The night before the ordination the family present Iowane Naio to the Columbans.
I recently visited Fiji for two weeks. It was a wonderful time.
A lot of activity was going on around the central house where I was staying. A tent was set up in the back car park area and a “vakatunaloa” or enormous shed was constructed on the front lawn. In the car park I met up with people from Raiwaqa parish who were peeling the taro in preparation for the “lovo” – earthen oven – which were being dug at the formation house down the road.
Meanwhile, there was choir practice and rehearsals. The night before the ordination I was present when the family came to present Iowane Naio to the Columbans. Iowane comes from a place called Namau, a settlement I got to know well during my two terms of assignment to the parish of Ba. It is located about two-thirds of the way up the road from Ba to Navala. You cross a river just beyond the local rural school and turn off on to a dirt road that passes along besides the fence towards the back of the nursing station.
Back in the late 70s I remember an old, retired school master, Master Esira Vuda, who lived in one of the old teacher’s quarters in the church compound at Varoka, Ba. He was a memorable presence in Ba in those days as he wandered downtown, well dressed and carrying a leather briefcase. He was the father of Serafina Ranadi, a former leader of the international Columban Lay Mission movement. She died suddenly in Los Angeles a number of years ago.
Well, Master Esira took out a lease on land in this place called Namau and arranged for cane-cutting contracts with the local cane farmers who leased land in that beautiful surrounding valley. He then invited young men from his village of Nakoroboya, people of the same tribal ancestry – by the name of “qualialatina” - as the people of Navala, to come and cut cane. Over the years, a few came to settle and build houses there and eventually a chapel was built.
After all these years I still remember this old gentleman and it was special to share the story with Iowane’s family who also connected with the story since they are all of the same family.
That evening, through a traditional Fijian ceremony the family presented Iowane to the Columbans – once again. They had done so when Iowane first joined the Columbans 10 years ago. Now they were once again presenting their son and brother as part of his preparation for his ordination. For Iowane, it was from one family to another. We Columbans had long become his family. Still, this was to confirm long-standing ties which connect back to the soil of Namau and the ancestry of “qualialatina”.
More stories were going to be told over the next few days as we celebrated the oiling of Iowane’s hands and his ordination in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and under the officiating stewardship of Archbishop Peter Loy. The music was heavenly. The ceremony was impressive. The mass was sacred. A new priest dedicated himself to the mission and aims of the Missionary Society of St Columbans, and he has been appointed to Pakistan – Fr Iowane Naio.
No doubt there will be further stories to tell in the years to come.
Please keep Fr Iowane Naio in the prayers.
Fr Tom Rouse - Regional Councillor of Oceania
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