Kiunga, Western Province: The Second meeting of Diocesan Pastoral advisory Board (DPAB) of Daru-Kiunga Diocese was done on 19-23 October 2020 in Kiunga.
DPAB meeting was one of the highest decision-making body in the Diocese. It composed by Bishop, members of Diocesan Team of Pastoral Animation (DTPA), priests and some laities. The coordinator of DTPA automatically is the coordinator of DPAB. They have meeting twice a year.
This meeting was rescheduled from the actual date due of the Covid 19 pandemic that made a lot of pastoral activities also been delay.
Fourteen members of DPAB met together to pray, to study and to discuss the pastoral activities of this year and the preparation for the next year.
In the first day the members were guided to have a spiritual day. They studied and discussed on topic our Diocesan Pastoral Plan. The members also studied on bishop pastoral letter for 2020 “A True Committed Disciple” and shared in their point of few on it.
The second day of the meeting focused on review the activities which had been affected by the pandemic of Corona Virus and the consequences of it. The members agreed that the faithful would live and promoted the same value of commitment for 2021. It meant that the Journey of Faith of people in Daru-Kiunga Diocese also changed. The Diocesan Assembly also would be re-scheduled and had to be done in 2021.
The rest of the days the members were review the preparation of the Diocesan Assembly included the draft of Diocesan Planning 2022-2025, daily activities, participants and others. They also looked the alternative of the Diocesan Assembly with the Covid-19 effecting the program.
The members also studied together and saw the beauty of the CBC PNG/SI Bishops pastoral letter for the laity “Our Catholic laity: Holy, formed and sent for service”. The member proposed to bring this letter in discussion and further elaboration in Priests Assembly 2020, and activities in 2021 such Parishes Regional Meeting, Services Meeting and the formation program of the laity in the parishes.
Bishop Gilles Côté, s.m.m expressed his gratitude to last DTPA team for their dedication and work for the last five years at the end of the meeting. He also welcomed the new teams of DTPA which leaded by Fr. Andrew Moses, dioc. Bishop also stressed to the new team to keep the DPAB and DTPA alive because the good functioning of these two body were one of the factors that our Diocesan Pastoral Plan still continuous.
In his concluding mass of the meeting, Bishop stressed again the important of the members studied the Diocesan Pastoral Plan, by did it they always exercised reding the sign of the time and to do that they needed more and more listening. This was a synodal process.
He also reminder the member to make sure that they talked to the people about the important of evaluation in the Parishes and Services. The evaluation was always part of listening to the voice of God and people.