Beautiful, vast, encompassing over a third of the Earth’s surface, Oceania has become one of the planet’s most vulnerable regions due to climate change. This ecological crisis is both ethical and theological, raising unprecedented questions about how we understand our Earth as a continuing gift from the living God – Creator Spirit. This book brings together the results of listening to the voices of people in Oceania about their deepest concerns. It was made possible by Pope Francis’s attention to ecology and the peripheries, starting with the respect for ancient wisdom which had largely been disregarded after colonial settlement, yet preserved by Indigenous peoples to this day despite much suffering. This wisdom can now teach us how, together, we can save our common home.

Adele is an Honorary Fellow of Australian Catholic University, Faculty of Theology and Philosophy. She is a Sister of Mercy. Adele has collaborated with the Ecology Sector of the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development and coordinated the international research project “Doing Theology from the Existential Peripheries” in Oceania.