‘Your culture, which shows the lasting genius and dignity of your people, must not be allowed to disappear.’ With these words Pope John Paul II greeted the aborigines gathered to meet him at Alice Springs during his tour of Australia in November 1986.

The stance which the Pope took in giving his strong support to a minority ethnic group was in line with views he had expressed in other parts of the world, notably in the case of the Indians in Colombia earlier in the year, and on his visit to New Zealand, prior to his arrival in Australia, where he praised the values of the Maori culture. Both the Maoris and the aborigines of Australia had welcomed him with a lively and colourful display of traditional dance and song. These occasions would truly have amazed the missionaries of the last century, most of whom worked so hard to wean the peoples of their allotted territory from their native rites and customs.

Has the Church, then, been inculturated in these places? Has it accepted local cultural forms as expressions of Christianity? A beginning has been made, but complex questions remain. The Maoris were disappointed that they were not given their first Maori bishop. The aborigines cannot even boast a Catholic priest of their own race. Besides the theological issues, the question of separate church structures for different ethnic groups is under debate, complicated by the large numbers of mixed race people, who are not sure where they belong.