Port Moresby wraps up preparations for Pope Francis’ arrival

By Claudia Torres – from Port Moresby

Port Moresby is abuzz with activity as the people prepare for Pope Francis’ arrival to Papua New Guinea on Friday evening, 6 September, for the second leg of his two-week Apostolic Journey to Asia and Oceania. As preparations wrap up in the capital city, Catholics from across the country’s four regions – from the mountainous Highlands cutting through the central part of the island of New Guinea, to the Islands, Momase, and Southern regions – are flocking to this city of over 400,000 people situated in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean.

At Sir John Guise Stadium – where the Holy Father will preside over Holy Mass on Sunday, 8 September, and address young people on Monday, 9 Sunday – the playing field, which is usually reserved for rugby and football matches, has been transformed into an ensemble of colorful clothing and traditional chants and songs testifying to the vast cultural and linguistic diversity of this island country in Oceania.

Caroline Pinolasa from Bougainville gather at Sir John Guise Stadium in the days leading up to Pope Francis’ arrival

Members of the choir gather at Sir John Guise Stadium on 4 September to prepare for Holy Mass with Pope Francis

Spearheading much of the preparation is Sister Daisy Lisania, MSC. She is the Secretary for Social Communications in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, and the media manager for the papal visit. Amid the hectic activity in the days before the Pope arrives, she finally finds a small window of time for a brief interview to share her own perspective on the Holy Father’s Apostolic Journey. “For me as a woman religious it means a lot. And already yesterday I was tearing up, because this is a Pope who is in his wheelchair; he is almost 88 years old, but he has a heart for Papua New Guinea.” Her voice breaks, and her eyes fill with what she assures are tears of joy, “To think that a Pope who has to leave Rome and come to the peripheries, where you hear lots of negativity from the media about my country… For me it’s very significant, because he says, ‘I’m going where my people are. I want to be with them.’”

It's a sentiment echoed by many Catholics who have gathered in Port Moresby. Caught up in the excitement and joy of preparing for a long overdue papal visit – Saint John Paul II was the last pontiff to travel to the country, in 1995 – one can almost forget the hardships many people in the capital city and other parts of Papua New Guinea face on a daily basis. The streets lined with people selling clothing from makeshift tables under shabby umbrellas, a run-down primary schoolhouse recognizable as such only because of the children in their navy and white uniforms playing outside, are visible signs of the poor infrastructure that dictates the lives of many Papuans.

But their joy at the opportunity to welcome a guest as important as the Bishop of Rome is in no way diminished. Some, like John Junior Dinz, even made multi-day journeys, by bus, by plane or on foot, to participate in this historic event. He, his mother, Anna Dinz, and uncle, Christopher

Kenneth, are part of a large group of people who made the trip from the Archdiocese of Mount Hagen to Port Moresby.

“It was a dream when I first heard from my parish priest that Pope Francis is visiting our country capital city, Port Moresby,” affirmed Mr Dinz. “It’s a privilege because I’m a Catholic. I need to go and see the leader. I must see the Pope, and that could be a blessing for me.”

He explained that it was his parents, who saw Saint John Paul II when the Polish Pope visited Papua New Guinea in 1984, who encouraged him to make the trip. “They both went to Hagen to see Pope John Paul II,” recalled Mr Dinz, “and then when I was about to come here, they blessed me and said, ‘You have to go. Take a pilgrimage, and you have to go. Go and see Pope Francis.’ And their story about Pope John Paul really motivated me to come here to Port Moresby to see the Holy Father Pope Francis.”

Mr Dinz is but one example of the lasting impact a pontiff’s presence can have on a population, especially in places that are often forgotten, left out of the spotlight, but where the faith burns brightly, spilling its light onto new generations.

From left: Anna Dinz, Christopher Kenneth and John Junior Dinz, sit outside Saint John the Apostle Catholic Church, after making a two-day trip from Mount Hagen to Port Moresby for Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journey

Almost 30 years since the last papal visit to their country, the faithful of Papua New Guinea are hours away from welcoming Pope Francis, with open arms and joyful hearts, because as Sister Daisy says, “He is my leader, he is my shepherd, he is the Pope.”