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Petero Mataca (28 April 1933 – 30 June 2014) born at Cawaci, on Ovalau Island, served as the Roman Catholic
archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
of
Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...
,
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
until his resignation in 2012.


Biography

After his education at St. John's College, Cawaci, he was ordained as a priest on 20 December 1959. He was named a bishop on 3 December 1974 when he was appointed titular bishop of
Siminina Siminina, was a Roman era civitas of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. The ancient city is tentatively identified with ruins at Bir-El-Djedidi, Tunisia. The city was also the seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass ...
and auxiliary bishop of Suva; following his appointment as a bishop, he was consecrated the same year. On 10 April 1976, he was appointed archbishop of Suva. On 19 December 2012, his resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI. He died on 30 June 2014 at the Suva Private Hospital after a long illness.


Political positions

Mataca was a critic of some government policies, including its proposal to establish a
Reconciliation and Unity Commission The Reconciliation and Unity Commission was a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on 4 May 2005 was passed. The legislation proposed to empower th ...
with the power, subject to
presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...
approval, to compensate victims and pardon perpetrators of the
2000 Fijian coup d'état The Fiji coup d'état of 2000 was a civilian coup d'état by hardline i-Taukei (ethnic Fijian) nationalists against the elected government of an Indo-Fijian Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry on 19 May 2000. This was followed by an attempt on ...
that deposed the elected government of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry in 2000. On 22 June 2005, Mataca accused Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase of having misled church leaders about the provisions of the legislation to establish the Commission. Mataca and the leaders of a number of other denominations, he said, had been summoned to the Prime Minister's office on 2 May where they had been told about the bill's reconciliation and compensation provisions, which they had heartily endorsed. Only later, through the media, did they learn about its amnesty provisions. Mataca said he did not support the concept of amnesty for persons convicted of political crimes. The overthrow of a democratically elected government a serious crime, he said, and "the coup cycle" would continue unless those involved faced the consequences of their crimes. ''"I publicly appeal to our President, our Prime Minister and the members of our Government to withdraw the Bill until such time as proper consultations can be held and appropriate amendments made,"'' Mataca said. Reconciliation and unity could not come from a politically motivated bill, he warned. On the contrary, he saw reconciliation as a healing process that must start with truth telling, confession of wrongdoing, genuine request for forgiveness and willingness to accept the consequences of one's actions. "It seems ... that the Bill has been hastily put together for political purposes - especially in view of the elections next year," Mataca said. "This is not in the interests of the country and any stubborn effort by the Government to push through this Bill will be counter productive and will threaten Fiji's future stability." Not all Catholics agreed with Mataca. In a parliamentary submission on 30 June, Vice-President Kelepi Lesi of the Catholic League described the bill as a healing process between two parties, and very much in line with the moral principles taught by the Catholic Church.


View of Christian political activism

In an article written for the Fiji Sun on 12 January 2006, Mataca condemned voices, who claimed to be Christian, who advocated proclaiming Fiji a Christian state, banning other religions, condemning homosexuality, and requiring leadership positions to be reserved for approved Christians. He called for what he called "authentic Christian voices" to speak up, and for the true path of Jesus to be followed. Writing an editorial in the Fiji Sun on 6 March 2006, Mataca called on Christians to avoid getting caught up in ethnic politics in the upcoming election due on 6–13 May, and said that calls for Christians to mobilize politically against others was contrary to the teaching and example of Jesus.


2006 coup d'état

In the wake of the military coup which deposed the civilian government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase on 5 December 2006, Mataca took a more nuanced position than the leaders of many other denominations, and refused to endorse a statement put out by the Assembly of Christian Churches (ACCF) and the
Fiji Council of Churches Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
(FCC), which described the Fijian Military, commanded by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, as "manifestations of darkness and evil." Mataca said that such a stance was hypocritical, as the organizations had failed to condemn the previous coup of 2000. In a letter to the Fiji Sun on 10 December, he condemned the coup, but also claimed that the government had pursued policies that had led to it. Mataca was co-chairman, along with Commodore Bainimarama, of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji."Communique - National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF)"
, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama & His Grace Petero Mataca, Fiji government website, March 28, 2008


Social views

On 6 January 2006, the
Fiji Sun ''Fiji Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Fiji since September 1999 and owned by Sun News Limited. ''Fiji Sun'' was founded by and is part of CJ. Patel Group. The Fiji Sun has its main newsroom in Suva, Fiji Suva () is the capital ...
quoted Mataca as calling on people to "respect, protect, and preserve" family values. He condemned Fiji's high divorce rate, and criticized legislation which facilitated it.


Death

Mataca died at the Suva Private Hospital after a long illness on 30 June 2014.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mataca, Petero 1933 births 2014 deaths People from Ovalau (Fiji) Companions of the Order of Fiji Fijian Roman Catholic archbishops 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Oceania 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Oceania Roman Catholic archbishops of Suva