The communal nature of funerals in Fiji reminds Columban Fr Pat Colgan of how funerals used to be in Ireland. Here he writes about the burial of a member of the parish community in Toge village.
Fijian mats cover the coffin. Photos: Fr Pat Colgan SSC
From time to time, priests in rural parts of Fiji are asked to officiate at funerals when the catechist makes a special request or when the priest finds himself free to attend. This was the case on a sunny Friday morning in July when I accepted Catechist Epeli’s request to come to Toge village to celebrate the resurrection Mass for Mr Elia Niulele, a quiet, hardworking and very faithful member of the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish community there.
While serving in Ba 16 years ago, I remember Elia as a very steady, unassuming man, but more particularly his brother, Vakavuvuli (Catechist) Rafaele of nearby Balevuto, who was the life and soul of every party and who sadly passed away five years ago.
It would have been improper for me as celebrant to take too many photos, but I couldn't resist taking some, particularly of the women cooking and our long walk to a grove of trees where we laid Elia to rest. I was astounded by the colours and sounds.
I heard from my parents that it used to be like that in Ireland when all the community would walk, dig and fill the grave together. It is certainly still the case in Fiji. While the women are unrestrained in tears, it is less common for Fijian men. So, when a nephew of Elia, married and working in Nadi, wailed and sobbed heartfeltly at the graveside, I could hardly hold myself back.
Digging and preparing the ground for burial. Photos: Fr Pat Colgan SSC
Fijian funerals are communal, expensive, exhausting but ultimately healing and I found myself thanking God - even while standing in the hot sun while the grave-digging proceeded - for the privilege of being with these people in their hour of loss and their many occasions of joy and festival.
At the time of writing, Fiji has miraculously avoided a single case of community transmission of COVID-19. God forbid it were ever to happen, given the very dilapidated state of our medical system, but also the communal nature of eating, drinking, funerals and Mass-going here, where plates, cups, chalices, bowls, cigarettes, etc are shared and handed around freely. We have had ‘border cases’ of Fijians returning home bringing the virus with them, but they have been intercepted at the airport, which remains largely closed.
It has decimated the tourism industry (40% of GDP) and occasioned tens of thousands of job losses, in a country where there is no furloughing or compensation, and where the government has been depleting the pension scheme as a form of short-term aid.
May Elia, and indeed the many who have passed on in our world in these tragic months, rest in peace.
Columban Sr Cecilia Cuizon, a Columban Sister is the Director of The Community of Hope Centre in the Philippines.
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