Pacific challenges are not distant concerns, says Nuncio

By CathNews New Zealand

August 19th, 2025

Archbishop Gábor Pintér (NZCBC)

In an address to bishops from Pacific nations, the Pope’s representative in the region has highlighted the many challenges those countries are facing. Source: Vatican News.

Archbishop Gábor Pintér, who is Apostolic Nuncio to Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific, spoke at a plenary assembly of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) in Pago Pago, American Samoa, earlier this month.

Archbishop Pintér described the Pacific as a “region of breathtaking natural beauty, imbued with a profound sense of spirituality, and shaped by deep-rooted, resilient cultures”.

But the region faces “significant challenges”, he said, naming climate change, economic disparities, social injustice and youth disempowerment. These realities are “not distant concerns”, Archbishop Pintér said, but rather “woven into the very fabric of our daily lives”.

At the “very core” of CEPAC’s vision, the Apostolic Nuncio said, is a “deep desire to be a Church that is authentically ‘of the Pacific’ . . . a Church that courageously recognises, respects and seamlessly integrates the rich cultural heritage, ancestral wisdom and communal values of our island nations into its very life”.

With this in mind, he suggested a number of areas on which the Church in the region might focus: care for the oceans, synodality, formation for mission, social activism and empowerment of women and young people.

Archbishop Pintér brought his address to a close by outlining a vision of the Church in the Pacific as “Christ-centred”, passionately committed to justice, peace and environmental care, and “deeply rooted and flourishing within the rich cultural tapestries of our islands”.

At the Pago Pago meeting from August 5-11, the bishops considered what it means to be a Church that is authentically “of the Pacific”.

As well as time for prayer and discussion, the gathering featured a traditional Samoan welcome ceremony and “conversations in the Spirit”, using synodal methodology.

FULL STORY

Island bishops gather to discuss future of Church in the Pacific (Vatican News)

Pacific island bishops gather for prayer, discussions at CEPAC Plenary Assembly in American Samoa (CEPAC)