What is it about?
This article focuses on Catholic Marian revolutionary movements that came into being during the decade-long conflict on the island of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea at the end of the twentieth century. During this conflict, Bougainville came to be seen by many residents as holy land, which had to be safeguarded from Satan, represented by Papua New Guinea and an Australian copper mining company, in the freedom struggle conceived as a Marian holy war.
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Why is it important?
The article highlights the important role of religion in the formation of nationalism and warfare.
Perspectives
Many conflict analyses omit consideration of indigenous cosmologies. To that end, I focus in this article on two Marian movements active during the crisis: Francis Ona’s Marian Mercy Mission (MMM) and Peter Kira’s Our Lady of Mercy (OLM). Both movements labeled the fight against PNG a holy war and sought to transform Bougainville into one, holy, Catholic nation,
Dr Anna-Karina Hermkens
Macquarie University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Marian Movements and Secessionist Warfare in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, Nova Religio The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, January 2014, University of California Press,
DOI: 10.1525/nr.2015.18.4.35.
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