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By PAUL HARRICKNEN President of the Catholic Profesional Society of PNG “Christian principles and values are already enshrined in the Preamble and the National Goals and Directive Principles of the Constitution.” These are the words of Dr Chief John Momis who with the late Bernard Mullu Narokobi were the architects of the Preamble of the PNG Constitution. Momis was the de facto Chairman (working chairman) of the Constitutional Planning Committee (CPC).

Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare was the de jure Chair. Narokobi was the consultant lawyer to the CPC. They are the founding fathers of our Constitution and nation, among other fathers and mothers, whose wisdom cannot be ignored by current and future generations of leaders and people.



Chief Momis and Sir John Kaputin (a member of the CPC) presented their views to the Parliamentary Committee hearing on May 2, 2024, on the bill to declare PNG a Christian State. Kaputin questioned why the haste, and if it was necessary to amend the Constitution, and whether all the churches including his United Church, were sufficiently consulted on the subject. It was obvious that the two constitutional fathers were not happy to see such a desperate push to change the nature of the State into a confessional and religious State by renaming it as the “Independent and Christian State of Papua New Guinea” (proposed amendment to s.

1 of the Constitution). According to Chief Momis, Christian principles are already enshrined in the Preamble.

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