This week I’m in Auckland for a meeting of representatives from the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania. Bishop Colin of Dunedin and I are the two NZ reps and we are gathered with Bishops from Australia, Papua New Guinea, and New Caledonia. We are staying at the Josephite Sisters retreat centre in Mission Bay perched on a magnificent hillside location.

These meetings always have an outward looking agenda. Topics discussed so far include, seabed mining, the blue economy, politics and big business corruption, human trafficking, social development, and sustainable industrial development. This afternoon Caritas Aotearoa are meeting with us to share news of our recent visit to Papua which forms the most eastern part of Indonesia.

+Charles.