ON Saturday June 8, Peter Loy Chong was ordained as the Archbishop of Suva. Three weeks later on June 29, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Archbishop Chong, with 35 other metropolitan bishops from all over the world, was in the Vatican to receive his pallium from Pope Francis I.
Archbishop Chong says the pallium, among other things, is a "symbol of the metropolitan bishops' communion with the Pope".
Not only is it a symbol, Archbishop Chong said there is a certain authority attached to the pallium.
For instance, if one bishop is not acting according to his office, the metropolitan bishop is obligated to report the matter to Rome.
Archbishop Chong shared that the Feast of saints Peter and Paul Mass held in St Peter's Basilica symbolised our traditions which we inherited from the apostles and handed down by the various popes.
He described the whole liturgy as "very solemn and embracing".
"For me, it's the experience of being part of a 2000-year tradition, back to Saints Peter and Paul and the apostles. I am part of the ongoing history of God's revelation.
"The pallium symbolises our communion of the archbishops with the Pope. Bishops and archbishops are called to teach and safeguard the teachings of the Catholic Church.
"The pallium's symbol of unity has an important relevance for the church today.
"It means that the local churches or dioceses are called to safeguard the teaching office of the church so that our teachings always reflect the official tradition and teaching of the Catholic Church. Such a unity prevents the possibility of each local church and individuals creating their own teaching or false teachings. It ensures unity in the church.
"While maintaining unity with the church's teaching, each local church has to reinterpret church teaching into their local contexts. Reinterpretation ensures that the teachings are relevant to local issues, problems and issues. This is a crucial task of the bishops and the church as a whole."
Archbishop Chong says this is where theologians are needed.
"A theologian is a trained person who knows the church's teachings and able to interpret them into the various questions and problems that arise from the various situations."
In other words the theologian also tries to relate these teachings to people's daily experiences.
"A theologian is a prophet," Archbishop Chong continued.
"When you speak as a prophet, you speak with your feet firmly rooted in the church. You speak to society and its problems or whatever is happening out there with your feet firmly planted in the church's tradition. You don't leave that spot.
"For example, how does the church speak on the issues of sexuality, rape, abortion contraceptives, injustice and unjust policies and laws?
"When a church leader or minister teaches, he or she speaks with his feet firmly rooted in the church's traditions and teachings," he said. "In this way the church's legitimacy will not be questioned and you cannot be judged to be politically biased.
"While the church proclaims God's message and addresses the political, social, and economic spheres, she does not participate in party politics or aligns with or supports any political institution or government.
"The Gospel cannot be lowered down to serve a human institution, rather it serves only God's kingdom.
The role of the church in politics is to form the conscience and minds of its members so that they make informed decisions in regards to the politics of society. This is the task of the church.
"Failing to educate the people regarding their political decisions means that the church has failed in its prophetic duty.
Archbishop Chong said the church's relevancy and effectiveness in today's world was a "big challenge".
"How do you make the church's teaching relevant? Our sources of our faith include the Bible and the church's tradition. The challenge is how to make these relevant to the people? How can the church respond appropriately to issues and problems the people face?
He said the church was faced with a dual commitment and faithfulness. The church has to be faithful to the church's scripture, tradition, and teachings while at the same time being faithful when attending to the questions, problems and needs of the community.
He argues this dual commitment can be achieved through a tool called the pastoral circle.
The pastoral circle, Archbishop Chong says, was formulated by the USA Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Jesuit Order to help churches, organisations and religious communities effectively respond to the issues that face them.
Archbishop Chong says there are four moments in the pastoral circle; insertion, social analysis, theological reflection and action plan.
1) Insertion — involves asking what is happening? Put yourself in the situation. One good way of doing this he said was imagining yourself looking down on Fiji. One asks what are the people experiencing, what are their fears, what are their aspirations?
2) Social analysis — why is this happening? Why of the what. What are root causes of the problem. Why are things the way they are?
Archbishop Chong said that social analysis could be likened to a visit to the doctor. The doctor carries out an analysis to identify the cause of illness. He said this second moment was very important because "unless we know the root cause, we might not be able to effectively address the situation".
3) Theological reflection — here we reflect on what is God saying to us in this situation/problem? This is an attempt to understand the problem from the perspective of God.
4) Action plan — what is to be done? This course of action is informed by the social analysis and the theological reflection.
The pastoral circle guides the Churches, communities, and organisations towards relevancy and effectiveness in responding to their challenges.
He says training will be needed and expertise will be drawn from both the laity and the religious communities. Archbishop Chong says he wants to use this tool at all levels within the local church so that its teachings, interpretations and applications will always be relevant to those whom the church serves.
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