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Kuo tu‘olahi ‘a hono fakamanatu ki he Siasí,[1] “Ke mou hoko ko e kau ngāue ‘o e folofola, ‘o ‘ikai ko e kau fanongo pē, ‘o mou kākā‘i ‘akimoutolu.”[2] ‘I he tu‘unga fakamāmanilahí, kuo kau fakataha ‘a e Siasi ’Ingilaní mo e ngaahi siasi ‘Otokosi, Lutelo, Pelesipita, Kueki, Katolika mo e Metotisi, ‘i he ofongi he ngaahi palopalema faka‘atakaí, tautautefito ki he ngaahi nunu’a he uesia ‘o natula mei he feliuliuaki ‘o e ‘eá ‘oku tau fehangahangai mo ia he kuonga ní. Neongo iá, ‘oku fakahā ‘e he ngaahi fakatotolo ko e tokolahi ’o e tali ‘a e ngaahi siasi ko eni ki he palopalema ni ko e talanga pe mo e fono ‘i he ta’u ‘e nimangofulu kuohilí, kae si’isi’i ha ngāue ke fakahoko foki. ‘Oku matu’aki fiema‘u ke fakahoko ‘e he ngaahi siasí ha ngāue fakavavevave he taimí ni—‘oku fakaha eni ‘i he ngaahi talanga kuo fakahoko—pea ko e nunu’a ‘o e ‘ikai ke fakahoko leva ha ngāué ki ai, ‘e matu’aki mahu‘inga ki he Pasifiki. Kuo lahi e ngaahi fakatotolo kuo fakahā ‘a e fepaki tonu ‘a e ngaahi ‘otu motu ‘o e Pasifiki mo e nunu’a ‘o e feliuliuaki ‘o e ‘ea.[3] Ko Tonga (‘a ia ‘oku ngāue‘aki ko e fakatātā ‘i he ngaahi konga ka hoko mai) ‘oku fika ua ia ‘i he tu‘u fakamāmanilahi ‘i he tu‘ulavengofuataha ki he nunu‘a ‘o e fakatamaki fakaenatulá mo e feliuliuaki ‘o e ‘eá, ka ko e ngaahi tali ‘a e ngaahi siasi lahi tahá ko e talanga pe mo e fono.[4]
‘I he ngaahi konga tohi ka hoko maí, te u talanoa ki he hisitōlia ‘o e tokangaekina ‘o e ‘atakaki na’e fakatupu ‘e he ‘Otuá ‘i he loto‘i Siasí ‘o lave ki he va’a kehekehe ‘e tolu faka‘eukuimenikale: 1) Kōsilio ‘o e ngaahi Siasi ‘a Māmaní (Fakamāmanilahi), 2) Konifelenisi ‘o e ngaahi Siasi ‘i he Pasifikí (Fakavahefonua), mo e 3) Kōsilio ‘o e ngaahi Siasi ‘i Tongá/Fōlomu ‘o e Kau Takilotu ‘i Tongá (Fakalotofonua). ‘I he konga tohi ‘uluakí, te u talanoa ai ki he mahu‘inga ke fakatokanga’i ‘a e ngaahi nunu’a ‘o e feliuliuaki ‘o e ‘eá ki he‘etau mo‘uí, mo e fiema‘u ki he ngaahi siasí ke nau fakahoko ha ngāue he vave tahá. Hili leva ia, te u sio ki he tali ‘i he kuohilí mo e lolotongá ni ‘a e Kōsilio ‘o e ngaahi Siasi ‘o Māmaní mo e Konifelenisi ‘o e ngaahi Siasi ‘i he Pasifikí ki he palopalema faka‘atakaí, ‘aki hano fakamamafa‘i ‘a e fatongia fakapalōfita ‘a Lynn White Jr mo e ngaahi founga na‘a ne fakafepaki ‘a e anga tu’uma’u ‘a e ngaahi siasí, ‘o iku ai ki he fakalakalaka ‘o e tokangaekina e ‘ātakai ‘e he siasí mo hono fokotu‘u ‘o e Konifelenisi ‘o e ngaahi Siasi ‘i he Pasifikí. ‘I he konga tohi hono tolú, te u talanoa ai ki he tali ‘a e Konifelenisi ‘o e ngaahi Siasi ‘i he Pasifikí ki he feliuliuaki ‘o e ‘eá. ‘Oku mahu‘inga eni koe‘uhi te ne fakahā ai ‘a e ngaue kuo fakahoko ‘e he ngaahi siasí mo hono ola foki. Faka‘osí, ‘i he konga tohi hono fā, te u fakama’ama’ala ‘a e anga hono tali ‘e he Kōsilio ‘o e ngaahi Siasi ‘i Tongá mo hono kau taki ki he faingata‘a ‘o e feliuliuaki ‘o e ‘eá pea mo e ngāue kuo lavá. Te u fakamamafa’i ‘a hono ‘uhinga ‘o eni ‘i he sio ki he fa’unga ‘o e Matakali ‘e Tolu ‘o e Siasi ‘Ingilani ‘i he Pasifiki, pea aofangatuku‘aki ha ngaahi fale’i, ke tokangaekina’aki ‘a e ‘atakai na’e fakatupu ‘e he ‘Otuá.
