Columban missionaries find growing momentum to care for God’s creation.
Oceans cover seventy percent of the Earth’s surface and healthy oceans are essential to life. Alas, oceans are intrinsically linked to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Plastic waste is a massive problem for oceans and chemical pollution has now been added as a third major issue affecting the health of the Earth community. Unchecked coastal development places immense pressure and in Fiji, where Columban missionaries have ministered for more than seventy years, there are concerns about the impacts of environmental degradation on coastal ecosystems and communities.
The protection and restoration of marine, coastal and river systems go hand-in-hand. At the UN Biodiversity Conference COP 15 in December 2022, a new global agreement was reached that included a plan to effectively restore and sustainably manage thirty percent of the planet's lands, waters and oceans by 2030. Currently, only seventeen percent of land and eight percent of oceans are protected worldwide. The Convention on Biological Diversity entered into force in 1993. Many countries including Fiji, Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia where Columban missionaries live and serve in the region of Oceania, are members of the agreement and have national response plans. An important follow-up step for the protection of large-scale marine areas and the sustainable use of ocean resources was the establishment of the legally binding High Seas Treaty in March 2023. World Oceans Day (June 8th) says the tide is turning for oceans care.
The burden of ecological harms is not borne equally by the world’s people and the voices and solutions of those most impacted are being raised. In 2022 Columban missionaries were part of a cohort of Church leaders who attended the United Nations Oceans Conference to amplify the voices of the most vulnerable and advocate for the care of creation. Taking part in faith-based collaborations provide opportunities to be hopeful. Columban missionaries also find the multi-faith coalition for the care for creation is growing stronger.
In February 2023 the Catholic Bishops of Oceania gathered in Suva, Fiji for a week of prayer and reflection on shared mission in the region. The gathering involved Bishops from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Archbishop Peter Loy Chong, Archbishop of Suva Fiji, said the theme for the Bishops of Oceania gathering, ‘Save the Ocean to Save Mother Earth,’ reflected the intention for prophetic voices for the oceans and Oceania people. In their concluding statement, the Bishops said, “As a sea of big and small islands, Oceania is uniquely impacted by the devastating consequences of the ecological crisis – from rising sea levels threatening the very existence of island communities to catastrophic cyclones, floods, fires and droughts and the resultant loss of human life and biodiversity.” Ecological conversion was affirmed as an urgent mission priority for the Church.
In the lead-up to the Bishops of Oceania gathering, Columban missionaries took part in Australian Catholic University’s ‘Our Ocean Home’ online events for the wider Church community. Tevita Naikasowalu, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Co-ordinator for the Missionary Society of St Columban in Fiji said, “Our story is not a new one, it has been a journey. We are one with nature, nature is us, our vanua and our ocean." People in Fiji are standing up for their identity. Tevita said this is something that keeps people going and gives them strength and a sense of resilience in troubled times.
Columban missionary priests, lay missionaries and co-workers regularly gather online to share experiences. Adriana Curaqueo Alarcon, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Coordinator in South America says, "To nurture a united heart open to universal communion is perhaps the greatest task we are called upon to do.” It is a challenging task, says Adriana, made more difficult because suggesting we reweave or rebuild the links that connect all living beings is at times branded as illusory or naïve. Nonetheless, through advocacy and grassroots work around the world, Columban missionaries are finding growing momentum and the hunger for formation in various Church settings.
The Columban Pilgrimage that followed in the footsteps of our patron St Columban during Laudato Si Week in Britain, offered these reflection questions for mission in our times:
What opportunities and challenges face us?
How can we nurture hearts open to connection with all creation?
Sr Caroline Vaitkunas RSM
Peace, Ecology and Justice Office
Columban Mission Centre, Essendon
