In September this year, Pope Francis will be making his first trip to Papua New Guinea, a country introduced to Christianity only around 70 years ago. In this corner of the world, Christians are enthusiastically preparing for his arrival with the help of missionaries such as Father Martín Prado from the Institute of the Incarnate Word. This missionary has been living in Vanimo, a coastal city that the Pope will visit, for 10 years, and shared his testimony with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), explaining what it is like to live the faith in a country of tropical jungles and breathtaking landscapes.
The Pope was expected to visit a few years ago, but the trip was postponed because of Covid. What are the expectations of Christians now that Pope Francis is finally coming?
The Holy Father’s visit to Papua New Guinea, and particularly to Vanimo, was greeted with great surprise and joy by everyone. Due to limited access to news and social media, not many people were aware that he was travelling. We are all very excited and working hard to be able to welcome the Pope as best as we can, despite the simplicity and poverty in which we live. The only way to come or go from Vanimo is by aeroplane or by boat.
What fruits do you expect from the Pope’s visit for the Catholic community in the country?
We believe that the Pope’s visit will strengthen our faith and our spiritual life. We improvised a venue on the local football pitch, and every night we have been praying the Rosary. We organise talks, hymns and some dances, things that the Papuans are very fond of. Besides that, we have had confessions, attended by people from all parishes, who came by foot or on trucks. It was very moving. At some of the better attended evenings we had 3,000-4,000 people taking part. People are looking forward to the Holy Father’s arrival with enthusiasm and excitement, and awaiting the encounter with the Lord which they so desire.
The Faith arrived in Papua New Guinea such a short time ago. How do Christians live? What do you learn from their faith?
The faith of Christians here is very much alive and very simple, it is a youthful faith, from which I learn a lot. The first missionaries only arrived here 70 years ago and many still interpret Christianity through the framework of their ancestral faiths, as the indigenous spirituality is still very influential, which makes it difficult for them to achieve a full understanding of Christianity.
Despite this, many people are very open to the Faith, and we see conversions through very simple things, which shows that God is really behind everything and that the Holy Spirit is working in them. In the jungle, for instance, we have had the opportunity to baptise entire families, to teach them to make the sign of the Cross, and to preach the Gospel for the first time. There are people who truly thirst for God, for spiritual life. Only recently, for example, a child came up to me and said: “Father, I want to receive communion, I want to receive the Eucharist. Please help me.”
But evangelisation cannot be easy…
There is a strong commitment here to ancestral and cultural traditions that are not compatible with the Gospel. The spiritual beliefs and superstitions are persistent and sometimes get mixed up with the Catholic Faith. Our work, as missionaries, is to help Christians to understand that these things do not go together, and try to effect change. Sometimes they are the first to become aware of this. Many people are able to discern what is true from what is false, despite not being able to read or having had any sort of sophisticated formation. Nonetheless, when you don’t take care of your spiritual life, or live for others, it becomes very easy to be influenced by superstition and superficial elements.
How about the young people? What difficulties do they face?
One of the greatest challenges facing the young people of Papua New Guinea is marriage and starting a family. Unlike with Western culture, here there is only a general idea of marriage.
Young people do not have models to follow or serve as inspiration, and only a few have the support and accompaniment of their parents to commit to their spouses for life. Forming good families is a challenge, but we see that, little by little, things begin to change.
How can we help the Christians in Papua New Guinea?
The first thing is prayer: pray for our brothers, for the souls that do not yet know Christ, and for all the places the message of the Gospel has not yet reached. Pray also for the missionaries and for vocations, which is what can really lead to change. In 2019, we started a group to pray for vocations, and since then the number of priests has doubled. We have started to see local vocations, which we had never had before. We already have three seminarians and two novices.
We also need material help. People live in very poor conditions and almost have no medicines; we are trying to build a home for disabled children and a school and a home for orphan girls who have been victims of violence. We always need help for that, but we know that God will always provide, His help will come through the hearts of generous benefactors. We are very grateful to Aid to the Church in Need: thanks to the foundation, we have been able to carry out many different projects and help introduce more people to the love of Christ.
By Maria Lozano & Teresa Fontes.
