Pacific Catholics join over a billion worldwide for Lent amid Pope’s call to 'listen and fast'

From Samoa to Aotearoa, Fiji to Papua New Guinea, Pacific Catholics are joining more than a billion believers around the world as the season of Lent begins.

Lent is a 40-day journey of prayer, fasting, and reflection leading up to Easter.

Globally, the Catholic Church counts about 1.3 billion members, making it the largest Christian denomination. There are about 11 million Catholics in the Oceania/Pacific region including Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, according to recent census data.

This week, Catholics begin a season that Pope Leo XIV says should place God “back in the centre of our lives”.

In his 2026 Lenten message, published by the Holy See Press Office, the Pope describes Lent as a time for conversion and a chance to reset spiritually and communally.

“Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the centre of our lives,” Pope Leo XIV says.

He adds that “the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem”.

In his message, Archbishop Peter Loy Chong of Fiji underlined how prayer, fasting, and charity remain central to Catholic practice.

He says Lent is also a time to admit wrongs, repent, and open hearts to God's love, mercy, and healing. "Lent is a 40-day period to draw closer to God by sacrificing some of the things we hold dear … to reflect on life’s deeper meaning.”

Pope Leo XIV has urged Catholics to make Lent a time of “listening and fasting,” calling on believers to place God “back in the centre of our lives". Photo/Catholic Review

A season of listening and fasting

Lent commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert. Traditionally, Catholics mark the season through prayer, acts of charity, and some form of fasting or self-denial.

But this year, the Pope is placing special emphasis on listening. “The willingness to listen is the first way we demonstrate our desire to enter into a relationship with someone,” he writes.

He urges Catholics to ask for “the grace of a Lent that leads us to greater attentiveness to God and to the least among us” and to “allow God to teach us how to listen as he does".

Archbishop Peter Loy Chong of Fiji says Lent is "a 40-day period to draw closer to God by sacrificing some of the things we hold dear", encouraging Pacific Catholics to reflect, fast, and renew their faith during the season.

For many Pacific communities, where faith is woven into daily life and family structures are strong, that call to listen to elders, to young people, and to those on the margins carries particular resonance.

The Pope also calls for a deeper understanding of fasting, not just from food, but from harmful speech.

He encourages believers to seek “strength that comes from the type of fasting that also extends to our use of language, so that hurtful words may diminish and give way to a greater space for the voice of others".

Disarming our language

In an age of heated political debate and social media division, the Pope’s message includes a direct appeal to tone down rhetoric.

“Let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media and in Christian communities. In this way, words of hatred will give way to words of hope and peace.”

He also calls on Catholic communities to ensure the vulnerable are heard. “Let us strive to make our communities places where the cry of those who suffer finds welcome, and listening opens paths towards liberation, making us ready and eager to contribute to building a civilisation of love.”

Watch Ash Wednesday Mass in Suva, Fiji, on 18 February 2026 and Archbishop Peter Loy Chong emphasises a message for the holy season.

Across the Pacific, where churches often serve as the heart of village life and social support, Lent will be marked by special services, community prayer, outreach and renewed commitments to family and faith.

As Catholics begin the journey towards Easter, the Pope’s message frames the next 40 days not simply as ritual observance but as a time to listen more deeply, speak more gently and stand more closely with those in need.