Council of churches supports speaker’s decision

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Monday December 16th, 2013

 THE Komkui Council of Churches in Mt Hagen has supported Speaker Theo Zurenouc’s decision (right) to remove historical carvings and artworks from Parliament House.

Komkui Council of Churches chairman Pr John Bakri and his deputy Pastor John Berry said in a joint statement that the carvings and artworks were symbols of evil.

They said Zurenouc was a true leader who had realised what the symbol stood for.

Bakri said Papua New Guinea has different cultures, 800 languages and had many beliefs.

He said most of the carvings came from Sepik and represented the Haus Tambaran (Ghost House).

“These crafts and artworks mean a lot in the spirit, they are evil and causing leadership chaos in the country,” Bakri said.

He said in Western Highlands, people believed in stones and pig killings.

Bakri said his forefathers consulted stones before going to fight.

He said in pig killing, it took place on special occasions and at different places.

“When they see the stone or take part in the pig killings then the demon that represent them, participate in the belief, appears and make things work. And that was evil,” Bakri said.

He said the carvings should be replaced with Bible verses or something to praise the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He said all carvings should be removed and replaced with Christian images.

“The God of Israel is the God of PNG and the House of Parliament is where Christianity needs to prevail,” Berry said.

He said the Komkui Council of Church was  made up of 7,000 Christians and 12 denominations.

The move by Zurenuoc, which started two weeks ago, has sparked a lot of debate.

His aim was to cleanse the Parliament from ‘ungodly images and idols.’ 

During a recent dinner hosted by the Tertiary Student Christian Fellowship Graduates Network Inc in Port Moresby, Zurenouc said Parliament could only contribute to nation building if it was transformed.

“We must invoke God to intervene in our nation building project,” Zurenuoc said. 

“Parliament, through its House Committee, has decided we must make a statement to denounce the contradictory confession, because as believers or Christians, we know that only God is our Lord. 

“He only is our source of strength and our combined heritage.”

However, an anthropologist says the removal could be illegal under the National Cultural Property Preservation Act.