INTRODUCTION

1. The Church in Oceania gives glory to God at the dawn of the Third Millennium and proclaims her hope to the world. Her gratitude to God rises from her contemplation of the many gifts she has received, including the wealth of peoples and cultures and the wonders of creation. But above all there is the immense gift of faith in Jesus Christ, "the firstborn of all creation" (Col 1:15). In the past millennium the Church in Oceania has welcomed and treasured this gift of faith, and has passed it on faithfully to newer generations. For this, the whole Church gives praise to the Most Holy Trinity.

From the earliest times, the peoples of Oceania were moved by the divine presence in the riches of nature and culture. But it was not until foreign missionaries came in the latter half of the second millennium that these original inhabitants first heard of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Those who migrated from Europe and other parts of the world brought with them their faith. For all, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, received in faith and lived in the communio of the Church, brought fulfilment of the deepest longings of the heart, beyond any human expectation. The Church in Oceania is strong in hope, for she has experienced God's infinite goodness in Christ. To this day, the treasure of Christian faith is undiminished in its dynamism and promise, for the Spirit of God is always new and surprising. The Church throughout the world shares the hope of the peoples in Oceania that the future will bring new and even more wonderful gifts of grace to the lands of the Great Ocean.

2. A very particular moment in which the Church in Oceania could speak of her gratitude and hope was the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Oceania, which was held from 22 November - 12 December 1998. In my Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente I had proposed the usefulness of such an Assembly, as one in a series of continental Assemblies intended to prepare the Church for the new millennium.⁽¹⁾ The Bishops of Oceania were joined by Bishops from other continents and heads of dicasteries of the Roman Curia. Other members of the Church were among the participants, including priests, lay people and consecrated religious, as well as fraternal delegates from other Churches and Ecclesial Communities. The Assembly analyzed and discussed the present situation of the Church in Oceania in order to plan more effectively for the future. It also focused the attention of the universal Church on the hopes and challenges, the needs and opportunities, the sorrows and joys of the vast human tapestry which is Oceania.

The meeting in Rome of many Bishops, gathered with and around the Successor of Peter, was a wonderful occasion to celebrate the gifts of grace, which have yielded so abundant a harvest among the peoples of Oceania. Faith in Jesus Christ was the foundation and the focus of the participants in their prayer and discussions. The Bishops and all who were with them were animated by the one faith in Christ. All were inspired and strengthened by the ecclesial communio which bound them together and was expressed through the days of the Synod Assembly in a most powerful and moving way as a true unity in diversity.