EXTRACT FROM DIARY OF

ADRIAN SMITH SM

ARCHBISHOP

OF

HONIARA

SOLOMON

ISLANDS

This Diary was not intended for publication. But Archbishop Smith has agreed for it to be used on the Marist Way website

ARCHDIOCESE OF HONIARA

P.O. BOX 237, HONIARA G.P.O., SOLOMON ISLANDS

TEL: Office [677] 22387 Residence [677] 23436 Fax [677] 22869

Email: ahonccsi@solomon.com.sb

January 7^th 2010

On Friday 27^th November I flew to Kirakira, it is about an hour’s flight. It now costs more to fly Honiara to Kirakira than Honiara to Brisbane. What a pity we don’t have a few parishes in Brisbane! It lets you see what is happening to our fuel prices. To travel by outboard motor now is also very expensive. Honiara to Kirakira by outboard motor that is out of the question!

 Saturday 28^th I spent time with the Confirmation Candidates at St. John the Baptist Parish, Kirakira. They were a well trained group of young people. On Sunday Morning it was Confirmation Day. The Parish Community did their part, after our Confirmation Mass we had a parish meal. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day. They were not in a hurry to go home. Perhaps that is the secret of Melanesian life style, they don’t cluster their day; Confirmation Day is for Confirmation and nothing more!

On Monday 30^th we went to the small Island of Ugi. It is a long time since I have been to Ugi. The community there is a very self-contained community and everything was well organised. Their only disappointment was that the Ugi Secondary School closed earlier than normal; they had run out of funds for food. This meant that the Secondary School Candidates for Confirmation had all gone home. I ended up with two sisters from the Ugi Community for Confirmation and about five younger ones for First Holy Communion. Since it is my practice to spend time with the Confirmation Candidates before their actual Confirmation, I was also given the First Holy Communion Candidates as well! As part of the preparation for Confirmation I bring along with me a DVD and power point projector to show the Lift of Christ specially made for youngsters and dubbed in Solomon Islands Pijin. It is very popular. Unfortunately the village generator was not able to take the load. Tuesday Morning was our Confirmation and First Holy Communion Mass. The singing was very good and the community meal that followed was enjoyed by all. In the afternoon we were on our way back to Kirakira.

 Wednesday 2^nd December we made the trip by an outboard motor powered boat to Wainoni Bay. That takes around forty-five minutes. Our engine was playing up and there were fears, will we make it or not?  

On arrival in Wainoni Bay we found a large gathering of people. It was the official arrival day for the two days set aside for the celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of the arrival of the Catholic Church in Wainoni Bay. Everyone was in a festive mood.

 Wainoni Bay was the first permanent Catholic Church establishment on the Island of San Cristobal, locally known as Makira. 1845 Bishop Epalle and his Marist Missionaries arrived in Makira Bay, San Cristobal, the name given by the Spanish explorer Mendana 1568. Epalle was anxious to visit the site at which Mendana spent most of his time in 1568; that was on the Island of Ysabel, we now spell it Isabel. That was a fatal decision, Bishop Epalle, he was killed there. The Marists returned to Makira Bay, but things turned against them. Three of them were killed. The others ended up very sick men, malaria was rampant. One young priest, aged 24 years died there from fever.  

 1595 Mendana returned to Solomon Islands, he reached Santa Cruz, in the Eastern Solomons. His attempted settlement did not last long. Mendana died in Santa Cruz.

 Back to the Marist story, 1847 under the leadership of Bishop Collomb the Marists left Solomon Islands for Woodlark, an island nearer to Papua New Guinea. 1851/52, a second attempt was made by the Marists to get a foothold in Solomon Islands, that was on the Island of Tikopia. The three Marists involved in this attempt were all killed in Tikopia.

What they were celebrating in Wainoni Bay was the arrival of Fr. Babonneau sm in 1909 from Rua Sura; he served in Wainoni Bay for 24 years as the priest in charge and is buried there.

 Thursday 3rd December was Day One of the Celebrations at Wainoni Bay. We started off with the dedication of a small shrine near to the grave of Selina about an hour’s walk from Wainoni Bay.  The Story of Selina is an important one, but to keep it short, she as a young Solomon Islander, born in Fiji had become a Catholic. She returned to her Solomon Islands’ home near to Wainoni Bay and was gathered around her a small group of people she wanted to prepare for Baptism. Her fidelity to her plan has credited her as the one who founded the Catholic Church on Makira.  The shrine, a small building with an altar can sit about twenty-five people. We hope it will become a centre of prayer for the people of the area and Makira at large. In the afternoon we climbed the hill behind the Parish House at Wainoin Bay to dedicate the Centenary Cross. It is a very impressive Cross and can be seen from far away. From there we went to the grave of Father Babonneau sm and blessed the improvements made to mark this important grave. It was a time to ponder the commitment of that very faithful missionary.

 Friday 4^th, was Day Two of the Celebrations. It was the thanksgiving-day; a day in which we pondered the gift of Faith. We asked ourselves what have we to do to sustain the gift we have received. After a very festive Mass it was time to prepare for the feasting. For me it was time to look for a boat to take me back to Kirakira to catch the evening flight to Honiara. A feature of traditional life in Makira is their talking drums. Messages are sent from community to community by the beating of those talking drums. From the time of our arrival the drums got little rest, because of that I got little sleep!

 I arrived back in Honiara at about 6 pm; I was a very tired man. Early next morning I was asked was I ready to join the pilgrimage to Rua Sura. Fortunately I went to see my Chinese friend, Peter Chow; the good news was he was going to Rua Sura on Monday 7^th December. I was happy I could travel with him by speed boat.

 Our Youth Desk had organised a youth pilgrimage to Rua Sura, the response was wonderful. The youth on the Honiara side of Guadalcanal set out on December 4^th from Honiara and being transported part of the way they had a long walk, those who came from the Avuavu side of Guadalcanal walked all the way, perhaps four days! We all converged at Susu Village to await boats to take us to the island of Rua Sura. It was like a small town of tents.  On arrival on Rua Sura I erected my tent and got settled into the mood of the day. This was another feast of the history of the Church. Rua Sura was the headquarters of the Catholic Mission from 1898 to 1924.  I had better not go into the details of all that, if I do I will never finish!

 Back to Honiara on December 8^th and then on the 17^th I was on my way by outboard motor to Marau Parish, south east of Guadalcanal where they were marking one hundred years of the arrival of the Catholic Church in Marau. Marau used to be my address from December 1967 to around June 1971. They marked the Anniversary with three days of celebration: Day one the arrival of the Faith, Day Two the planting of the Faith and Day Three the fruits of the Faith. For the trip there and back to Honiara on the 21^st. December the seas were very kind.

 Christmas came, I had the night Mass at 8.00 pm, it was well attended, we blessed our Christmas Crib, during the reading of the Gospel a wife and husband with their small daughter carried Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus and placed them in the Crib. For the Shepherds they had to wait until the 7.00 am Mass 25^th December for their arrival. The Kings will be coming 6^th of January!

 On Wednesday 29^th I left for Russell Islands where we had Confirmation on Thursday and then they welcomed in the New Year with a day filled with wonderful activity. I did not have to be very active, I just enjoyed their energy.

 Sunday 3^rd we celebrated the Epiphany, I was in Tetere Parish for the installation of their new parish priest. The Parish is in the hands of the Salesians, the new Parish Priests of a mixture of Vietnam and Japan. Most of our parishes are not in the hands of Solomon Islanders.

 ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