Such brutality is a terrible shame

 IT seems our claim to being a Christian country is not really what it appears to be. 

Whenever someone is wronged or does a bad turn, the instinctive thought and action is to react violently; to grab the nearest weapon and thrash wildly to satiate some innate desire for carnage and destruction. 

We see it in ethnic clashes in the rural and urban setting where law and order takes a seat far back in the shadows. 

It seems nothing is sacred when tribal emotions take over. 

The tragic death of a Catholic priest along with a catechist of the church in the remote Goilala district, Central, a week ago serves as a reminder that, although we profess a certain creed, one of peace, love and brotherhood, the darkness that lurks in the hearts of Papua New Guineans is real. 

One would think a man of the cloth, regardless of where he was stationed and what community he served, would be accorded respect and admiration.

But that was sadly not the case. 

Church spokesman Father Brian Cahill relayed the grim news over the weekend that Fr Gerry Inao was murdered by unknown assailants, along with a communion minister named Benedict, on May 4 but the confirmation did not reach the church office in Port Moresby until last Wednesday. 

Members of the Catholic community are no doubt in shock by the brazen disregard for the Fr Inao and Benedict, and generally what this means for missionaries and lay people. 

To be honest, this was the kind of reaction one would expect of natives a 100 or more years ago, when missionaries first ventured into hinterlands and villages to convert its inhabitants, not in the modern age, the 21st century. 

Aside from the fact that the information took such a long time to reach the city, Fr Inoa, who was just into his seventh month in the priesthood, was a local. 

He was a member of the Kunimeipa tribe in the community he faithfully served .

But it seems tribal lines ultimately held sway over the perpetrators, who if not for the church’s presence would not be fortunate enough to see some form of development. 

This heinous act was committed it seems as part of a pay-back killing by enemy tribesman. 

Why these cowards chose to take the life of a defenceless priest and his helper cannot be fathomed. 

This is the kind of society that we live in, where traditional ways dictate how we behave irrespective of the moral implications. 

To be gunned down in cold blood and hacked with machetes, as the two men were, is gruesome and a terrible shame the people of that area will have to live with. 

We are confident that the majority of people in the community Fr Inao served in are peaceful men and women who are guided, not just by their faith but by the dictates of their reasoning and their sense of community. We can only speculate but, it would be fair to say that what happened in the Kamulai community could easily happen in any other part of the country. 

To deny this would be closing our eyes to a problem that is present but not always obvious. 

Our penchant of resorting to violence is something that even western religion has failed to deter. 

Fr Cahill said that the cycle of pay-back had been an ongoing problem in the area. 

As a result of the deaths reports coming out Tapini, the district headquarters is that another seven people have been killed. 

What will now happen to the church and its presence in the area? 

It seems the people are compelled to act this way but that then begs the question, what has Christianity accomplished in this isolated region of the province? 

Have the people no respect for the law, have they no respect for the lives of their fellow human beings? 

The police have embarked on a one-month operation to bring order and allay fears in the district. 

The body of Fr Inao was buried in the church he had celebrated Easter in only weeks before as authorities continue their investigations. 

We hope that the murderers are brought to justice in good time and that the community can rebuild their faith in each other and the church.    

Equally importantly each one of us must think just what do we mean when we say PNG is a Christian country and how can we live by that tenet.