(Church of England)
Close House, St George's Close,
Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
NE2 2TF, England
0191 281 2556 / fax 0191 284 6933
[email protected]
Chair Ms Rachel Parry (USPG)
in the Forum meeting on 14 October 2003 in Partnership House, London
(Church of England)
United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG)
157 Waterloo Rd., London SE1 8XA
Tel: 020 78033446
[email protected]
2000
2001
2002
Focus: West Papua
In 2001 the Forum decided to focus its attention and activities on the situation in West Papua while monitoring the entire Pacific region. This was done in order to concentrate energy rather than dilute strengths with running the risk of not achieving anything substantial anywhere.
On 31 Januarya 2002 he Forum welcomed Rev Neles Tebay, a Roman Catholic Priest currently studying in Rome. He was invited on a visit to the UK by CCOM where he met with politicians and church leaders to promote the cause of the people of West Papua who suffer severely in the current situation. To the Forum he spoke about Getting to Know the Papuans in West Papua..
An article on Neles Tebay's visit to Ireland, February 2002 (Irish Times, 20/2/2002)
An open letter from the religious leaders in Papua to the president of the Republic of Indonesia, Megawati Sukarnoputri from about the National Inquiry Team investigating the murder of Theys Hiyo Eluay.
Human rights conditions in Papua and the role of international humanitarian agencies. A discussion paper to UNHCR regional seminar on emergency management and contigency planning: programme Bali, 26-28 February 2002
Neles Tebay: Indonesia�s jihad fighters rejected in West Papua Article on the rejection of the Indonesia's jihad fighters by the Papuans. Based on the report sent by the Institute for Human RIghts studies and Advocacy (ELSHAM) in Jayapura and som reports taken from Indonesian dailies and weeklies.
Neles Tebay: West Papua: The Religious leaders call for an independent investigation on Timika attack against civilians (September 2002)
Ecumenical Agreements in Papua New Guinea
Ecumenical Agreements between the Anglican, the Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches in Papua New Guinea (2003)
On 19 July 2003 the Anglican, Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches in PNG signed a document of mutual recognition of baptism (picture showing left to right: Fr. Bill Fey, RC Secretary for Ecumenism & Inter-Faith Dialogue; Archbishop James Ayong, Anglican Primate; Bp Kiage Motoro, Lutheran; Bp. John Ribat (RC bishop of Bereina and Bishop Delegate for Ecumenical Affairs) [Photo: Br. Venantius To Valuta OFM Cap.]
Even further went a covenant signed by the Anglican and RC signed on the following day. RC Fr. Bill Fey and his Anglican opposite number Bp Roger Jupp worked together over the past couple of years to bring about the historic signing on 20th July 2003 of the Anglican/RC Covenant - building on the earlier work of Bishop Paul Richardson (Bp Paul wrote the introduction to Theo Aerts: Romans & Anglicans in Papua New Guinea, Liturgical Catethetical Institute, Goroka, 1991) which was a RC contribution to the Anglican Centenary in 1991.
When he was in the UK in September 2003, Bp. Roger told a gathering hosted by PNG Church Partnership that Archbishop John Bathersby (of Brisbane) RC Co-Chair of IARCCUM (Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission) who was present on 20th July in Port Moresby memorably had described the dialogue in PNG between the Anglican and RC Church as 'the jewel in the crown' of the Anglican-Roman Catholic bilateral dialogues. It is widely acknowledged that the good ecumenical relations between mainline denominations in PNG really began in WWII. [Cf. Theo Aerts: The Martyrs of Papua New Guinea: 333 Missionary lives lost during World War II, New Guinea, University of Papua New Guinea Press, 1994]
Pictures from this event.
Nathan Ingen and
Denys Ririka
meet with the Mission Agencies at Partnership House - January 2004.
L. to R.
Emily Petty, Projects Development Officer, USPG;
Rachel Parry, Regional Desk Officer - East Asia and Oceania, USPG - and Chair of CCOM Pac. Forum;
Simon Barrow, Commission Secretary, CCOM/CTBI;
Chris Luxton, General Secretary, PNGCP;
Mark Oxbrow, World Mission Group Director, CMS.
Photo: USPG.
Volker B�ge: �Lessons learned� from a comparison between the cases of Bougainville and Solomon Islands. Paper presented to �Searching for Peace� Southeast Asia and the Pacific Workshop, Manila, June 4-6, 2002
Franciscan website on Human Rights in Papua
Franciscans International statements on human rights situation in West Papua at the UN Commission on HR 2002 and 2003.
European Centre on Pacific Issues (information resource for the European Centre on Pacific Studies, Zeist (Netherlands))
International Action for West Papua
Tapol (Indonesian Human Rights Watch)
Papua New Guinea Church Partnership
Pacific Islands Society of the UK and Ireland (Pisuki), an organisation promoting the relationships between the peoples and
countries of the Pacific Islands and the UK and Ireland, links to many other sites of Pacific interest
Our Neighbours in Distress: A discussion document of the Anglican Church in Australia on the political situation in Melanesia
(*.pdf)
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