Ko e ‘Tokangaekina ‘o e fakatupu ‘a e ‘Otuá’ ko e tefito‘i mo‘oni mahu‘inga kuo ne hoko ko e makatu‘unga ‘o e ngaahi kominiuti ‘o e siasi tokolahi, ‘o kau atu foki mo e Siasi ‘Ingilaní mo ‘ene misiona, ‘o laka hake he ta‘u ‘e nimangofulu tupu. ‘I he Pasifikí, ko e siasí ‘oku mātu’aki lahi ‘ene mafai ke ue’i e sio, ‘ulungaanga mo e tali e kakai fekau’aki pea mo e ngaahi palopalema faka‘ātakaí. Ko ia ai, ‘oku mahu‘inga ke fekumi ki ha ngaahi founga ‘e malava ai ke toe fakatupulekina mo longomo‘ui ange ai ‘a e siasí, pea ‘i he‘enau fai pehē, ‘e hoko leva ‘o fakaivia honau ngaahi mēmipá ke nau tokangaekina ‘a e fakatupu ‘a e ‘Otuá. ‘I he lotofale ‘o e Siasi ‘Ingilaní, ko hono tokangaekina ‘o e fakatupu ‘a e ‘Otuá ‘oku mahu‘inga koe‘uhī ko e ngaahi uesia-kovi ‘o e feliuliuaki ‘o e ‘eá ‘i he‘etau ngaahi mo‘uí mo e ma‘u‘angamo‘uí, pea koe‘uhí ko e nima‘i Maaka ia ‘o e Taumu‘a-Misiona.[5] ‘I he Komuniō ‘Ātakai Fehokotaki ‘a e Siasi ‘Ingilaní (ACEN), ‘oku tukupā ‘a e Siasi ‘Ingilaní ke malu‘i, fakatolonga, mo fakafo‘ou ‘a e māmaní. ‘E ‘ikai toe fiema‘u ke toutou fakamamafa‘i ‘a e mahu‘inga ke tau fakahoko ‘a e ngāué ni, ‘o ‘ikai ngata pē foki ko kitautolu ko e kupu ‘i he sino ‘o e māmani, ka ‘oku tau fakafalala foki ‘i hono ‘ātakaí ‘o tau ma’u mo’ui mo lakalakaimonū mei ai. Ko e ‘aho kotoa pē ‘oku tau fakafalala ‘i he ‘ea ‘o e māmaní ke tau mānava, ko ‘ene vaí ke tau inu, ‘ene me‘akai ke tau kai. ‘Oku mātu‘aki mahu‘inga ki he fa‘ahinga ‘o e tangatá ke ne ‘ilo ko e hokohoko atu ‘a ‘etau mo‘uí ‘oku makatu‘unga ‘i he māmaní. Kuo pau ke fakamātoato ‘etau tokanga‘i e fakatupu ‘a e ‘Otuá mo ngāue fakavavevave ki he ngaahi nunu’a ‘o e feliuliuaki ‘o e ‘eá ‘i he ‘ahó ni.
Translated by Rev. Dr. Laiseni Liava’a and Dr. 'Alaimaluloa Toetu'u-Tamihere.
This is the first in a series of four posts. Click here for the second post: Lynn White Jr. and the Origin of Care for God’s Creation in the World Council of Churches. Click here for the third post: The Pacific Conference of Churches and Practical Initiatives Addressing the Climate Crisis. Click here for the fourth post: Churches and Climate Change in Tonga: A Real Measure of the Effectiveness of Pacific Conference of Churches’ Climate Works
Footnotes
1 Every time the word ‘Church’ appears with the capital ‘C’ and without a modifier in front, I refer to the whole Christian church, encompassing various denominations.
2 James 1:22, The Bible (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 2022).
3 R. K. Pachauri and L. A. Meyer, eds, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014). Ministry for Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Climate Change and Communications [MEIDECC], Kingdom of Tonga Third National Communication on Climate Change, December 2019, 12; E. H. Havea, ‘Climate Change Education in Tongan secondary schools’ (PhD diss., University of Waikato, 2020); Dhrishna Charan, Kushaal Raj, Ravneel Chand, Lionel Joseph, and Priyatma Singh, ‘At the Frontline of Climate Change: Adaptation, Limitations and Way Forward for the South Pacific Island States’, in Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies for Coastal Communities, ed. W. Leal Filho, (Springer, Cham: 2018), 69–85.
4 Peter Mucke, ed., WorldRiskReport 2020; Focus: Forced Displacement and Migration (Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft And Ruhr University Bochum – Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), 2020), 7. The World Risk Report has been published annually since 2011 by Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft. Since 2017, the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) at the Ruhr University Bochum has been responsible for the scientific management and calculation of the World Risk Index contained in the report. The figures published this summer by the UN Refugee Agency are alarming: almost 80 million people are currently fleeing their homes, and refugees at the EU’s external borders and internally-displaced persons in their own countries continue to die every day.
5 The Five Marks of Mission are widely accepted by Anglicans across the globe. These five mission statements offer a practical guide to the holistic nature of mission. The fifth mark of mission states: “To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and re-new the life of the earth”. See ‘Five Marks of Mission’, Anglican Schools of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia (blog) (accessed 29 July 2024), and Anglican Communion Office, ‘Anglican Communion: History’, (accessed 29 July 2024), for further details.
