After having testified to the difficulties encountered by the catechists of his parish, Steven, with a gaunt face, immaculate white shirt and a crucifix around his neck, kneels before Pope Francis and then offers him a headdress topped with bird of paradise feathers, the emblem of the country. After a nod of approval from the pontiff, he places the yellow-feathered hat on Francis’ head, laughing. The crowd applauds frantically in Vanimo, a small town in northern Papua New Guinea with about 10,000 inhabitants, twice as many as when the Pope arrived on September 8.
After Jakarta, Indonesia, and before Dili, 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 insisted on this setting erected as a symbol of these “peripheries” which the developed world too often forgets, according to him. Visiting this place far from the capital, Francis also highlighted the extreme poverty of rural areas, “orwhere sometimes what is necessary is missing.”
40% of the population below the poverty line
In fact, the lack of public services does not only affect 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 makes it courted 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 residents live in the countryside. Due to the lack of civil status, the government does not even know the size of its population, estimated between 10 and 17 million inhabitants. Throughout the country, 95% Christian, it is the Churches, Catholic and Protestant, which provide the essentials: schools, clinics and often even transport services.
In an interview with Vatican News, According to the Vatican information portal, before the visit, Father Alejandro Diaz, an Argentine missionary based in Vanimo, recounted how his community was preparing for the event. Intermittent electricity, lack of money, lack of toilets, lack of accommodation for the thousands of faithful who come 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, we had a good hunt a fortnight ago. We have solar panels and we put them in the freezer. With eight or ten deer we will have enough to feed those who come from there. “, said the multi-faceted missionary, while the Church encourages local populations to be self-sufficient.
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