austraLasia From - Fri Nov 07 #2
FIJI - SUVA: Still on the drawing-board, but beginning to take shape are plans by the Australian Province (comprising both the Ausralian continent and the islands of Samoa) to open a Formation House in Suva, on the main island of Viti Levu, Fiji. 1999 is the intended opening date for the Salesian presence at Pacific Regional Seminary. The move has been made necessary by the increasing number of vocations from the already well-established Salesian work in Samoa, and is welcomed by the Bishops of CEPAC who are proud of their major seminary for Oceania. Fiji is arguably the 'centre' of the South Pacific in world terms - the commercial centre, an important node for international airline movement and with a Church infrastructure that makes it ideal for formation purposes. And, like most other nations of the Pacific, the population under the age of 15 is almost as high as 50%.