Prof. Gary Devery – Sydney
Oceania is composed of a vast area of ocean and around 10,000 islands. It is traditionally divided into the regions of Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia. These regions divide into around 28 countries, mostly island nations. The population of Oceania is around 34 million, with nearly 21 million being in Australia, while New Zealand and Papua New Guinea together account for around another 10 million people. The ethnic and cultural reality of Oceania is very diverse. It is not possible to speak of a culture or a race in regard to Oceania. Each region and often each country need to be treated as being composed of a variety of races and cultures. Consequently the following comments regarding the Church in Oceania facing the phenomena of immigration are very generalised and serve only as an indication towards exploring the topic.
The arrival of European colonisation resulted in most of the island nations having democratic forms of government and having Christianity as the principal religion. However in recent decades political and economic instability, and the very real possibility of some of these countries becoming failed states, have revealed that often the democracy is really only a veneer over enduring tribal systems that now suffer from endemic corruption and racism. This has resulted in a phenomenon of emigration from these island countries towards the politically and economically stable countries of Australia and New Zealand. This has a social consequence of further weakening the tribal culture. The initial evangelisation of these peoples by the Church led to a reasonably successful integration of Christian life and tribal cultures. Consequently, the Church in these island countries is faced with the challenge of a weakening of the Christian fabric of the culture as the tribal structures weaken.
Australia and New Zealand are a rich mix of races and cultures; the predominant races and cultures being European, with Asian races and cultures increasing in recent decades due to immigration. Australia and New Zealand find themselves very much at home in the phenomenon of globalisation, which is strong enough to override the mix of races and cultures. This phenomenon has some positive dimensions but also carries the seeds of a culture of death in its relativistic tendencies. Already the affects of relativism are very strong in Australia and New Zealand with the accelerating erosion of the fundamental values transmitted by most cultures regarding the common good for society in the protection of the traditional values of marriage and family life.
The challenge to the Church in Australia and New Zealand is to accept and encourage what is good in this phenomenon of globalisation, especially in its potential to work towards coordinated efforts in the development of weaker nations and good stewardship over the environment, both of which are important issues in many island nations of Oceania (where already the effects of global warming are of immediate concern).
The relativising tendency of globalisation that transcends the mix of races and cultures in Oceania needs to be addressed with the vigour of a new Pentecost and a new evangelisation. The words of Pope John Paul II in his 2001 Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Oceania remain the challenge: “A new evangelisation is the first priority for the Church in Oceania. In one sense, her mission is simple and clear: to propose once again to human society the entire Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ (n. 18).