Cardinal Sir John Ribat

FCBCO Assembly concludes meet

At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, Cardinal John Ribat msc, president of the FCBCO Assembly, then presented a beautiful copper beaten and glass framed ‘lakatoi’ to Archbishop Peter Loy Chong, Archbishop of Fiji. The CEPAC Conference will host the next FCBCO Assembly in 4 years’ time.

As he presented it, he spoke of the double hulled sailing watercraft of Papua New Guinea that was traditionally used in the Hiri trade. It was the Lakatoi that was used for voyages and it carried the men to the different sites and brought them safely back. 

New Cardinal Sir John grateful for appointment

Cardinals are personally selected by the Pope. Pope Francis announced the new cardinals from the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of a special Mass on Sunday, October 9, in the Vatican.

The 59-year-old is among 17 cardinals selected by the pope and is now the sixth cardinal ever selected from the Oceania region.

The group includes men from five countries that had never before had a cardinal, namely PNG, Bangladesh, the Central African Republic, Lesotho and Malaysia.