Assembly of Oceania Bishops in Fiji
Bishops from across Oceania came together in Fiji for the quadrennial gathering of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO) for the period 5-10 February 2023.
The Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania is the regional grouping of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands and the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific – which includes Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna. The bishops of the four conferences come together every four years for a continental gathering.
The assembly opened on Sunday with Mass filled with Fijian spirituality and tradition at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Suva, celebrated by Cardinal Michael Czerny, the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The Mass was followed by a traditional Fijian welcoming ceremony, before the assembly commenced work on Sunday evening.
The theme for this assembly was The Ocean. Particularly the intersection between the people of God and the seas.
The Oceania draft submission for the Synod on Synodality was reviewed and finalised in response to ongoing prayer and decision making during the assembly.
Archbishop Peter Loy Chong of Suva was the president for the assembly. He asked people across Oceania to pray for the bishops gathering in Fiji and for their collaborators, which included some of those who participated in the synod writing process, and for the success of the assembly itself.
Australia will host the next assembly in 2027. Bishop Anthony Randazzo was elected ongoing president of the Federation and part of an eight-member executive council that will guide preparations for the 2027 assembly.
The links below provide the schedule for the Fiji Assembly, video material on the Assembly and the Web site for the Assembly.
Schedule for the 2023 Assembly of Oceania Bishops (PDF 305.3KB)
Overview of the Sunday opening
Overview of the Oceania Continental Assembly, Suva, Fiji
Assembly of Oceania Bishops at Youtube
Assembly of Oceania Bishops in Fiji