International Courant
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — Pope Francis honored the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday when he celebrated Mass in Papua New Guinea earlier than heading to a distant space within the South Pacific with a load of humanitarian help and toys to ship to the believers and missionaries dwelling there.
An estimated 35,000 folks stuffed the stadium within the capital, Port Moresby, for morning mass. It started with dancers in grass skirts and feather headdresses performing to conventional drum beats as monks in inexperienced robes walked in procession to the altar.
In his homily, Francis advised the group that whereas they felt removed from their religion and the institutional church, God was near them.
“You who stay on this nice island within the Pacific Ocean could have thought at instances that you simply had been a distant and distant nation, situated on the fringe of the world,” Francis mentioned. “However … in the present day the Lord needs to come back near you, to bridge the distances, to let you realize that you’re on the heart of his coronary heart and that every one in all you is necessary to him.”
Francis was himself on a journey to a distant land on Sunday, flying to distant Vanimo, on the northwest coast of Papua New Guinea, to fulfill the small Catholic neighborhood there, which is being served by missionaries from his native Argentina. He traveled solely along with his closest aides and safety forces, leaving the complete Vatican delegation behind in Port Moresby.
Based on Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, Francis was transported in a Royal Australian Air Pressure C-130 cargo aircraft and was carrying a ton of humanitarian help, together with medication, clothes and toys for youngsters.
The aircraft, primarily based on the Australian base in Port Moresby, was used due to its cargo capability — it additionally carries Francis’ popemobile — and since the small airport in Vanimo doesn’t have an ambulift, the wheelchair carry Francis now must get on and off planes. Flying in a C-130 would permit Francis to disembark by way of the ramp, Vatican officers mentioned.
A part of the cargo included eight suitcases containing medicines and different provides ready by one of many Argentine missionaries, the Reverend Alejandro Diaz, throughout a current journey to Rome and introduced with the Vatican, the ANSA information company reported.
Francis has lengthy prioritized the church on the “peripheries,” saying it’s really extra necessary than the middle of the institutional church. Consistent with that philosophy, Francis has largely eschewed overseas journey to European capitals, preferring as a substitute to go to far-flung communities the place Catholics are sometimes a minority.
Vanimo, with 11,000 residents, definitely suits the invoice. Located close to Papua New Guinea’s border with Indonesia, the coastal city is maybe greatest referred to as a browsing vacation spot.
Francis, the primary Latin American pope in historical past, additionally has a particular affinity for the work of Catholic missionaries. As a younger Argentine Jesuit, he had hoped to function a missionary in Japan, however was unable to go due to in poor health well being.
Now that he’s pope, he has usually held up missionaries as examples for the church, particularly those that have made sacrifices to carry the religion to far-flung locations.
There are about 2.5 million Catholics in Papua New Guinea, in accordance with Vatican statistics, out of a Commonwealth inhabitants estimated at about 10 million. Catholics follow the religion alongside conventional indigenous beliefs, together with animism and sorcery.
On Saturday, Francis heard firsthand how usually girls… falsely accused of witchcraftthen shunned by their households. In remarks to monks, bishops and nuns, Francis urged church leaders in Papua New Guinea to be particularly shut to those marginalized folks wounded by “prejudices and superstitions.”
“I additionally consider the marginalized and wounded, each morally and bodily, by prejudice and superstition, generally to the purpose of risking their lives,” Francis mentioned. He urged the Church to be notably near such folks on the periphery, with “closeness, compassion and tenderness.”
Francis’ go to to Vanimo was the spotlight of his go to to Papua New Guineathe second leg of his four-country tour of Southeast Asia and Oceania. After stopping in Indonesia, Francis goes to Monday East Timor and can conclude his go to later within the week in Singapore.
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