Advent Penance Service on Fono island, Chuuk, Micronesia

Reconciliation is an important cultural value for the Chuukese. Lenten and Advent penance services are well attended. This penance service was held in December 2017 at St. Ignatius Loyola Church on Fono, a small island in the Chuuk Lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia.

A priest from the main island comes to hear individual confessions and lead a communal reconciliation.

Chuukese use a calm, restrained demeanor to show respect. They place community needs over the individual and position themselves physically lower — on the floor, on knees or bent down — to show deference. Women cannot stand upright in the presence of their brothers, so they crawl or shuffle on knees or walk hunched over. Some men remain outside or in the doorway of the church so their sisters aren't encumbered by this rule.

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This video is part of Catholics & Cultures, an initiative of the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.