Churches have become a ‘burden’

FIJI – Churches have failed in their primary role in providing individuals with spiritual counselling and grounding, according to Fiji’s Ministry of iTaukei Affairs training officer Ro Aca Mataitini.

Instead, they have become a burden to individual, he told a meeting of traditional leaders in the district of Wailevu in Cakaudrove.

Ro Aca said villages continued to host big church buildings and in some villages it was almost a competition to have the biggest and most beautiful church.

However, Ro Aca said it was interesting to see the construction of such spiritual refuge did not solve the increasing cases of crimes and immorality happening in villages.

Laying a challenge to leaders, Ro Aca said it was time the iTaukei did some soul-searching to find the cause of these problems – and the cure.

Ro Aca said churches continued to get bigger while the seriousness and number of crimes continued to escalate.

He said the problem existed in iTaukei villages because people had forgotten who to worship.

Instead of focusing on the purpose of building a church, Ro Aca said people had turned it into a competition, worshiping the worldly head of churches instead of God.

He said the iTaukei people continued to live in darkness while church leaders choose to please their congregation instead of telling them what was right and wrong.

He said the iTaukei people needed to live what they preached if they wanted to have a brighter future.

In response, Archbishop Peter Loy Chong, leader of the Catholic church in Fiji, said the statements by Ro Aca were not factual and needed validation.

Archbishop Chong said one could question the presence of churches in relation to the increase of crime and immorality in the country but to blame the church was not acceptable.

He added that individual churches were doing their fair share of work to address issues faced in communities.

Methodist Church general secretary Reverend Epineri Vakadewavosa said the issues could be addressed through a collective approach as addressing the problems in society was not the work of the church alone. - Release