By air, sea and on foot, pilgrims are flocking to the capital of Papua New Guinea to see Pope Francis, who begins a historic four-day visit to the country on Friday after a fervent trip to Indonesia.
In Port Moresby, once dusty streets have been swept, street vendors have been chased away and the yellow and white flags of the Holy See hang from streetlights, where they flutter in the warm Coral Sea breeze.
The pope is arriving in one of the poorest and most volatile states in the Pacific, where he will address bishops, meet street children and celebrate Mass for tens of thousands of worshipers.
Among the thousands of people already gathered in Port Moresby, a group of 43 pilgrims walked more than 200km from Morobe on the northern coast, crossing jungle and the formidable Cordillera Central, according to the Papua New Guinea Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
For others, the journey was less arduous but just as transcendent. Like for Sophie Balbal, who came from the island of New Britain, in the northeast of the country, to represent a group of mothers.
“I’m not one of the leaders, but I was chosen to come here,” she told AFP, excited. “This is the first time in my life that I’ve flown and come to Port Moresby.”
“Whatever the message is, I will do my best to convey it to my fellow mothers, to all the mothers in our parish,” she adds.
– First visit since John Paul II –
Francis is the first pope to visit the country since John Paul II, who drew huge crowds in 1995.
About 98% of Papua New Guineans are Christian, 25% of whom are Catholic. But these figures do not come close to reflecting the richness of beliefs and customs in this country with more than 850 ethno-linguistic groups.
Many Papuans deeply revere a Christian god, which sits alongside a vast array of animist and syncretic beliefs and deep-rooted indigenous customs in their minds.
Prime Minister James Marape, the son of a Seventh-day Adventist preacher and who rarely answers his phone on Saturday, the Sabbath, is a living illustration of this mix.
Mr Marape is also a chief of the Huli people, one of the largest tribes in the Papua New Guinea Highlands. While proudly sporting his people’s ceremonial loincloths and his distinctive bicorn wig, made from his own hair and adorned with feathers from exotic birds, he says Christianity is what defines his country.
The Papua New Guinea Constitution reflects both of these facets, promising to safeguard the “noble traditions and Christian principles which are ours today.”
The Pope’s visit could revive the debate on revising this Constitution to make Papua New Guinea an officially Christian state. A project that faces political and legal obstacles, since it would require designating a state church, notes researcher Eugene Ezebilo.
Choosing a church from the plethora of existing denominations could “trigger tensions and anarchy among Christian groups,” he warned in a 2020 paper for the Papua New Guinea National Research Institute.
The pope’s visit could also hasten the first canonization of a Papuan, Peter Torot, a missionary killed by the Japanese occupation army during World War II.
For many residents, churches of all denominations fill the gaps in the weak central state by providing health care, education and social assistance. For others, religion is also a source of comfort in a country ravaged by tribal violence, natural disasters, crime and poverty.
Francis’s arrival “will strengthen my faith,” said Paul Hollen, a junior professor of religion at Divine World University. “I feel very, very privileged to be here.”
bur-arb/pbt/roc/cco
