ASSIDUOUS AND REGULAR READERS of the inside cover pages of Pacifica, a rare species, will have noticed that each new year brings not only an editorial report but also new arrangements of the names of the editors and new production and management teams. This year is no exception. Such changes signify either rapid growth or considerable disorganization or, God spare us, imminent collapse.
At least we have not become moribund. And, fortunately, we do not anticipate collapse this year. In the evolution of the journal, however, increased pressures have been placed on our limited resources. Two of our founding editors have been given significantly increased responsibilities: Frank Moloney is now the foundation professor of theology in the Australian Catholic University and Mark Coleridge has been appointed Master of Catholic Theological College in Melbourne.
This year we have re-arranged matters so that there is now an editor-in-chief who is centrally responsible for the journal, and an enlarged editorial board offering greater help and advice. We also ask for increased support from the theological community in Australia and New Zealand: in promoting the journal, in contributing articles and reviews, in placing advertisements for publications, forwarding books for review, and giving notices of future meetings.
One of our initial ambitions for Pacifica, that it become an Australian-based forum for theological scholarship along the West Pacific rim, reaching the international community, is yet to be realised. Even though Pacifica now goes to more than a hundred international addresses, chiefly major libraries, it is not yet well known outside of Australia and New Zealand. Having spent the past year in the United States, I am reminded once again, as I was in Britain several years ago, that Australia does not occupy a high place in the international theological imagination.
One might as well come from Galilee as come from Melbourne. Which is a pity, for though our financial resources are slight, the quality of our teaching and scholarship is indeed comparable with anything overseas. Antipodeans are everywhere, for the most part, kindly thought of and well-respected; but our scholarship is barely known, except when it is presented by those who have made homes and contacts in other places.
This modest acceptance of the reality of our predicament is something of a whinge and a cringe. Little good comes from self- pity except that, in taking stock of our situation once again, we recognise our unique role. We cannot compete with the well- resourced European and American theological industries, with their entrenched associations and publications and their well-rewarded academic tenure paths. But there is more to theology than international prestige, as contributions from the Third World have shown again and again. Theology is a missionary work, a prayerful work, a striving within one's own community of faith to help give meaning to our belief. And this we can do in Australia, with our ready ecumenism, our wonderful mix of cultures from East and West, North and South, and our pioneering imagination: we can shape something new and hope-giving from the graces bestowed on us.
And so to the good news. Our ambition that Pacifica might become a forum for theologians in Australaia and New Zealand has certainly been achieved. The range of contributions broadens every year, and while we are based in Melbourne, we are delighted that so many scholars from other parts of the region support us. While Pacifica has been adopted by the Melbourne College of Divinity as its official journal, and while the members of the Pacifica Association are very pleased with the backing given by the MCD, it is gratifying to receive the interest that we do from scholars from Perth to Dunedin, from the ubiquitous Australian Catholic University to the Anglican parish or Orange.
As always, we welcome any correspondence and comment, any suggestions for improving the quality of the journal and its profile in the theological community. Our ability to provide a better service however, depends to some degree on the financial support we receive, and any small increase in circulation represents a large gain in revenue for the journal. So, please find some further subscriptions for us, both at home and abroad. Now is the time to come to the aid of the party.