Pacific Soul Podcast

In a world wrestling with injustice, division and exhaustion, Reverend Mata Havea Hiliau reminds us that faith is not escape, but a courageous act of hope and radical welcome.

At St Clement's Anglican Church, Gwen Amankwah Toa finds strength and hope in the face of ongoing injustice. 

Pacific churches are taking a look at what the Bible says about men, women, power, and love and it’s shaking up long-held beliefs. 

In the heart of Rome, before tens of thousands gathered in St Peter's Square, the name of Peter To Rot was declared among the saints. This recognition was more than 80 years in the making.  From a wartime prison in East New Britain in Papua New Guinea to the grandeur of the Vatican, his story traces a faith lived quietly but courageously. So how did a village catechist become the first Melanesian...

With Prophet Russell M Nelson’s passing and Dallin H Oaks now leading the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, members face a period of change.

On any given Sunday in Fiji and Vanuatu, church members gather with Reverend Siera Bird and her husband, Reverend Dr Cliff Bird, to open the Bible in a new way that confronts violence and re-imagines equality.  Reverend Siera Bird never planned to pioneer a theology movement; it began with the quiet questions she asked herself after becoming a mother, questions that would grow into a Pacific-born...

Across Vanuatu, nearly 15% of the population are Seventh-day Adventists, a faith that shapes life from childhood.  Doroleen Falau from Ambrym grew up with a promise box, a small container filled with handwritten Bible verses or prayers that she continues to draw from each day for guidance and encouragement.  Today, Doroleen is a young single mother, balancing the demands of work and raising her da...

Across the Pacific, politics and religion are increasingly intertwined.  Governments are making moves framed by Christian Zionism, like Fiji opening an embassy in Israel, as if whole nations can be declared supporters of Israel.  But who really speaks for the people?  Who decides if a country stands with Israel or recognises Palestinian rights?  We meet Kristel Whippy, an Indo-Fijian lawyer and ac...

Christian Zionists say the land was promised to the Jews — but what do Jewish people actually believe?

In Vanuatu, a proposed constitutional amendment known as the 'two sexes law' has ignited debate over the rights and recognition of LGBTQIA+ people.

The story of the Pacific is more than one of scattered islands, but the story of great oceanic empires, cosmologies, and networks that connected Moanan peoples long before European arrival. 

Burotukula, the fabled Fijian island said to shimmer into view when the heart is pure, reminds us that Pacific stories are not just myths but living cosmologies. 

When Pastor Susan Kingal's husband died suddenly, she found herself leading the ministry they had built together, a role she calls "pastor by circumstance."  In the face of doubt, loss, and a shrinking congregation, she chose faith and perseverance, keeping the doors open and guiding her community for more than a decade.

Before the Bible reached the Pacific, spirituality was already alive in the land, ocean, and sky.

The family of saint-to-be Blessed Peter To Rot is calling on the government to preserve key historical sites connected to his life to honour his legacy and support the expected influx of visitors.

A powerful shift is unfolding on Lakeba, where the installation of Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara marks not only the revival of chiefly power in Fiji but also a historic blending of Christian and iTaukei traditions.

Lefaoali‘i Dr Dion Enari warns that without Pacific research methodologies, we risk being whitewashed and “Margaret Meaded”, meaning spoken over and defined by outsiders, like the early 20th century anthropologist. 

Mal Meninga opens up about what it means to him to be a South Sea Islander, and how his heritage shapes who he is today.

Mal sits down with Imelda Miller for the Say Our Name exhibition at Queensland Museum Kurilpa.

While the church is embraced by Pacific people, the church has not always returned the love. 

In West Papua, faith and the fight for liberation are deeply entwined it's often women who bear the heaviest burden.

Raised in a devout Catholic Samoan family in Logan City, Uta'ileu'o Charlie Palupe shares how Pasifika values can strengthen and transform the public service.

The biblical Jubilee, described in Leviticus 25, is a special year of forgiveness and restoration that occurs every 50 years

In the wake of Pope Francis' death, Australian and Pacific theologians reflect on defining elements of his legacy. 

On its 60th anniversary year, the renowned Pacific Theological College in Suva is launching a university, with a range of new degree courses.