Pacific prelate urged to tell Pope that nations ‘are sinking’

Archbishop Ryan Jimenez of Agaña, Guam, received the pallium from Pope Leo at the Vatican last month, and a few days later met the Pontiff in a private audience. Just before the meeting, Archbishop Jimenez received a message from a colleague in Tuvalu: “Please tell the Holy Father that we are sinking.”

Climate change was on the agenda at the Archbishop’s meeting with the Pope, as was migration. The Archbishop stressed the close relation between the two phenomena, noting that many Pacific Islanders are being forced to emigrate to Australia.

“There’s a tension,” he told Vatican News, “because you want to cling on to your roots, because this is home. On the other hand, you have no choice but to leave, because your home is slowly being covered by water. But you always have that longing for home.”

Archbishop Jimenez stressed that he does not want to dwell too much on the challenges of living in the Pacific. “It’s so important to discuss the joys, too,” he said. Among these, he listed the presence of various indigenous groups.

“It’s a gift,” Archbishop Jimenez emphasised, “because each local Church expresses the uniqueness of the indigenous cultures, and that uniqueness can also be an important ingredient in the universality of the Church.”

The Archbishop added that what the Church in the Pacific lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality, with “long, incredibly beautiful, incredibly colourful” liturgies.

Archbishop Jimenez had the chance to speak briefly with the Pope after receiving the pallium.

“You have many challenges in your Archdiocese,” Pope Leo told him, “but know that God is with you.”

The Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) includes the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.

CEPAC is a member of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania, of which the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference is also a member.

FULL STORY

‘Holy Father, we’re sinking’: Archbishop of the Pacific meets with Pope Leo (By Joseph Tulloch/Vatican News)

Bishops of Oceania (Catholic Australia)