November 27, 2025, was a glorious day for the Archdiocese of Suva. We rejoiced with the 58 dedicated men and women of the Navesi Catechist Training Center, Class of 2023-2025, who were formally installed as Catechists. The Installation Mass was held at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Suva, presided over by The Most Reverend Archbishop Peter Loy Chong.
This installation marks the culmination of the Catechists' intense 3-year formation and the beginning of their vital ministry across our parishes. My family rejoiced and praised God during the installation this day because one of the 58 newly installed Catechists was my brother, Aloisio Tamatawale. It was a moment of deep gratitude and blessing as we witnessed the fruits of faith, commitment, and service.
The Navesi Catechist Training Center was inaugurated in May 1973 by Columban Fr. Jim Gavigan (RIP). It was established to formalize the training of lay catechists to lead communities in the absence of priests, particularly in rural and remote areas of the Archdiocese of Suva. Fr. Gavigan directed the center until 1980, when he handed it over to a local diocesan priest, Fr. Ray Kavuru.
As I reflected on that moment in our faith journey, on how the faith was taught, shared, lived and practiced, it all begins at home. Growing up, our family listened to stories from my paternal grandparents about missionary priests. The missionaries were young, mostly Irish, tall, fair-skinned and most with red hair, who evangelized, preached and taught the faith, including the catechism of the Catholic Church, the traditions and devotions, to various communities. They were Columban missionary priests.
Our grandparents faithfully passed on the Catholic traditions, feasts and devotions they learned from the Columban missionary priests. Through the difficulties, challenges, sadness and joyful moments we have experienced in life, we have held firmly to our faith because of what we witnessed in the lives of our grandparents and parents. The faith they lived and practiced, grounded in Catholic traditions and devotions and trusting in God, has been fruitful, as two from my family became Columban Lay Missionaries, one became a Columban priest and one became a Catechist. All were trained, formed and educated by Columban priests who served in Fiji.
Although many of these missionary priests have now passed away or returned to Ireland, the flame of faith remains alive in our families and in the lives of many Catholics throughout Fiji.
I believe that synodality began to be taught and practiced by Columban missionary priests in Fiji in the 1970s, particularly through the establishment of the Catechist Training Center in Navesi to train and empower laypeople to participate in God’s mission.
Pope Francis enlivened the Church. He reminded us of synodality and led us along the path of a Synodal Church in which all baptized Christians walk together in faith, in the spirit of Participation, Communion, and Mission.
