Pope Francis delivers medical supplies in visit to remote jungle town in Papua New Guinea
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VANIMO, Papua New Guinea - Pope Francis flew deep into the jungle of the south-western Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea on Sept 8 to visit Catholics living in one of the most remote areas of the world and deliver medical supplies and other aid.
Travelling 1,000km in a C-130 cargo aircraft provided by the Royal Australian Air Force, he arrived with a small entourage in Vanimo, a township of some 12,000 people in the north-western corner of the country’s main island, with no running water and scarce electricity.
The 87-year-old Pope brought hundreds of kilograms of items to help support the local population, said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. These included medicine and clothing, as well as toys and musical instruments for schoolchildren.
Pope Francis is visiting the nation of 600 islands as part of his ambitious 12-day, four-country tour of South-east Asia and Oceania, the longest of his 11-year-old papacy.
He came to Vanimo at the invitation of local missionaries with the Catholic Institute of the Incarnate Word. They, like Pope Francis, the first pontiff from the Americas, are from Argentina.
“You are doing something beautiful, and it is important that you are not left alone,” Pope Francis told the crowd – which the Vatican estimated at 20,000 – of missionaries and Catholic faithful in a meeting outside the town’s one-storey, wood-panelled cathedral parish.
“You live in a magnificent land, enriched by a great variety of plants and birds,” said the Pope. “The beauty of the landscape is matched by the beauty of a community where people love one another.”
Missionary Tomas Ravaioli said he could not believe the Pope had actually come to Vanimo.
“He is keeping his promise to come,” he said. “We cannot believe it. At his age, he is making an enormous effort.”
A sprawling country of mountains, jungle and rivers, Papua New Guinea is home to more than 800 languages and hundreds of tribes, including dozens of uncontacted people.
As with other events throughout his stay in the country, Pope Francis was greeted on a field outside the cathedral with a traditional dance from a group wearing feathered headdresses and straw skirts.
The Pope also heard four testimonies from local Catholics.
Mr Steven Abala, a lay teacher, described how some rural communities, cut off from roads, must wait weeks or months between visits by priests.
He presented Pope Francis with a headdress with yellow and brown feathers, which the Pope tried on.
The Vatican says there are around 2.5 million Catholics in Papua New Guinea, which has a population estimated at anywhere from nine million to 17 million.
The country has become a major target of international companies for its gas, gold and other reserves.
In a speech to its political authorities on Sept 7, Pope Francis called for better treatment of the country’s workers
Pope Francis visiting the Holy Trinity Humanities School in Baro, near Vanimo on Sept 8.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In Vanimo, the Pope asked local Catholics to work “to put an end to destructive behaviours such as violence, infidelity, exploitation, alcohol and drug abuse, evils which imprison and take away the happiness of so many of our brothers and sisters”.
Before heading to Vanimo, Pope Francis celebrated a mass with about 35,000 people
He told the crowd that while they may think they live in “a faraway and distant land”, God is near to them.
His homily carried a familiar theme of his papacy – bringing those on the “periphery” closer to faith, and the vast Catholic Church he leads.
“Brothers and sisters, you who live on this large island in the Pacific Ocean may sometimes have thought of yourselves as a faraway and distant land, situated at the edge of the world,” he said. “Today the Lord wants to draw near to you, to break down distances.”
Some had gathered from the early hours to make sure they could take part in the morning mass.
“You hear the word ‘faithful’. At two o’clock in the morning, people were lining up outside the gate, you know that they are faithful,” said Mr Jonathan Kassman, 47, an official involved in hosting the event.
Mr Bernard Soari, who travelled from one of Papua New Guinea’s more remote islands to the capital, hoped the Pope’s remarks brought “an ocean of feelings”.
“It strengthens our faith to understand the meaning of love and respect for one another. We are honoured to have the Pope visiting our land,” said the 48-year-old.
Pope Francis is visiting Papua New Guinea until Sept 9 as part of a tour that first included a stop in Indonesia.
He will travel next to Timor-Leste, then Singapore from Sept 11 to 13,
