With this issue, the first to bear the year number 2000, Pacifica again acquires a new editor-in-chief, at least in an acting capacity. Dan Madigan, as he announced in the editorial of the previous issue, has moved to Rome at the request of the Jesuit Superior General to establish a new department for the study of religions at the Pontifical Gregorian University. On his return to Australia in late 1997 after completing doctoral studies at Columbia University (he has just reshaped his thesis for publication), Dan generously took on the editorship of Pacifica as just one of a host of responsibilities to which his multiple talents laid him open. While his departure will be a loss from the local scene, the new post in Rome will provide greater scope for the promotion of under-standing and tolerance between faiths, to which he brings such learning and commitment. He goes, then, with our blessing. One of Dan’s last acts as editor was to accept the article under my name that appears – somewhat to my embarrassment – in this issue, the first for which I am responsible.
Following a precedent established in connection with the “Beyond 2000” Conference on Theological Education sponsored by the Mel-bourne College of Divinity and the Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools (ANZATS) in Melbourne in July 1998, the next issue of Pacifica (June 2000) will publish a selection of the major papers to be delivered at the ANZATS Conference to be held this coming July in Christchurch, New Zealand, dedicated to the theme of Ecotheology. In this way it is hoped that, as occurred so fruitfully in 1998, participants will arrive already primed and asking the questions that will make the conference an engaging and lively experience for all concerned.
Pacifica has not as yet found someone prepared to take on the role of editor-in-chief in a more permanent capacity. For the present I have agreed to hold the position, convinced as I am of the significant role the journal has played and continues to play in promoting theological research, reflection and exchange at the highest professional level. While it has a particular locus in the Australia, New Zealand and Oceania context, we know it is read and respected internationally. Our hope is that it will continue to provide a venue for theological exchange well into the millennium now upon us.