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Monsignor Anthony Ekpo.
Oceania covers a vast area of the Pacific with approximately 41 million people with international migrants making up almost 22 percent of the population, over a million of those originating in Oceania staying within the region.
The region also faces unique and increasing challenges as a result of climate change, rising sea levels, floods, cyclones, droughts, and disease.
The Network will identify urgent problems and build programs to respond to and protect the needs of people displaced within and across Oceania.
This will occur through advocacy and raising the voice of the region at international levels, cooperation through the four episcopal conferences sharing information, skills, resources and practices, and connecting the smaller Pacific Island countries and dioceses through the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and the Dicastery for Integral Human Development at the Holy See.
“The key focus of this Synod is one of listening, dialogue, and discernment, and that is very much the essential part of our shared journey in Oceania where every voice matters,” Bishop Randazzo said.
“The hopes of Oceania are as vast and diverse as the region itself. From the smallest, most remote islands to bustling cities, the voices of the people of God are united in their longing for a Church that listens, heals, and walks alongside them in their journey of faith. We have brought our voice to this Second Assembly of the Synod.
“It is unhelpful when the dominant voice from the North forgets the vulnerable people and region from Oceania".
“Maybe we need to change the paradigm where from Oceania, it is Europe or North America that is on the edge.
“This is how we can lead by example, calling others back to the Christian faith, not because we are dominant or powerful, but because we are walking with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
“Labelling us in Oceania as the periphery is unhelpful when we are proclaiming the Christian Gospel as one people in Christ.
“Together we can offer direct practical support as well as bringing our needs to the attention of the global community.
“This will lead to renewal, unity, and a future filled with hope,” Bishop Randazzo said.