After testifying about the difficulties encountered by the catechists of his parish, Steven, emaciated face, immaculate white shirt, and crucifix around his neck, comes to kneel before Pope Francis, then he offers him a headdress topped with feathers of birds of paradise, the emblem of the country. After an approving nod from the pontiff, he places the hat with yellow feathers on the head of Francis, who is laughing. The crowd applauds wildly in Vanimo, a small town in the north of Papua New Guinea, usually 10,000 inhabitants, double that for the pope’s visit on September 8.
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After Jakarta, Indonesia, and before Dili, the capital of East Timor, and finally Singapore, Pope Francis’ visit to Vanimo is his only excursion outside a capital. Despite the logistical difficulties, the 87-year-old Pope was keen on this stopover, which has become a symbol of these “peripheries” which the developed world too often forgets, according to him. By visiting this town far from the capital, François also highlighted the extreme poverty of rural areas, “o“where sometimes what is necessary is lacking.”
40% of the population below the poverty line
In fact, the lack of public services does not only concern the remote regions of this country with 600 islands and more than 800 languages. Although endowed with a rich subsoil, and located in a strategic area that has earned it courtship by the great powers, Papua New Guinea, independent since 1975, is struggling to develop: 40% of the population lives below the poverty line and 85% of the inhabitants live in the countryside. In the absence of civil status, the government is not even aware of the size of its population, estimated at between 10 and 17 million inhabitants. Throughout the country, 95% of which is Christian, it is the Churches, Catholic and Protestant, that provide the essentials: schools, clinics, and often even transport services.
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In an interview with Vatican News, The Vatican news portal, ahead of the visit, Father Alejandro Diaz, an Argentinian missionary based in Vanimo, had described how his community was preparing for the event. Intermittent electricity, lack of money, absence of toilets, of accommodation for the thousands of faithful who came from the surrounding jungle villages, “The mission here is demanding”he euphemized. You have to know how to adapt: ” There are a lot of animals here, two weeks ago we had a good hunt. We have solar panels and we put them in the freezer. With eight to ten deer, we will have enough to feed those who come from there “, specified the very versatile missionary, while the Church encourages local populations to be self-sufficient.
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