Source: Special Correspondent

Bougainville after years of conflict experienced a breakdown in communication as a result of political and military attacks. It had to take a neutral party to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table. All we know of is that after the conflict, PNG and Bougainville leaders came together in a round table to negotiate what’s best for the region; so who exactly made it possible for the leaders to come together and talk? Was it United Nations, Australia or New Zealand as claimed? Bougainville and PNG’s call to sit in a political table came from an unrecognised but popular spiritual movement who have never surfaced as peace makers in Bougainville. The Catholic Church’s movement known as Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

This writing is not a ploy for recognition towards the movement, but this is an exposure of the a movement that is determined to bring true profound peace through its works in bringing conflicting and warring parties to the negotiating table and seek real reconciliation from the heart.

Major reconciliations politically classified as high profile cases were facilitated by the movement in the early 1998 were the reconciliation between the PNG administration based in Arawa with Peter Siunai in charge and the Bougainville Interim Government (BIG) with Late President Joseph Kabui.

During that time BIG was not allowed excess into PNG government control areas. The only window available for BIG out of Bougainville was through Honiara. It took a humble leadership of the Renewal which was already established in the government control area to house the BIG officers namely Late Jonathan Nati, the current member and Veteran Affairs Minister with ABG David Sisito, Wendelinus Bitanuma, Sam Kauona, Cornelius Besia, David Onabui and their leader Late Kabui.

Picture: Reconciliations as such are still carried out in Bougainville by the CCR. They encourage reconciliation from the heart.

The Charismatic group stood behind the Bougainville leaders hoping reconciliation would come soon to give the leaders some freedom and also create room for further negotiation in building what is now the Autonomous Bougainville Government.

Charismatic members from around Central Bougainville stood up for the Bougainville leaders until the desired outcome actually happened; a handshake reconciliation that did not cost the renewal a coin. After the leaders shook hands, the movement left the governments alone.

The second major reconciliation facilitated was among Bougainville key leaders, Paul Nerau, Micheal Pariu and Late Kabui. The reconciliation was done during a convention which for the first time after the conflict, Papua New Guineans were allowed into Central Bougainville.

The reconciliations in Bougainville that created avenue for unity between PNG and BIG transpired without a use of a coin, even reconciliation among key leaders and political rivals. The question for Bougainvilleans and the major contributors to peace building like the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is the question of how the hunger for recognition and money came into play.

To date the movement still work for peace in the four corners of Bougainville without claiming recognition for the work done. Many of the stronghold areas in Bougainville which the movement took a leading role in reconciling conflicting parties are not known. Credit for work done is mostly grabbed by the so called peace organization that come from miles away outside.