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| Rev. Wilfred Kurepitu making his address at the closing of the consultation |
Churches in the Solomon Islands have agreed to
actively support the political independence struggle of the people in West
Papua.
“We in the Solomon Islands have heard the cries
of the peoples of West Papua and we commit to advocating their inherent right
to gainful political self-determination and true freedom”, said Rev. Fr. Peter
Houhou, of the Archdiocese of Honiara.
The re-articulation of this commitment to West
Papua’s political self-determination by the Church is aligned with the mandate
adopted by the Pacific Conference of Churches General Assembly – in the same
meeting complex last year – which called on all Pacific churches to advocate
for the freedom of peoples still under colonial rule in the Pacific.
“Whilst we in the Solomon Islands need to
embark again on a journey to rethinking our own self-determination, we make
this statement in recognition of our moral responsibility to heed the cries of
our brothers and sisters in West Papua who are struggling for justice on a
daily basis,” said Rev. Fr. Houhou.
The workshop participants learned that Churches
must continue to exercise, without fear, its prophetic role in ‘speaking truth
to power’, and in reclaiming this voice, stand up to defend, affirm and
announce its solidarity with our brothers and sisters who suffer mightily under
colonial oppression.
“It is the moral duty of the church to counter
oppressive regimes of authority and to actively engage the struggle for
justice, freedom and peace. We are hereby called, not only to wish freedom on
people that remain under colonial rule, but to actively work in striving for
all oppressed people’s freedom, which also includes our Pacific brothers and
sisters in Kanaky New Caledonia) and Maohi Nui (French Polynesia),” said Rev.
Wilfred Kurepitu, Moderator of the United Church in Solomon Island (UCSI).
In issuing this statement, Churches extend an
invitation to all peoples across the Pacific and the world, to renew its active
involvement in support of the decolonisation and political self-determination
struggles of West Papua and other non-self-governing territories still under
colonial rule.
In applauding its Government’s support in
sponsoring Maohi Nui’s (French Polynesia) re-inscription into the list of UN
Decolonisation List last year, Churches in the Solomon Islands, calls on its
Government to urgently show similar support to West Papua’s struggle for
political independence, in solidarity with the example set by the Government of
Vanuatu.
The workshop on Rethinking the Household of God in the Solomon Islands took place June 02-04, 2014 in
Honiara and was jointly organised by the Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACOM)
and the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC).
For more information please contact Rev.
Wilfred Kurepitu
Chairman of the Solomon Islands Christian Association.
Mobile- +677 7471 676
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