A visit to the world’s “peripheries”: Pope Francis made a historic trip to the jungles of Papua New Guinea on Sunday.
Lush vegetation with mangroves as far as the eye can see, framed by the turquoise water of the Pacific Ocean and clear sandy beaches: welcome to Vanimo, in the far northwest of Papua New Guinea.
It was in this rural and remote town that Pope Francis chose to meet, on Sunday, some 20,000 people from different provinces, as part of a historic visit to the country.
Among them, there are hundreds who have walked, sometimes for several days from the other end of the island to meet the Argentine Jesuit. Like Joachim Mombigo, red T-shirt and cap, who traveled three days.
“I am Catholic, and I wanted to see the head of the Church,” he told AFP as a warm, humid breeze blew from the surrounding hills topped with palm trees and signs welcoming the pope.
In the crowd, families, often poor, hundreds of barefoot children. Groups of young people, sitting on the ground for long hours, display the red and black flag of their country or a photo of the Bishop of Rome.
Steven Nati, 53, is hoping for a cure. “I have many problems. I came so that the Pope can bless me, so that I can be cured,” explains this resident of Vanimo, leaning on a cane.
– “Spectacle grandiose” –
On stage, the head of the Catholic Church is presented with an impressive headdress topped with yellow and black feathers from the bird of paradise, the country’s national emblem. A round of applause and cheers erupt from the crowd as he places it on his head.
Guest of honour, François, 87, watches a traditional dance performed by members of a tribe from the local province of Sandaun, their arms wrapped in bracelets of feathers, shells and leaves, and their bodies covered in tribal paint.
A port city of 10,000 souls on the border with Indonesia, Vanimo alone symbolises the “peripheries” dear to the first South American pope in history, who defined himself as coming “from the end of the world” when he was elected in 2013.
With this trip, the announcement of which surprised even Rome, the Pope reiterates the importance he attaches to territories and populations feeling marginalized or sidelined in a Church that he would like to see less closed in on itself.
More than 80% of the country’s population lives in villages, following ancestral rites, some of which have been passed down from generation to generation for centuries.
In his speech, the Pope paid tribute to “a magnificent land, rich in a great variety of plants and birds, before which one is left speechless by the colours, the sounds, the scents, the grandiose spectacle of a nature overflowing with life”.
Francis also urged “to drive out fear, superstition and magic from the hearts of the people”, while some regions of the Highlands remain the scene of cruel witch hunts accused by frightened tribes of embodying the forces of evil.
– Games and medical equipment –
On the Australian army plane that took him there, François brought several tons of medical equipment, clothing and games for children.
Jorge Bergoglio also paid tribute to the missionaries who have succeeded one another in the territory since the beginning of the 19th century. Among these religious and lay people engaged in the development of education and health services, his native Argentina plays a central role.
Among them is the priest Martin Prado, who has been there for 10 years and is one of the main architects of this visit. The inhabitants “depend on everything: the soil, the rain, the sea, the house” but have a thirst for spirituality, confides this 36-year-old priest.
After a planned return to the capital Port Moresby in the evening, Francis will leave Papua New Guinea on Monday for East Timor, the third stage of his marathon tour of South-East Asia and Oceania.
cmk/sba
